Author: Vardiafrica

Global temperatures “smashed” heat records last year, as heatwaves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss, the United Nations said Tuesday — warning 2024 was likely to be even hotter. The annual State of the Climate report by the UN weather and climate agency confirmed preliminary data showing 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And last year capped off “the warmest 10-year period on record”, the World Meteorological Organization said, with even hotter temperatures expected. “There is a high probability that 2024 will again break the record of 2023”, WMO climate monitoring chief Omar Baddour told reporters.…

Sheriff Oborevwori, the Delta State Governor, on Tuesday assured that innocent citizens of Okuama and Okoloba communities will be protected from attacks by Soldiers on reprisal actions against the killing of 15 military personnel, while on a peace mission.Major events that defined Tinubu’s 100 days in office Oborevwori states this while speaking with State House Journalists, after leading community leaders to meet with President Bola Tinubu, at one State House, Abuja. Sheriff who also revealed that the state has been enjoying peace since last year, however commended all security agencies, for their efforts to restore peace. According to him, ”…

Sheriff Oborevwori, governor of Delta, has met with President Bola Tinubu over the killing of soldiers in Okuama community, Bomadi LGA of the state. Oborevwori met with Tinubu at the presidential villa on Tuesday. Last Thursday, 17 military personnel — comprising a lieutenant colonel, two majors, one captain, and 13 soldiers — were killed while on a “peacekeeping mission” in Okuama. The Delta state and federal governments had condemned the incident while promising that perpetrators would face the wrath of the law. Some hours after the incident, several houses in the community were reportedly razed. In a statement on Monday, the Nigeria Army said the…

Senate on Tuesday, increased the 2024 Federal Capital Territory budget to about ₦1.3trn after the bill scaled third reading. This is over ₦135bn increase from the proposed ₦1.1trn for the year 2024 fiscal year. Presenting the breakdown, Chairman of the Senate Committee, Sen. Mohammed Ibrahim representing Yobe South, stated that- ₦140bN is for personnel cost, about ₦374bn is for overhead cost, while the balance of ₦768bn is earmarked for capital projects for the 2024 financial year. While leading the debate last week, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the appropriation bill took into cognisance the FCT administration’s revenue and expenditure forecasts which…

The Senate on Tuesday, confirmed the nomination of four persons as Managing Director and Executive Directors of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). The confirmation follows the consideration of the report of the committee on Banking, Insurance & Other Financial Institutions by its chairman, Sen. Abiru Adetokunbo representing Lagos East. They include: The fresh development comes after the Red Chamber Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, last December, demanded the dissolution of the asset management agency over the failure to recover liabilities totalling N5trn. The lawmakers made the demand when the former MD of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru,…

The Edo State House of Assembly, during plenary on Tuesday, passed a resolution directing the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, to set up a seven-man committee to look into the allegations brought up against the embattled deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu. On March 5, 2024, the parliament commenced impeachment proceedings against Shaibu with 21 out of the 24 members signing a petition. The grounds for impeachment are based on allegations of perjury and disclosure of state government secrets. During Tuesday’s plenary, the Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, informed the Assembly that the seven-day ultimatum…

The Senate has asked the Federal Government to immediately compensate the families of the 17 murdered soldiers. The request was made during a session on Tuesday, as the senators observed a minute silence in honour of the military personnel who lost their lives on Thursday in Okuama Community, Delta state. During the session, a motion of urgent importance on the killing of the Nigerian Army personnel and the necessity for an urgent investigation was moved by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Nigerian Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua. A directive was then given to the committees on army, navy and defence, to…

The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, to immediately halt the signing and implementation of a trade partnership with the United Kingdom (UK), which allows UK lawyers to practice within Nigeria. A motion by 49 lawmakers on Tuesday, pointed to recent reports and public outcry, over an alleged economic and trade partnership between the UK and Nigeria, aimed at exploring new opportunities in key sectors such as the energy, legal, and financial services sectors. The House also noted that the trade deal became very heightened some days ago, as the legal aspect appeared…

MainOne, a West African digital infrastructure service provider, says there is stability on its network across the region. In a statement on Monday, the service provider said it worked with regional partners last week and over the weekend to reroute traffic with restoration capacity. “We worked with regional partners late last week and over the weekend to reroute traffic with restoration capacity and our observations are that we have stability on our network across the region this morning,” MainOne said. These developments, it said, represent a significant milestone to ensure continued connectivity for the West African business community However, MainOne said…

President Vladimir Putin hailed the “return” to Russia of annexed Ukrainian territories on Monday at a concert on Red Square after winning an election blasted as illegitimate by Western powers. The ex-spy won over 87 percent of the vote in a three-day ballot which included voting in parts of Ukraine held by Russian forces. Moscow has presented the weekend presidential election as proof that Russians have rallied around Putin more than two years into the Ukraine offensive. Putin’s victory is widely expected to further tighten his grip on Russia, where dissent is no longer tolerated under fast-accelerating repression. In power…