Author: Vardiafrica

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a left-wing pan-Africanist, was sworn in Tuesday as Senegal’s youngest president after sweeping to a first-round victory on a pledge of radical reform 10 days after he was released from prison. The 44-year-old has never before held an elected office but several African leaders attended the ceremony in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital Dakar. “Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfil the office of President of the Republic of Senegal,” Faye said before the gathered officials. He also vowed to “scrupulously observe the provisions of the Constitution and the laws”…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the Federal Capital Territory’s over N1.1trn statutory budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, disclosed this during an ongoing media chat at his office in Abuja on Tuesday. He expressed delight over the assent by the president, and explained that the budget will impact on infrastructure development, healthcare facilities, as well as rehabilitation of schools in the FCT, amongst others. The development comes on the heels of the FCT appropriation bill passing the second reading at the Senate last month. A breakdown analysis of the N1.1trn budget, indicated that N280bn was…

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have introduced a “third gender” option on citizenship forms to collect data of immigrants with greater accuracy, as some of them do not identify as a male or female. Initially, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) forms and associated documents have only offered male and female options, which has “created significant barriers” for people who do not identify with either of the two genders. In an official statement issued on Monday, the USCIS said, “We have revised Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, to provide a third gender option, ‘X’, defined as ‘Another Gender Identity’.” “We…

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in Tuesday before parliament for his third term in office as leader of the Arab world’s most populous country. In power for the past decade, Sisi is set to remain president until 2030, after winning a December election with 89.6 percent of the vote against three relative unknowns. The six-year term is set to be the 69-year-old’s last, unless he again ushers through a constitutional amendment prolonging his tenure. The oath also marked the inauguration of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, located in the desert east of Cairo, local media reported. Sisi rose to…

The nine students who were abducted while travelling along the East-West road in Ughelli, Delta State, on Friday night, March 29, have regained their freedom. The students were said to have been returning from their school in Calabar Cross River State on Friday night when they they were abducted from the minibus they were travelling in. The driver of the bus escaped unhurt. In an update shared in his X handle, the spokesperson of the command, SP Bright Edafe, said all nine students have regained their freedom. He however did not mention if any ransom was paid

The Nigerian Army has reported a “minor explosion” within its Ikeja cantonment, Lagos State on Monday. A statement by the Director Army Public Relations, Major General, Onyema Nwachukwu, said the incident which occurred on a farmland near the Mammy Market, within the cantonment had been put under control. “This is to notify the general public that today Monday 1 April 2024, a minor explosion occurred within the Nigerian Army (NA) Cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos. The incident occurred on a farmland near the Mammy Market within the Cantonment,” the statement said in part. According to the statement, the explosion was suspected…

The Federal Government, on Monday, announced a new price of natural gas for power generation companies. An agency of the Federal Government, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), unveiled the new domestic base price and wholesale prices of natural gas for 2024, jacking it up to $2.42 per metric million British thermal units, from the previous rate of $2.18mmbtu Announced and signed by the Chief Executive, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, it also pegged the cost of commercial gas at $2.92mmbtu, up from the previous cost of $2.5mmbtu. Ahmed said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 assented to by President…

Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has said he has never approached the Debt Management Office (DMO) for loan since the inception of his administration on May 29, 2023. “We want to make a clarification on the position of the Debt Management Office report that the Zamfara State government borrowed N14.26 billion,” Lawal said in a statement on Monday.According to the statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaiman Bala Idris, “no domestic or external loans have been borrowed since Governor Dauda Lawal took office. “It is important to note that the previous Zamfara State government floated a N20 billion bond…

The EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, has assured of leading a broad-based and holistic anti-graft war that would not spare anyone linked with any form of economic and financial crimes.Mr Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja quoted Olukoyese as having said this Olukoyede reaffirmed his commitment to an all-embracing, fully-integrated war against corrupt practices. “We will not spare anyone. We will not spare the mega thieves. As we are doing the mega, we will also do those at the lower end. “In the last two months, we have arraigned two former governors. So, it…

President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, for Dakar, Senegal, to attend the inauguration of Senegal’s President-elect, Bassirou Faye. The Presidency disclosed this in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu to attend inauguration of Senegal’s President-elect Bassirou Faye.’ Tinubu, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, is visiting the country for the first time since assuming office, at the invitation of the Senegal government. “He will join other regional leaders to witness the inauguration at Diamniadio Exhibition Centre on Tuesday,” said…