Author: Vardiafrica

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, says people calling for emergency rule in the state were behind the failed dynamite explosion near the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt. Fubara spoke on Wednesday when he received a delegation of the senate committee on privatisation and commercialisation at the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital. The delegation was led by Orji Uzoh Kalu, chairman of the committee. On Tuesday, an explosion was said to have occurred near the Hotel Presidential during a protest march by some political leaders in support of the police operatives occupying the 23 Rivers LGA secretariats. The…

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has sued the Kaduna State House of Assembly over the latter’s claim that his eight-year administration allegedly siphoned ₦432bn leaving the state with huge debt liabilities. El-Rufai filed a fundamenatal rights suit at Federal High Court in Kaduna against state House of Assembly on Wednesday. The suit, filed by the ex-governor’s lawyer Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, challenged the report of the Kaduna Assembly Committee which indicted El-Rufai for alleged corruption In the suit, El-Rufai asked the court to declare the report of the Assembly probe as null and void having not…

Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday that a bill containing contentious tax hikes would “be withdrawn”, dramatically reversing course after more than 20 people died and parliament was ransacked by protesters opposed to the legislation. But he warned that the withdrawal of the finance bill would mean a significant shortfall in funding for development programmes designed to help farmers and schoolteachers, among others, as the East African nation struggles to lower its foreign debt burden. “I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto told a press briefing, adding: “The…

The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed the June 19 ruling of Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja against his objection to the jurisdiction of the court to subject him to trial. Kanu, through his lead Counsel, Alloy Ejimakor, filed the notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja. This was disclosed by Ejimakor in a statement. Part of the statement reads “ Earlier today I filed a Notice of Appeal with the Court of Appeal in Abuja against the 19th June 2024 ruling of Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako,…

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has said the country recorded foreign exchange (FX) inflows of about $24 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The disclosure was made by Mr Cardoso in his latest interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday in London. According to him, the inflow is about 50 per cent higher than in previous quarters up to 2021. “In terms of liquidity, especially on the foreign exchange side, we have seen an increase. The first quarter of this year has resulted in a total inflow of about $24 billion. “Now, this…

The Federal Government has announced a ban on single-use plastics in all its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). This decision, disclosed by the Minister of State for Environment, Adekunle Salako, followed the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday. Salako highlighted that this ban is a crucial element of the government’s broader strategy for plastic waste management, which aims to address the interconnected issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. The ban “This initiative demonstrates our commitment to addressing the triple threat of climate change, biodiversity loss,…

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has stepped down consideration and deliberation on the memo on the new minimum wage to allow President Bola Tinubu engage in more consultation with stakeholders. Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing State House correspondents on the decisions taken at the council meeting. He said the President has studied the report submitted by the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage and would consult further before a final submission on a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly. Long Walk To New Wage Talks for a new minimum wage…

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says it takes seriously its responsibility to monitor and regulate the mid and downstream sector of the petroleum industry in the country. Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, made this known in a statement on Tuesday. Ukoha was responding to allegations by the Dangote Refinery that some major oil marketers are importing dirty fuel into the country. He said the sulfur content of products being imported into the country is well below the 50 Parts Per Million (PPM) regulatory allowance. He said the Authority strictly monitor…

Essien Etop Andrew, the deputy comptroller in charge of revenue at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), is dead. The customs officer was fielding questions from members of the house of representatives committee on public account when he coughed and slumped. Andrew was rushed to the national assembly clinic where he was confirmed dead. Bamidele Salam, chairman of the committee, said the panel will suspend other hearings for one week to honour the late customs chief. “It was a very sad incident. He was very eloquent and clearly understood the issues being considered,” the lawmaker told TheCable. “He suddenly said he…

The Sokoto State Government says contrary to speculations by some persons and groups, the current administration of Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has no plan to depose the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III. In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for the state government, Abubakar Bawa, condemned campaigns “to smear the cordial relationship existing between the state government and the Sultanate Council”. A religious organisation, the Muslims Rights Concern (MURIC), had alleged a plot by the state government to dethrone the Sultan. Subsequently, Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday said the throne of the Sultan is an…