Author: Vardiafrica

West Africa’s leading business executives and financial institutions are targeting an investment portfolio of at least $15 billion ahead of the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), as regional leaders intensify efforts to turn economic integration into concrete projects, industrial growth and jobs. The initiative, led by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Bio and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has so far identified 26 projects valued at more than $10 billion from over 10 countries, following the assessment of 170 submissions. The portfolio is expected to grow to at least $15 billion by the summit scheduled for November…

The Senate on Thursday threw its weight behind Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s bid to retain his position in the 11th National Assembly, declaring that there would be “no vacancy” in the offices of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President and other principal officers who secure re-election in the 2027 general election. The endorsement, which followed a spontaneous motion moved by the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, and seconded by Senator Cyril Fasuyi, signalled an early attempt by serving lawmakers to consolidate support for the current leadership ahead of the inauguration of the next National Assembly. The lawmakers also backed the…

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has cautioned Nigerians against a range of cyber-related offences, warning that unauthorised access to personal devices and online accounts, identity impersonation, cyberbullying and the circulation of private images could attract legal consequences. He also placed financial institutions, fintech operators and telecommunications companies on notice over insider threats and weaknesses in their internal control systems, insisting that the fight against cybercrime must extend beyond technological safeguards to encompass accountability, intelligence gathering and public cooperation. Disu issued the warnings while declaring open the 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign organised by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) Managements today released the Bangkok Blueprint, a high-level framework developed in coordination with the Bank of Thailand that aims to help countries prevent, detect, and address the growing threat of cyber-enabled fraud in digital financial services. Digital finance has expanded access, innovation, and efficiency, but it has also enabled fraud to occur at greater speed, scale, and sophistication. Cyber-enabled fraud is increasingly linked to transnational organized crime and is ranked by INTERPOL as among the most threatening crimes globally, alongside drug trafficking and money laundering. “Cyber-enabled fraud has become a global…

Tinubu directs security chiefs to ensure credible 2027 elections, rescue kidnap victims nationwide and guarantee neutrality during voting. President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, presided over the National Security Council (NSC) meeting at State House, Abuja, essentially to discuss the security of the 2027 general election. The meeting, which lasted for about five hours at the first floor office of the president, was attended by National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa; and Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam. Present, also, were Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, and Special Adviser to the President…

Elon Musk has revealed Tesla’s latest model, which he claims will be the world’s first flying car, using technology from his aerospace company SpaceX to “basically fly like a rocket”. The billionaire, who hosted a demonstration of the Tesla Roadster 2 at the SpaceX rocket development and testing facility in Texas, said the sports car could go from 0 to 60mph in a record time of less than a second and had thrusters. A video of the event shows the Roadster, which he said was controlled remotely “to make sure we don’t kill anyone”, driving up a curved ramp using…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set October 24 as the deadline for political parties to report candidates wrongly omitted from the final list for the 2027 governorship election. In a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee, said parties have 14 days from the date of publication to report such omissions to the commission. Haruna said the deadline is in accordance with section 32(2) of the Electoral Act (2026). “The general public is aware of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No.…

The Federal Government has unveiled the 2026 agreements with academic and non-academic staff unions and commenced payment of approved allowances to eligible personnel nationwide, effective January 1, 2026. Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, CON, described the development as a demonstration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at improving staff welfare, strengthening industrial harmony and ensuring uninterrupted academic calendars. The agreements provide for the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) for eligible ASUP and COEASU members, alongside the Consolidated Non-Teaching Tools Allowance (CONTTA) for eligible non-teaching personnel, subject to agreed provisions and implementation guidelines. Alausa announced the…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained that it omitted some candidates from the final list for the 2027 governorship elections because their political parties failed to submit membership registers as required by law. The clarification comes amid reactions from affected parties and candidates following the publication of the final list, which excluded prominent aspirants, including the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidates in Gombe and Ogun states, Isa Pantami and Ladi Adebutu, respectively. Pantami’s omission came after he won a court-ordered rerun of the PDP governorship primary in Gombe, while Adebutu’s name and that of his running mate…

The Nigerian Communications Com­mission (NCC) has registered about 231 million telecom devices and is im­plementing a Device Checker and Type Approval Compliance framework to pre­vent counterfeit, cloned and unapproved phones from accessing mobile networks. The Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, Edoyemi Ogoh, disclosed this during a media briefing on the implementation of the Device Checker and Type Approv­al Compliance framework in Abuja on Tuesday. Ogoh said the commission had au­tomatically captured devices already operating on Nigerian networks before the verification system became fully op­erational, removing the need for exist­ing subscribers to undertake additional registration. He…