Author: Vardiafrica

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a significant advisory to Nigeria, suggesting that the country requires global cryptocurrency trading platforms to either register or obtain licenses to operate. This recommendation is part of the IMF’s latest staff report, released following their 2024 Article IV consultation with Nigeria, according to the local publication Punch. The IMF has stressed the importance of Nigeria establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework to govern its rapidly expanding cryptocurrency market. This step is seen as essential for ensuring financial stability and protecting investors by subjecting crypto exchanges to the same regulatory standards as traditional financial intermediaries. Unrecorded…

Chad’s military leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 40, who also served as the interim president has been declared the winner of Monday’s hotly disputed presidential elections according to the provisional result declared by the National Elections Management Agency. According to the East African, Deby managed 61.03% of the votes cast, finishing ahead of nine other presidential aspirants running for the number one office in the land. Deby’s 61.03% puts him slightly above the mandatory 50% of votes a presidential candidate must garner before he or she is declared winner of the elections without the need for a runoff. Deby’s main rival…

Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja has insisted that the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, must come to court and answer to the fraud allegations preferred against him by the EFCC to the tune of 80 billion naira. On April 23, the court ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to serve the former governor with the money laundering charges against him through his lawyer. In a ruling, Justice Nwite stated that the application filed by the antigraft agency, that no application be heard without the defendant being in court, was meritorious. While citing…

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have arrived in Nigeria for their 72-hour tour to promote the Invictus Games They arrived on Friday after boarding the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick, and a replacement had to be quickly arranged. Some Nigerian officials met them on arrival, just before 5 am, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. Afterward, they were taken out of a side door onto the jetty, and into a waiting blacked-out minibus. “They will be tired after their journey, so they will rest and then the…

Bandits have attacked the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Okene in Kogi, and abducted a yet-to-be ascertained number of students. Security sources said that quite a handful of students were in the class to read in preparation for the first-semester examination scheduled for Monday, May 13. The gunmen were said to have entered the classrooms on Thursday night and started shooting sporadically into the air while an unspecified number of students were whisked away. The state Security Adviser, Jerry Omadara, said the state government is monitoring the situation and will comment shortly “We are on top of…

Co-Chair of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo on Thursday in Abuja received in audience the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Executive Secretary and the Board’s top management to brief the Minister on the agency’s mandate, activities and initiatives. The presentation dwelt extensively on the Board’s third-party investments, over 60% of which are gas based. The NCDMB team informed the minister that the investments are in furtherance of the Federal Government’s plan to…

In line with his avowed commitment to establish a more efficient, targeted, and consistent approval process for unique oil and gas projects in the country, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), as the Co-Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). This is also to further ensure effective oversight of the gas aspect of the nation’s assets. The President remains committed to unlocking Nigeria’s immense gas potential to stimulate industrial development, job creation, and sustainable economic growth

The Senate has approved the death sentence as a penalty for drug traffickers in the country, as it passes through the third reading, the 2024 NDLEA Act (Amendment) Bill. The proposal was adopted on Thursday when the Senate dissolved into a committee of the whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of a report of the Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters and Drugs & Narcotics National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Senator Tahir Munguno. In a review of the penalty provisions of the amendment bill towards strengthening the operations of the agency,…

The political tension in Rivers State was heightened as Governor Siminalayi Fubara who has been at loggerheads with the State House of Assembly paid an unscheduled visit to the Assembly Quarters on Thursday. The quarters serve as the official residence for the 32 legislators of the state and also house the temporary chambers of the Martin Amaewhule-led state Assembly since the demolition of the main assembly building. Accompanied by a convoy of uniformed and civilian aides, Governor Fubara briefly toured the premises before departing to inspect the Emohua-Kalabari road, slated for inauguration as part of his upcoming first-anniversary celebrations next…

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has directed financial institutions, to ensure compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s order on compulsory registration of Point of Sales operators within the country. In a statement titled ‘ENFORCEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA DIRECTIVE ON REGISTRATION BEFORE ONBOARDING’ sent to Channels Television on Thursday, CAC said it had instructed banks to ensure registration on or before July 7, 2024. According to the CAC, in a letter to all affected banks, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Hussaini Magaji (SAN), said the instruction was in line with Section 863(1) of CAMA…