Author: Vardiafrica

The Court of Appeal has dismissed the petition filed by the Labour Party and its governorship candidate Udengmobofa Eradiri, challenging the emergence of Governor Douye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party, as governor of Bayelsa State in the November 2023 election. The three-man panel of the appellate court held that the tribunal was right in dismissing the LP’s petition for lacking in merit. The court held that Eradiri and his party failed to prove allegations of non qualification and certificate forgery against Governor Diri and his deputy, as contained in their petition. The court also held that the tribunal was…

Four people have been rescued after a section of a two-storey residential apartment collapsed in Abuja on Saturday morning, with several people trapped in the rubble. This comes less than 24 hours after a school building collapsed on pupils in Plateau State, killing 22 and injuring one hundred and thirty-two persons. It is also eleven days after another building collapsed at Unity House, Area 11, Garki, in Abuja. The collapsed building is located beside Cupid Hotel, Sultan Dansuki Road, Phase 2, Site 2, Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. The FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD) was notified of the…

The Federal Executive Council has approved a $21 million project to install metres at all 187 crude oil flow stations in the Niger Delta. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, announced this at a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, saying that the initiative aims to ensure accurate accounting of the country’s crude oil production using digital platforms. Lokpobiri also mentioned that part of this digital strategy includes implementing a system to track all crude oil vessels from their point of origin in the Niger Delta to their final destinations worldwide. “One of the key approvals of the Federal…

The Nigeria Police Force is set to commence the enforcement of the digitalized Central Motor Registry (e-CMR) within the next 14 days, specifically on the 29th of July, 2024. This, according to police, is to rejuvenate and digitalize the motor vehicle registration system, significantly bolstering our nation’s safety and security framework. A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the e-CMR is an advanced, real-time online repository of motor vehicle data, designed to support police investigations, operational activities, and combat vehicle-related crimes, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery. The transition to a digitalized system will…

Meta said Friday it was lifting restrictions on US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, ending measures put in place after his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in 2021. It said that “former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties.” Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended indefinitely a day after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and it was determined he had praised people engaged in violence on social media. His accounts were reinstated in February 2023 but with a…

The organised labour consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has maintained that its N250,000 demand and the N62,000 figure submitted by the tripartite committee for new minimum wage remain until after discussions with President Bola Tinubu. While labour insists on N250,000 as a new minimum wage, the committee had pegged it at N62,000. But during a Thursday meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, the organised labour led by the NLC President Joe Ajaero and his TUC counterpart Festus Osifo said nothing has changed about the demands. Ajaero said the meeting…

President Bola Tinubu has hailed the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy, saying Nigerians, especially the poor, will be able to hold their local leaders to account. The apex court had on Thursday declared that it is unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for local governments. The Supreme Court also barred governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils, saying that doing so would amount to a breach of the 1999 Constitution. Shortly after the ruling, the President said an ineffective local government administration is a fundamental challenge to the nation’s advancement over the years. “By…

President Bola Tinubu is currently in another closed-door meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima and some governors in his office at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday. The ongoing meeting kicked off almost immediately after the President concluded discussions with the leaders of the Organised Labour, who met with him to discuss issues around the expected new national minimum wage. The governors in the meeting included the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara; Charles Soludo of Anambra; and Usman Ododo of Kogi. Although the agenda of the ongoing meeting could not be ascertained as at…

Kenyan President William Ruto announced Thursday the dismissal of almost his entire cabinet and consultations to form a “broad-based government”, as he scrambled to contain the fallout of deadly protests against his administration The East African nation was left reeling after peaceful rallies last month over steep tax increases escalated into violence with police firing at crowds who stormed parliament, leaving it partly ablaze. Organised online and led largely by young, Gen-Z Kenyans, the protests plunged Ruto’s administration into the most serious crisis of his presidency, forcing him to abandon the finance bill containing the tax hikes. In the latest…

Leaders of the Organised Labour are in a closed-door session with President Bola Tinubu over a new minimum wage for workers in the country. President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero; and his counterpart at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, were spotted arriving at the State House in Abuja on Thursday afternoon for the meeting. The President is expected to make a decision on the ₦62,000 proposal of the government and private sector side; as well as the ₦250,000 demand of the Organised Labour. The meeting is coming about a month after the President said in…