Author: Vardiafrica

President Trump intends to meet in person with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as soon as next week, and he plans to follow up shortly afterward with a meeting between himself, Mr. Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the plan. Mr. Trump disclosed his plans on Wednesday in a call with European leaders, which included Mr. Zelensky, the people said. The meetings would include only the three men, and would not include European counterparts. Asked later Wednesday if Russia and Ukraine had agreed to the summit, Mr. Trump told reporters: “There’s a…

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that a significant number of abandoned estates in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria were owned by civil servants who used stolen public funds to finance their construction. According to him, some of the estates have been left incomplete and unoccupied for over a decade due to the sudden halt in illegal financial inflows once their civil servant-owners exit public office. “It will shock you that some of these estates have been abandoned for 10 to 20 years,” he said. “They just take it to a level,…

Ghana’s ministers of defence and environment have died in a military helicopter crash in the central Ashanti region, along with six other people, a government spokesperson says. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed,50, were killed in the crash, which Chief of Staff Julius Debrah described as a “national tragedy”. Earlier, the Ghana Armed Forces said the Z9 helicopter, which was carrying three crew and five passengers, had gone “off the radar”. It had taken off from the capital, Accra, at 09:12 local time (and GMT) and was heading to the town of…

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to establish a White House task force to coordinate the federal government’s preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, using the occasion to rail against transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. The task force is a mirror image of a similar group overseeing the federal preparations for next year’s World Cup in the United States. The group is meant to centralize all the various planning operations that will need to work in sync to make a massive event like the Olympics go smoothly. But even while touting the unifying spirit of the Olympics, Trump delved…

The Federal Government has warned about a five-day period of flooding due to heavy rainfall across 19 states and 76 locations. The National Flood Early Warning Systems Centre of the Federal Ministry of Environment made the forecast on Tuesday. They have now advised stakeholders and residents to take urgent precautionary measures. The affected areas are expected to experience rainfall likely to cause flooding from August 5 to August 9, 2025. The predicted states and locations are Akwa-Ibom (Edor, Eket, Ikom, Oron, Upenekang); Bauchi (Tafawa-Balewa, Azare, Jama’are, Kari, Misau, Jama’a); Ebonyi (Abakaliki, Echara, Ezilo); Cross-River (Ogoja Edor, Obubra); Nasarawa (Keana, Keffi,…

The Anti-Corruption Commissioner for the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, in Rivers and Bayelsa States, Mrs. Ekere Usiere, has advised staff of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to distance themselves from corrupt practices. Speaking during the quarterly anti-corruption sensitisation workshop at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Usiere acknowledged the critical role played by the Commission as an interventionist agency and noted the necessity to undertake periodic sensitisation of staff as an antidote to corrupt practices. She commended the NDDC and its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit, ACTU, for organising the sensitisation exercise with the theme: “Infractions/Offences in Anti-Graft Laws;…

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) confirms that it has received reports concerning a serious breach of aviation safety protocols by a ValueJet pilot at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja (Domestic Terminal) on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.  Preliminary information indicates that the pilot in question commenced departure procedures from the designated bay without adhering to the mandatory pre-departure clearance protocols. This reckless action endangered the safety of ground personnel and other airport users, contravening established civil aviation regulations and international safety standards. The NCAA views this incident with utmost seriousness. Consequently, the Authority has taken immediate enforcement action by…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assented to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Bill, 2025, a landmark legislation to strengthen Nigeria’s financial sector and accelerate the nation’s march towards a $1 trillion economy. The Act now provides zero tolerance to delays in claims insurance settlement and support digitisation of the insurance market to improve access and efficiency. The reform introduced by the new law is expected to catalyse new investments, boost consumer confidence, and position Nigeria as a leading insurance hub in Africa. A statement by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Presidential Spokesperson, announcing the assent stated that the development reaffirms the Tinubu…

The Nigerian First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has donated the sum of 1 billion to support victims of various disasters in Niger State. She announced the donation during a sympathy visit to Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago at the Government House in Minna, Niger State, North-Central Nigeria. This marks the second humanitarian visit by the President’s wife to Niger State this year. During her first visit in February, she donated 100 million to assist victims of the Dikko Junction tanker explosion. This latest 1 billion donation is aimed to support communities affected by floods, banditry, boat mishaps, and fire outbreaks across…

Rwanda on Tuesday became the third African nation to agree to accept deportees from the United States under the Trump administration’s plans to send migrants to countries they have no ties with to get them off American soil. Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told The Associated Press in a statement that the East African country would accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S., with “the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement” under the agreement. Makolo didn’t provide a timeline for any deportees to arrive in Rwanda or say if they would arrive at once or in several…