Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has slammed President Mohammadu Buhari saying he lacks the needed ideas to run the country. Fayose made this comment in Ibadan while addressing members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Oyo state chapter. The Ekiti Governor also made it clear that he does not criticise Buhari because he hates him. Fayose said “People say that I abuse Buhari, I am not abusing him because he is like my grandfather but I know the history. Eighty per cent of people that voted for Buhari in the South-West did not know him. They are between…
Author: David Folami
Cristiano Ronaldo is not the only threat to Manchester City’s hopes of reaching their first Champions League final, according to manager Manuel Pellegrini. Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane confirmed that the three-time Ballon d’Or winner was “100 percent fit” for Wednesday’s semifinal second leg at the Bernabeu. Ronaldo missed the goalless draw in the first leg with a thigh strain and while Pellegrini admitted that the Portuguese forward can make a big difference on his return to the side, he insisted that he is not the only player that City have to worry about. Pellegrini told a news conference: “Cristiano…
Jose Mourinho has congratulated Claudio Ranieri and Leicester on their Premier League title triumph. The Foxes were confirmed as English champions for the first time in their history on Monday night after closest challengers Tottenham Hotspur could only draw 2-2 with Chelsea. Mourinho guided Chelsea to the Premier League title last season, before a disastrous start to the current campaign led to him departing Stamford Bridge. However, the Portuguese said he is delighted that Ranieri — the man he replaced as Chelsea boss at the start of his first spell with the club in 2004 — has taken the crown.…
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri insists he will snub superstar signings after winning the Premier League. The Italian also wants to keep his squad together and told them they will be kings if they stay at the new champions. The Foxes, 5,000-1 outsiders at the start of the season, claimed an improbable title after Tottenham blew a 2-0 lead at Chelsea to draw 2-2 on Monday, leaving Leicester seven points clear with just two games left. They have qualified for the Champions League but despite their new status, Ranieri will not upset the squad dynamic by buying big. He said: “We…
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hailed his side’s character and fighting spirit after they lost Tuesday evening’s Champions League semifinal 2-1 at Bayern Munich but qualified for the final on away goals. Atletico went to Munich with a 1-0 lead from last week’s first leg, but Bayern soon evened things up when Xabi Alonso’s free kick was deflected past visiting Jan Oblak as reward for a super-fast start from Pep Guardiola’s side. Just after half-time, a lightning counter-attack brought a vital away goal for Atletico from Antoine Griezmann, and even though Robert Lewandowski headed the teams level on aggregate late…
Borussia Dortmund legend Mats Hummels is facing the wrath of his team’s angry fans, bitter that their club’s captain has agreed he wants to play for rivals Bayern Munich. Despite helping Dortmund to a 5-1 rout of Wolfsburg, Hummels was booed and whistled by a section of home fans in their 81 359 sell-out stadium each time he touched the ball on Saturday. The 27-year-old told Dortmund last Thursday that he wants to leave at the end of the season, with a year left on his contract, to join Bayern, who he left for Borussia in 2008. Bayern’s chairman Karl-Heinz…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes the Spanish champions took a giant step towards winning the la liga title back to back as they overcame 10-man Betis 2-0 on Saturday. Enrique’s men still need to win their two remaining games against local rivals Espanyol and Granada to be assured of winning the league after Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid were also victorious on Saturday. Only Barca’s superior head-to-head record separates them from Atletico with Real Madrid just a point behind in third. “I have the sensation that it is closer all the time,” said Enrique. “The next game we have is…
Leicester City’s Robert Huth and Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini were charged with violent conduct on Tuesday after clashing in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, the Football Association announced. Belgian midfielder Fellaini appeared to swing his elbow into Huth’s jaw after the German centre-back seemed to pull his hair in an incident missed by match referee Michael Oliver but picked up by television cameras. After referring the matter to a panel of three former elite referees, the FA elected to charge both players. “Marouane Fellaini and Robert Huth have both been charged for alleged acts of violent conduct which were…
Leicester City have the opportunity of making anything between £150 million and £250 million from their dazzling Premier League triumph, according to sports marketing experts. Even if they will gain this substantial windfall, they still have a long way to go to join the true big-money elite of world football. The club that had never won the top-flight crown in its history will cash in through the £90 million in prize money from the Premier League, and money from competing in Europe’s Champions League next season, as well as increased TV and match day revenue. With Leicester’s increasing attraction to…
Bale is the man fit and in form as Real looked to seal their place in a 14th European Cup final on Wednesday when Manchester City visit the Bernabeu with their semifinal delicately poised a 0-0 after the first leg. Bale has stood up to be counted in the absence of injured three-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo in recent weeks to keep Madrid’s hopes of a La Liga and Champions League double alive. For the first time in his three years in Madrid, the Welshman has stamped his authority on the side to demonstrate he could prove…
Claudio Ranieri warned Leicester City fans, who were still in awe on Tuesday following their team’s “unbelievable” Premier League triumph, that a repeat of this feat next season could not happen. The Foxes’ Italian manager, talking for the first time since Leicester’s victory was sealed on Monday evening when nearest rivals Tottenham Hotspur failed to beat Chelsea, said their target now as champions would be a top-10 position. Ranieri, back at the Leicester training ground and meeting up with his players for the first time since they were crowned champions, described their success as “unbelievable”. He said it was the…
Atletico Madrid got to the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons on Tuesday, progressing on away goals after a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich, in which both sides missed a penalty, with the tie finishing 2-2 on aggregate. Atletico, who will face either city rivals Real Madrid, who beat them in the 2014 final, or Manchester City, who meet in the second semifinal on Wednesday, also ruined Bayern’s treble chances after the Spaniards won the first leg 1-0 last week. Bayern took the lead with a Xabi Alonso goal in the 31st minute but Atletico levelled…
Yemi Osinbajo has said that N4.8tr was lost to fraud connected with the purchase of security equipment, during the administration of ex President Goodluck Jonathan. Osinbajo in a statement issued by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, said “When you look at the sheer amount of money that has been embezzled, the sheer amount of money lost from any of these various cases of corruption, you will find that far too much has been lost. “It was discovered a few days ago that the total amount of money lost just to corruption in the provision of…
The current Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has condemned the killing of the traditional ruler of Fadan Karshi, Bala Madaki and his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko, on Sunday, May 1, 2016, by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Tanko, was reportedly sitting for his West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations. The residents of the area say that the killing was carried out by Fulani herdsmen. They claim they have been under siege by the herdsmen since the 2011 elections in the state. According to Governor El-Rufai, security agencies in the state are investigating the killings. He said “It is a sad development. But we…
The Federal Government has confirmed it would pay subsidy on Petrol; with funds already gotten from the recoveries of the first quarter of this year. This information is contained in the latest Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, (PPPRA) template released yesterday in Abuja. The PPPRA said between January and March, the Federal Government was able to save about N10 billion as a result of selling the product above the expected open market price. According to the new template, the expected open market price of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, has risen to N99.38 per litre for independent and major oil…
The UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Fatma Samoura, has assured the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by the Boko Haram insurgency that their sufferings would soon become a thing of the past. Samoura told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja that the UN was doing everything possible to ensure that the IDPs resumed their normal lives. Samoura, who is also the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative of UN Development Programme, urged the Boko Haram insurgency victims not to give up on their current condition. “For the IDPs, I just want to encourage them that their sufferings will…
The Federal Government failed today to produce former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja for trial in corruption charges brought against him by the government. Although the witnesses in the case were assembled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in court, the trial was scuttled by the failure of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) to release Dasuki to EFCC for the trial. At the resumed of the case, counsel to the EFCC Mr Oluwaleke Atolagbe informed Justice Baba Yusuf that he had made serious efforts through the…
The president was speaking on Monday night at a meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. A statement issued on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said that President Buhari confirmed that heads of national security agencies had been ordered to take all necessary action to apprehend and expose those behind the heinous attacks. “We are determined to secure all Nigerians and I have told the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies, in very strong terms, to deal decisively with the attackers,’’…
When the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration took over on the leadership of Nigeria on May 29th last year, it ignited a lot of hope and great expectations in view of his change mantra to tear down the walls of corruption and bring back good values for all Nigerians. Sebastine Obasi writes that for the petroleum industry, which lays the golden egg that feeds the economy; expectations are even higher, as current reforms indicate that there could be a change for the better, even as Nigeria braces up for the power challenges. Is the present leadership of Nigeria’s energy sector taking…
The Edo state government has declared 5-day public holiday with effect from Tuesday May 3, 2016, as a mark of honour and respect for the Oba of Benin who recently transited to immortality. This will afford the people of the kingdom and the entire people of the state the opportunity to mourn the revered Royal Father. In a Government Special Announcement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, only those on essential services in hospitals, health centres, the Fire Service and others are exempted from observing the public holiday. The Nigerian National Flag is expected…