The Presidency has assured all Nigerians that there is no reason to worry about the hollow outburst by Nnamdi Kanu, the disputed leader of IPOB on returning to the country “with hell’’. Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity gave the assurance in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. The presidential aide restated that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari was strong enough to defend its territory against any threat. He said: “Instead, we see the re-enactment of his bizarre, episodic threat as a mere distraction which will not be allowed to detract from…
Author: David Folami
A group in Bauchi, under the aegis of Protein and Food Vendors Association on Tuesday donated N4.2million to support the re-election campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the donation was presented to Vice President Osinbajo during the launching of the National Small and Medium Enterprise clinics, held in Bauchi. Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi, who announced the donation on behalf of the group, said the donors were impressed by the poverty alleviation programmes of the Federal Government, especially the Home – Grown School Feeding Programme. The group said…
Kayode Fayemi has denied receiving N30b from the Federal Government. This following several reports online stating that the Federal Government recently disbursed the said amount to the Ekiti state government. Lere Olayinka, the new media aide to the former Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose also alleged that the funds were disbursed. According to Vanguard, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Yinka Oyebode said Fayemi urged the people of Ekiti to disregard the reports, describing them as fake news. Oyebode said “The fact remains that the new administration has not received any money from the Federal Government or any of…
Yemi Osinbajo said in Abuja that Nigerians spent about 8 billion dollars, annually, on importation of vehicles. Osinbajo, who was represented by the Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, Jelani Aliyu, disclosed this at the 19th Abuja Motor Fair on Tuesday. “The government is fully committed to industrialisation and the mining sector to enable it create direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians “About 8 billion dollars goes to overseas for importation of vehicles while Nigerians are suffering, also most of the used vehicles imported are unsafe and not good for the citizens,’’ he said. Osinbajo said that government had…
Vice president Yemi Osinbajo said on Tuesday that corruption remained the major challenge of Nigeria, saying the country was lucky to have President Muhammadu Buhari as the nation’s leader. Osinbajo made the statement in Bauchi when he paid a courtesy visit on the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu. “One of the things that have surprised me the most in government is that it is not that we do not have money. “It is that most of the money that should be used on projects and the poor, is stolen; corruption is the major problem of this country,” he said.…
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe, on Monday commended the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for promising to give the South-West the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) slot, if elected. Ogunlewe, a former Minister of Works, gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. NAN reports that the Director-General of the Atiku Campaign Organisation (ACO), Chief Gbenga Daniel, had revealed Atiku’s SGF plan to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos. The South-West is at present not yet visible in PDP’s power equation for 2019 as the…
Lai Mohammed has described the re-emergence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, as a distraction to the country. Kanu had not been seen in public since an alleged attack on his father’s compound by soldiers on September 14, 2017, until he was pictured praying at the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, Israel, on Friday, October 19, 2018. Since his re-emergence, Kanu has addressed his followers and vowed to return to the country to lead a boycott against the 2019 general elections. “I will be back soon in the land of Biafra and I will bring…
Ike Ekweremadu is about dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), report understand. Ekweremadu recently got the PDP ticket to represent Enugu West Senatorial district for the fifth time. However, it appears that the 56-year-old lawyer and politician is dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to him by the PDP especially after the Port Harcourt primary election which produced Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate. Sources say there is a general feeling that Ekweremadu has been sidelined by the PDP after Atiku’s emergence. While condemning Ekweremadu’s alleged maltreatment, a Senator who craved anonymity said Ekweremadu would have made a better vice…
No fewer than 300 aspirants who had contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State have dumped the party. The aspirants said their decision was due to “gross injustice” allegedly meted out to them during the recent primary elections. The spokesman of the aggrieved aspirants, Sen Isah Zarewa disclosed this while briefing newsmen shortly after a meeting of the aggrieved aspirants at his residence in Kano on Monday. “In any democratic dispensation, the issue of internal democracy must be allowed to take precedence when it comes to the issue of according one the leverage to…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians in the country not to see the election process as a do-or-die affair. Ahead of the forthcoming general election, INEC urged politicians to see the process as a means to an end and not an end in itself. INEC’s National Commissioner and chairperson of its Election and Party Monitoring Committee, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, gave the warning at a workshop on Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders organised by European Centre for Electoral Support, ECES, in Abuja Tuesday, October 23, 2018. She said “This is particularly so in developing democracies…
Thomas Tuchel has admitted that the 3-2 defeat away at Liverpool to open Champions League Group C prompted him to make changes. The German tactician saw his team come from 2-0 down to be level at 2-2 until a last-gasp Roberto Firmino winner, but the Ligue 1 giants have reacted strongly after the loss. A 6-1 mauling of Red Star Belgrade followed in Europe and Tuchel stressed the importance of PSG being at their best in the next few weeks. “We have changed many things in the way we play since losing to Liverpool,” said the former Borussia Dortmund and…
Jordi Alba is confident Barcelona can overcome Lionel Messi’s absence against Inter Milan and Real Madrid this week but warned there’s no one in the world capable of filling in directly for the Argentine. Messi is set for three weeks on the sidelines after fracturing a bone in his arm during Saturday’s win over Sevilla. He will miss Wednesday’s Champions League game against Inter as well as Sunday’s Clasico and may not reappear again until after the November international break. “There is no other player that can substitute Leo, however good they are,” Alba said in a news conference on…
Pep Guardiola hailed the best 45 minutes of his time at Manchester City as they regained control of Group F with an impressive 3-0 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk. City had made a disastrous start to the Champions League with a shock defeat at home to Lyon but have now moved top after following up their win over Hoffenheim with a victory in Ukraine. David Silva and Aymeric Laporte gave them a 2-0 half-time lead, which could have been much greater but for a number of missed opportunities, before second-half substitute Bernardo Silva added a third. “Our first half was the…
Sadio Mane is in contention to play for Liverpool in Wednesday’s Champions League encounter with Red Star Belgrade, but Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita have been ruled out with hamstring injuries. Mane sat out Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield Town after undergoing surgery on the fractured thumb he sustained while on international duty with Senegal. Henderson, meanwhile, came off at half-time at Huddersfield after complaining about his hamstring, while Keita is still suffering from the issue he picked up when playing for Guinea. “Sadio looked good in training the last two days. He trained completely normal, so if nothing happens he…
Jose Mourinho has urged Manchester United’s transfer chiefs to splash the cash if they want to be classed as a Champions League contender. United were beaten 1-0 by Juventus at Old Trafford on Tuesday night thanks to Paulo Dybala’s first-half goal. Mourinho admitted afterwards there was a gap in quality between the teams and pointed to Juventus’ transfer policy as one of the reasons after the Italian champions added Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonardo Bonucci to a squad that was already dominating Serie A. It comes after a summer during which Mourinho spent £68 million to sign three players but was…
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is ready to snub interest from Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich to stay at the club, sources have said. The Frenchman’s contract is set to expire in 2020 once United trigger a one-year extension. And United are growing increasingly confident they will be able to tie down Martial with a new five-year deal, sources have said. Martial’s agent indicated in the summer the player wanted to leave Old Trafford while his relationship with manager Jose Mourinho was soured when he failed to return to the preseason tour of the U.S. after leaving to attend…
Massimiliano Allegri has said his side should have beaten Manchester by more than the 1-0 scoreline they left Old Trafford with. Paulo Dybala’s first half goal was enough for the Bianconeri to secure the victory and maintain their 100 percent start to this season’s Champions League. The visitors dominated possession; and Allegri said that better decisions in the final third could have led to a bigger winning margin. “We were very good in the air, with [Giorgio] Chiellini and [Leonardo] Bonucci, whilst I liked Alex Sandro a lot — both in the defensive phase and from a technical point of…
Marcelo has said he has not received an offer from Juventus, amid reports of interest from the Serie A side. Marcelo was first linked with Juve over the summer, when Cristiano Ronaldo moved there from Madrid, and Tuttosport reported this week that he hoped a move could happen as soon as January. Speaking after he had been whistled by angry fans and then scored in a 2-1 Champions League group win over Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday, Marcelo told reporters he had not received an offer and that his goal celebration had not been a personal message to the crowd. “I…
Eden Hazard will not feature for Chelsea against BATE Borisov in the Europa League on Thursday and faces a battle to be fit for Sunday’s trip to Burnley in the Premier League, head coach Maurizio Sarri has confirmed. The Belgian walked off the Stamford Bridge pitch clutching his back and grimacing after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United. Sarri was always likely to rest Hazard for the visit of BATE to Stamford Bridge as he rotates his team for the Europa League, but the Italian also said that his superstar’s participation at Turf Moor is in doubt. “Tomorrow he is…
It’s no secret that when it comes to non-footballing hobbies, Neymar is heavily into comic books and body art. Indeed, the Brazilian’s extra-curricular passions came together last month when the first issue of his new graphic novel series, “Inked: Art Animates Life” (a story about a superhero with magical tattoos), was launched. Skip forward a few weeks and Neymar is once again combining his twin loves in the latest addition to his own personal tattoo collection. Already covered head to toe in ink, the PSG forward managed to find a bit of free space on his back for a couple…