The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that there may be at least 100 political parties contecting for elective positions in the 2019 general elections. The commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this while speaking at an election stakeholders’ summit in Abuja. “As at June 8, 2018, we have received requests from 138 associations to register as political parties to join the already 68 registered political parties. So, we may have more than the 68 registered political parties before the 2019 general elections,” he said. While he expressed concern that the additions could prove problematic and have a significant…
Author: David Folami
France are through to the last 16 of the World Cup after beating Peru 1-0 in Ekatrinburg thanks to a first-half Kylian Mbappe strike. It was not pretty at times, but Les Bleus got the job done after Didier Deschamps made two changes to the starting XI that beat Australia in the Group C opener last Saturday. The result and qualification. It might not have been the sexiest win, but France have made it out of the group stage after two matches and will advance in top spot if they can avoid defeat against Denmark. With the pressure well and…
Patrice Evra has said he mocked Arsenal as a “baby team” when Robin van Persie joined Manchester United — and that the striker “understood straight away” what he meant. Van Persie left Arsenal in 2012 after turning down a contract extension, saying the club’s ambition didn’t match his own. He signed for United instead and won the Premier League title in his first season there — which proved to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last as a manager. When Evra highlighted the work ethic United had under Ferguson, he recalled how he and Van Persie talked about the differences from Arsenal,…
Four years ago, Ahmed Musa scored two spectacular goals as Nigeria came within a Marcos Rojo header of tying Argentina and finishing as group winners at the World Cup in Brazil. Instead, the defender scored from a corner kick, and the Super Eagles lost 3-2. They advanced in second place, having beaten Bosnia in the second game of the group, but had to contend with France in the Last 16 and lost 2-0. The CSKA Moscow forward was unplayable against Messi and co., and could well have had a hat trick. But between then and very recently, a combination of…
Hugo Lloris has praised Peru for their effort and called the match like playing an away game after Les Bleus won 1-0 in Yekaterinburg on Thursday to move to the top of Group C and confirm the South Americans exit before the round of 16. Kylian Mbappe’s first-half strike secured all three points for the French and Lloris, who made an excellent low save to deny opposing captain Paolo Guerrero in the first half, admitted that the Peruvians did not give up without a fight. “Peru were aggressive, as we expected them to be,” the Tottenham Hotspur keeper told journalists…
Neymar will start against Costa Rica on Friday but may need to play five games before he’s fully fit, Brazil coach Tite said after the star forward left training on Tuesday with an ankle injury. Brazil, one of the favourites for the World Cup, could only manage a draw in their opening Group E match against Switzerland as Neymar played in just his second game since breaking a bone in his foot in February. “It’s still the same prognosis. He played his first 90 minutes [against Switzerland] in three and a half months,” Tite said in a news conference. “There…
Gerard Pique has said he is willing to speak with the Barcelona hierarchy about his role in a documentary in which Antoine Griezmann turned down an offer from the club. Griezmann revealed he would stay at Atletico Madrid last week in “The Decision,” which was produced by Kosmos Studios, a company owned by Pique. Barca vice-president Jordi Mestre said earlier this week that the club planned to speak to Pique and Samuel Umtiti, who publicised his France teammate’s programme via social media, about their involvement after the World Cup. “They have my number, they can call me to talk,” Pique…
Luka Modric said Croatia “cut off” Lionel Messi from the ball but insisted his side’s 3-0 win over Argentina was not as straightforward as it appeared. Croatia limited Messi to only one shot after the Argentina talisman took 11 in their first game, a 1-1 draw with Iceland, and Modric said it all went according to plan. “This result and Argentina’s poor display was due to our good game, our compact block all over the pitch, particularly when we didn’t have the ball,” Modric said in his postgame news conference. “We cut off Messi, stopped him receiving the ball. He’s…
Nigeria captain John Mikel Obi says he will play anywhere on the pitch if that is what it takes to help the Super Eagles win. Chatter in the media and among fans after the Croatia loss has been that Gernot Rohr wrongly deployed Mikel as an attacking rather than a defensive midfielder in the 2-0 defeat. José Mourinho, who coached Mikel through his formative years and all the way to maturity while at Chelsea, added more fuel to the fire by saying that Nigeria “lost a great 6 to get a bad 10”. In response to a question by KweséESPN…
Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli took full blame for Argentina’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to Croatia in their second Group D game on Thursday. The South Americans crumbled after an awful error from goalkeeper Willy Caballero led to Ante Redic’s second-half opener in Nizhny Novgorod. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic then added two more goals late to put the game out of reach, with Argentina defenders appearing to give up on Rakitic’s stoppage-time strike. Speaking to reporters after the match, Sampaoli said the responsibility for his side’s below-par performance falls squarely on him. “I am the only one responsible for making the…
Audu Ogbeh has accused a neighbouring African country of trying to damage Nigeria’s economy by smuggling rice into the country. While speaking in Abuja on Monday, June 18, 2018, the minister alleged that an unnamed neighbouring country, which Nigeria shares borders with, is importing more rice than China so it can smuggle it into Nigeria and destroy the federal government’s initiative to grow rice locally. According to him, the government will soon close the border it shares with said neighbour to foil its plot and encourage local rice production that will sustain Nigeria’s economy. He said, “Our other problem is…
Beyonce aOn Saturday afternoon, wherever you were, you likely received a text message (or, more likely, a flurry of texts) alerting you to the arrival of a SURPRISE NEW BEYONCÉ ALBUM!!!!! (usually followed by an incomprehensible string of emojis). O.K., O.K., a few of the texts might have mentioned Jay-Z’s involvement, as well. Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s joint album—Everything Is Love (an exclamation that feels more like something you’d see on Kanye West’s Twitter feed in 2018 than a Beyoncé album cover)—was released on Tidal on Saturday in the late afternoon, announced by a few Beyoncé Instagram posts and a Twitter…
Eden Hazard said he only wants to stay at Chelsea beyond this summer if the club is in a position to improve on last season. Chelsea disappointed despite winning the FA Cup last season, finishing fifth in the Premier League, and are yet to sign any new players or settle their managerial situation despite both Hazard and Thibaut Courtois publicly challenging the club to show ambition this summer before deciding their futures. “If I stay, it’s for the team to be better than it was than in the season we have just gone through,” Hazard told L’Equipe. “I don’t want…
Harry Kane has said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino texted to congratulate him on the two goals that beat Tunisia on Monday. Spurs star Kane struck early and again in the first minute of stoppage time as England began their World Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory. “Poch sent me a text message with lots of love hearts emojis and he wrote: ‘Come on, England!'” Kane said after the match. “He is rooting for us. He has a lot of lads in the squad. I get on very well with him. He is my boss, the manager, but he is a…
Philipp Lahm expects World Cup holders Germany to pull together after their 1-0 opening defeat at the hands of Mexico and to find “a common path towards the right solution” for their tactical problems. Speaking on his role as ambassador of Germany’s Euro 2024 bid, the 34-year-old captain of the 2014 winners said the team faced similar difficulties in 2010 and four years ago, when poor results in their second games (against Serbia and Ghana, respectively) had put their progress from the group stage temporarily in doubt. “We have seen it before: sometimes a negative result can have a positive…
Poland coach Adam Nawalka said it was “kind of curious” how M’Baye Niang reentered the pitch to score the decisive goal in Senegal’s 2-1 victory on Tuesday. An own goal by Thiago Cionek late in the first half preceded the appalling defensive mix-up that let Niang score into an empty net on the hour. Nawalka had sympathy for his team over the second goal as Grzegorz Krychowiak looped a high-risk 50-yard back pass straight into the path of Niang, who was then presented with an open goal after keeper Wojciech Szczesny rushed outside his box but failed to reach the…
Luka Modric believes his team’s 2-0 victory over Nigeria on Saturday turned up the heat on Group D favourites Argentina. Modric scored a second-half penalty to secure the win after Croatia went ahead through a first-half own goal by Nigeria midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo. The result left the European side top of the group ahead of Iceland and Argentina, who drew 1-1 draw earlier in the day. Crotia face Argentina next on Thursday in Nizhny Novgorod, and Modric said their respective table positions gives his side an edge. “They [Argentina] have quality but this win will boost our confidence and I…
Dries Mertens said it was a “big relief” to score his fine volley that put Belgium on their way to a 3-0 win over Panama to open the World Cup. Belgium were frustrated for the first 45 minutes but Mertens broke the deadlock two minutes after the restart with a superb shot into the opposite corner beyond a helpless Jaime Penedo in the Panama goal. “The first goal was a big relief for everyone. It was really difficult,” Mertens said after the game. “You know when you begin at a World Cup after a long preparation and then it’s finally…
Jack Wilshere has decided to leave Arsenal, ending a 17-year stint at his boyhood club after being told he wouldn’t be a prominent part of Unai Emery’s rebuilding process. Wilshere confirmed in an Instagram post on Tuesday that he will not sign a new contract and that he was left with “no option but to pursue other opportunities.” Wilshere’s current deal expires in two weeks, and the 26-year-old has agreed to move on after learning he would see his playing time reduced under Emery, the new Arsenal coach who took over from Arsene Wenger in May. The move comes as…
Rivaldo doesn’t want to talk about tactics. “The team is in good shape,” he said of Brazil ahead of their Group E opener against Switzerland on Sunday, speaking in his capacity as a Betfair World Cup ambassador, but that’s about the limit of the analysis as far as Tite’s system is concerned. What Rivaldo really wants to get into is the mental side of being at a World Cup: the business of coping with pressure, overcoming difficulties, writing a new story for oneself. These are subjects the current crop of Brazil players would do well to confront head on as…