Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo on Saturday warned politicians and political parties against politicising the issue of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) collection in the state. He said that the state had no fewer than 480,000 uncollected PVCs and countless of unregistered persons. The governor, therefore, urged politicians and political parties in the state to set aside political sentiments and play their part in ensuring that Imo people got their PVCs in the remaining days left for the exercise. The governor had on Thursday declared Aug. 15 and Aug. 16 work-free, to enable eligible voters in the state to register and…
Author: David Folami
The Kwara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Dr Bukola Saraki to resign his appointment as the Senate President. The call was made in a statement by the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the party, Mr Bashir Bolarinwa, on Saturday in Ilorin. He said Saraki should tow the path of honour and relinquish the office of the Senate President exclusively reserved for the party with majority members in the Senate. “Members of the hallowed chamber must be truly distinguished in character and conduct. “The path of honour was led by Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio who, before defecting…
Samuel Ortom has threatened to sue the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole. The APC chairman had earlier said that some of the Governor’s aides were involved in the killing of 2 Catholic priests in Benue state. A letter read “Recall that on Friday, July 27th, 2018, you did cause a sponsored press conference to be aired on multiple television and radio stations which was also widely circulated in the print and social media. In the said sponsored press conference which was entirely centered on the person of Governor Samuel Ortom, you made very astonishing, unsubstantiated, wild…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said he has a clear favourite among the nearly 500 goals in his career — his spectacular overhead volley from distance against England in 2012. The striker scored four goals in the game, including three in the final 12 minutes, to help Sweden win the friendly, but it will be the last strike that will be remembered long after his career is over. Ibrahimovic got under a poor headed clearance from Joe Hart, and without letting the ball hit the ground, flicked the ball over his head with a flying kick, and it found the net from…
Barcelona director Ariedo Braida has said the club are unlikely to try and sign Manchester United’s Paul Pogba this month with Rafinha set to stay at the Camp Nou for now. has claimed that Barca will attempt to buy the France international before the transfer window closes in Spain, but Braida suggested those reports are untrue. “I don’t think we’re going to move for Pogba, but he’s a great player,” he told Radio Sportiva. Rafinha’s future could be linked to whether or not Barca make any more summer signings. If he stays, they are unlikely to move for another midfielder…
“All that’s missing is a 9,” ran the headline in Madrid sports daily AS after the opening game of Julen Lopetegui’s Real Madrid tenure ended in a 2-1 defeat against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. Other than serving as a thinly veiled cry for a Galactico to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, those few short words also give the impression that Lopetegui’s side played United off the pitch. That was scarcely the case. The game was conducted with the gravity a preseason cash-spinner deserves, and Real’s starting lineup contained a half-dozen players who won’t be bothering Lopetegui’s team…
Tottenham were confirmed as the winners of this summer’s International Champions Cup on Saturday, hours after also kicking off their Premier League season with a victory. Spurs’ status as ICC champions was confirmed when Inter Milan failed to beat Atletico Madrid by a wide enough margin in the final game of the friendly competition on Saturday. Mauricio Pochettino’s men beat Roma 4-1, fell to Barcelona on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and edged AC Milan 1-0 in their tour of the U.S. in July to top the table with seven points, just ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Inter on goal…
Gerard Pique has said he will not reverse his decision to retire from international football despite a recent conversation with Spain coach Luis Enrique. However, the defender says his decision stands. “I spoke with Luis Enrique a week ago,” Pique said in a news conference on Saturday ahead of the Spanish Super Cup final against Sevilla. “I told him the decision was made a while ago and that I had put a lot of thought into it. I had a great time playing for Spain but now I want to focus on Barcelona.” Despite his success, though, he was often…
Maurizio Sarri has said Chelsea must use the rest of August to improve despite getting the Premier League season off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town. Goals from N’Golo Kante, summer signing Jorginho and Pedro Rodriguez secured a convincing win for Chelsea at the John Smith’s Stadium, and club-record purchase Kepa Arrizabalaga recorded a clean sheet in relative comfort on his debut in goal. But while he said he was very happy to take three points, Sarri said that he hopes to get his players more in tune with his ideas before international commitments and…
Cristiano Ronaldo has said he is pleased with his decision to join Juventus following his departure Real Madrid after nine seasons as he prepares to play his first match for his new club. The Portugal captain said he had developed an appreciation for Juve over the years and shared his affinity for the club in an interview coinciding with the launch of their streaming Juventus TV channel. “It’s a great club, first of all,” Ronaldo said in the interview. “Since I was a child, I knew this team and I hoped that one day I could play there. … Now…
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United made it two wins from two matches at the start of their Championship campaign when they overcame Frank Lampard’s Derby County with an imperious 4-1 victory on Saturday. Alongside Aston Villa and Swansea City, Leeds are one of three sides with a 100 percent start and trail only table-topping Middlesbrough — who have played one more game — after they beat Birmingham City 1-0. Earlier on Saturday, Aston Villa were 3-2 victors against Wigan Athletic and needed a dramatic, 95th-minute winner from Birkir Bjarnason to keep up their perfect start to the campaign. Jay Fulton scored…
Unai Emery praised Danny Welbeck for his versatility and said the forward has been training at left-back as Arsenal deal with an injury crisis. However, Emery said Welbeck has shown he can play all over the pitch: “Danny Welbeck is one of the players who has a multi-position possibility. “Right winger, left winger, striker, and also yesterday he worked with us at left-back — his performance was good! I like this spirit. To help positions across the team with positive spirit.” Although English clubs can’t buy new players now that their summer window has closed, they can sell. But Emery…
Paul Pogba avoided the opportunity to end talk he is unsettled at Manchester United by insisting: “there are things that I cannot say, otherwise I will get fined.” He has been linked with moves to Barcelona and Juventus after sources said the 25-year-old was unhappy at some of Mourinho’s criticism of him during the summer. Speaking to reporters after the game against Leicester, Pogba was asked whether he is “happy and comfortable” at the club, but the £89.3 million man turned down the chance to put the speculation to bed. “There are things, and there are things that I cannot…
Thibaut Courtois has apologised for singing an offensive song about Real Madrid, following his £35 million move from Chelsea. Courtois, at his unveiling at the Bernabeu on Thursday, was quizzed by reporters after footage emerged of him singing an offensive song following Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over Real in the 2013 Copa del Rey final. (Contains strong language). And the 26-year-old, who could face former club Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup next week, said: “I was very young at that time, I got carried away in the moment. I apologised at the time and I do again now. It…
“I have as much enthusiasm for leaving Madrid as I do for dying,” Keylor Navas said after his side’s friendly victory over Roma on Tuesday in response to the arrival of Thibaut Courtois at the Bernabeu. It was an uncharacteristic choice of words by Navas, and spoken by a devout Christian was as emphatic a phrase as the Costa Rica keeper has ever uttered in a Madrid shirt. Navas’ immediate existence might have hit a snag but his response to the challenge has been crystallising for several years. Its jagged edge made the inference perfectly clear: from here, the 31-year-old…
Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool “have to be” Rocky Balboa in this season’s Premier League title race and compared Manchester City to Ivan Drago. Klopp used an analogy from the film ‘Rocky IV,’ where heavyweight boxer Balboa takes down the favourite Drago, to describe Liverpool’s task ahead in the upcoming campaign. “I know a lot of people because we were that active in the transfer window,” he said. “That’s all part of the business, but it doesn’t decide anything. “We want to — that’s clear for ages — be the champion of England or winning the league. “But how could…
Maurizio Sarri warned that it may take “a couple of months” to implement his style of football at Chelsea, adding that he is expecting his team to encounter problems in the first half of the season. Two of Chelsea’s summer signings — club-record purchase Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid loanee Mateo Kovacic — only arrived at Cobham on Wednesday, and Sarri admitted that he will need more time to get his new players up to speed with his ideas. “For sure in this moment, we are not at the top of our potential,” he said. “We did…
Son Heung-Min has said he is relishing the prospect of facing his South Korea captain Ki Sung-Yueng at Newcastle on Saturday. Ki joined Newcastle from Swansea on a free transfer after captaining South Korea in Russia. “He did very well at the World Cup,” Son said ahead of Spurs’ opening fixture at St James’ Park. “He was very excited to move to Newcastle, and I’m looking forward to playing against him. “He can bring a lot of things because he’s a very good player. He can change the side, shoot, make a good pass. He doesn’t lose a lot of…
Jose Mourinho has said last season’s second-place finish is one of his greatest achievements — and insists his team are “ready” for the new season despite failing to bolster his squad on transfer deadline day. He also included what appeared to be a dig at Jurgen Klopp, who is without a trophy in his three years at Liverpool, and Mauricio Pochettino, who is yet to win any silverware at Tottenham. “My view is that first of all is difficult for me to believe we finished second when I listen, when I read, not much but sometimes I do, it is…
Unai Emery has said the prospect of Stan Kroenke gaining total ownership of the club is “positive” after the billionaire gave him his full backing in May. Kroenke, who already owned two-thirds of the club, announced this week that minority shareholder Alisher Usmanov had agreed to sell his 30 percent stake to him. The development has angered some fans because it would mean Kroenke could force the remaining smaller shareholders to sell their combined three percent stake, taking Arsenal into private ownership. “I met the Kroenke family in Atlanta, and he gave us his commitment in this project with Arsenal,”…