Four of the top Premier League’s top five were kept apart in Saturday’s draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals as Manchester United host Brighton, whilst Chelsea visit Leicester. Tottenham Hotspur face a trip to Sheffield Wednesday or Swansea, who need a replay after Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Hillsborough, should Mauricio Pochettino’s men overcome third-tier Rochdale on Sunday. Manchester City continue their quest for a historic quadruple of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup with a fifth round trip to Wigan on Monday. The ties will be played between March 16 and 19. Draw in full: Sheffield Wednesday…
Author: David Folami
Goodluck Jonathan has said the All Progressives Congress (APC), has failed to fulfill its campaign promises as well as restoring hope to the people. He said: “I believe that PDP will return to power in 2019 if we continue to build confidence especially as the ruling party has failed to meet up their promises and give hope to the people. “Propaganda may help you win elections but can’t help you govern and that is what APC has seen in the last 32 months.” “Holding presidential election first will affect the quality of persons that will emerge in other polls because…
Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has asked for the promotion of Nigerian culture to attain the SDGs. She expressed the government’s readiness to do whatever it could to achieve sustainable development in the country, without compromising the future generation. “Nigeria has a rich culture that is one of the best in the world, and it should be properly harnessed to create wealth and bring about sustainable development. “Nigeria has all it takes to be great since we are blessed with abundant human and natural resources. “These resources should be a…
Members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have been called to obtain their permanent voter’s card. The call was made by the leadership of the movement as stated by National Secretary, Ibem Ugwuoke, in a statement issued on Friday, February 16, 2018. “MASSOB orders all Biafrans that are constitutionally eligible to vote to immediately go for voter registration card in the nearest INEC office. That possession of the Nigeria’s voter card is not merely for Nigeria’s elections only but for Biafra Referendum as the only identification card for eligibility of the people that…
Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives from Lagos State on Saturday endorsed Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode for a second term in office. “We are members of the House of Representatives APC caucus from Lagos State. “We all came into Lagos today to perform a very unique and sacred duty; something we did not take very lightly at all; something we deliberated over a couple of days ago and we spoke with one voice. “Because of the giant strides of our amiable governor in the last two and a half years in governing the state, we…
A part of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has issued a query to the Kaduna state Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and suspended some of his aides. Those suspended by the new faction include: Political Adviser, Mallam Uba Sani; Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Abdu Kwari and the acting state secretary of the party, Yahaya Pate. Governor El-Rufai, in his response, dismissed the query, describing the new group as political traders. He also said that he will remain committed to providing good governance to people of Kaduna. El-Rufai said that he will not “pay heed to the attention-seeking gambits of desperate politicians, who…
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu recently visited Sokoto, where he met with Gov. Aminu Tambuwal and his predecessor, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko. Speaking briefly to reporters after the meeting, Tinubu said he was in Sokoto for a family meeting. “Family members meet regularly to talk to each other and I’m here for that purpose. “We had a family talk, in talk of today, tomorrow and the future of our country and our ruling APC,” he said. Tina but was recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to reconcile the various warring parties within the APC.
Olusegun Obasanjo has said he would commit suicide if he finds out Nigeria has no single ray of hope. “If I believe that Nigeria has no hope, I will find a way of committing suicide immediately. Then what am I living for? I am an incurable optimist about Nigeria. Nigeria has hope. “If you are a person without hope, you are a person without life. How can I therefore say Nigeria has no hope?” he said. He said: “There are many things that we should have done that we have not done as we should have done them. There is…
Muhammadu Buhari has blasted the attacks that reportedly led to the death of 41 people in Birane village, Zurmi local government area of Zamfara state on Thursday, February 14, 2018. He strongly condemned the massacre and commiserated with the families of the victims of the “heinous and inhuman attacks”. According to the statement, the president has directed security agencies to immediately mobilise and deploy their members to the vulnerable areas of the state, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to face the full wrath of the law. The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Muhammad Shehu, said…
The Nigerian Army on Friday dismissed as “misleading” reports indicating that the Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, escaped to Cameroun. “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a news story on some news medium, alleging that the wanted factional terrorists’ group leader, Abubakar Shekau, is in Kolofata, Republic of Cameroun. “The report alleged that a top Boko Haram commander; Abdullahi Bello, alias Abu Zainab, who was captured by the Nigerian Army on February 14, disclosed that Shekau escaped to Cameroun. “This is not true; the Nigerian Army did not arrest such person, neither do we have…
The Kwara State government has denied claims by a group that workers in the State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are paid in cash. The state government said all categories of workers in the state are paid through electronic means into individual bank accounts. The statement said with reference to the State Ministry of Justice and other MDAs, only travelling allowances and other petty transactions are cash-based while all other payments are done electronically. It also noted that the state government has embraced e-payment, which is in line with the Federal Government’s cashless policy. It added the electronic system has…
Harry Kane is a doubt for Tottenham Hotspur’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Rochdale on Sunday but Lucas Moura is expected to make his full debut. “He twisted his ankle, he received some knocks,” Pochettino said of Kane. “We need to assess [on Saturday] if he’s fit. Maybe he has the possibility to start. “If he’s not 100 percent and there’s not the possibility to play 90 minutes, then maybe he’ll be on the bench. Or if we see that he’s not capable of half an hour or 20 minutes, then he’ll stay here.” On Moura, a £24.5 million January…
Paulo Dybala is back in contention for Juventus as they ready themeselves to take on local rivals Torino on Sunday. “Having Paulo back is very important and means we can raise our level of quality that much more,” full-back Alex Sandro told the club’s official website. Sandro insists there is a “positive spirit” in the Juve camp and added: “The draw with Tottenham was not a negative result. “We played a great game, as did our opponents. In the Champions League, the challenges are always difficult but we’re going to London with the intention of winning and we know we…
Gabriel Jesus is back to full training but faces a race to be in contention for the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Wigan Athletic on Monday. He will take part in training on Friday and coach Pep Guardiola said the first team would have two more training sessions before playing the League One side. “Today he is going to play in part of the session, it’s good news,” Guardiola told a news conference. “I don’t know when he’ll be ready to be with us, the first step is to have one or two weeks training alone and today is the…
Gianluigi Buffon has no qualms being in touch with his softer side and has admitted that crying makes him “feel human.” “I cry often and I cry alone. Crying helps — it frees you and makes you feel human,” Buffon said during the filming of a documentary called “First Team: Juventus.” “I never cry for football. I can be touched but it’s not about the defeat itself. “It’s something more complex and romantic.”
Antonio Conte has said that he is confident Alvaro Morata will be fit to face Barcelona, adding that he plans to give the Spain international more minutes to regain his sharpness in the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Hull City on Friday at Stamford Bridge. “Alvaro has been training with us regularly, every day,” Conte said. “His physical condition is improving. Tomorrow, he will play a part of the game. He will be ready for the game against Barcelona in the Champions League.” Morata’s return does give the Chelsea coach two genuine senior strikers to pick from again as Olivier…
Diego Simeone has asked his team’s fans to help keep reported Barcelona and Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann happy at his current club. “I know [Griezmann] as I have him here every day,” Simeone said. “He is a fantastic kid, always happy, humble, motivated, with an enormous heart. A guy who helps the dressing room, is always involved. If I was an Atletico fan, I would do everything possible not to lose Griezmann. He has improved thanks to the work with the coaching staff here. When Griezmann is playing well he is a decisive player.” “We just think about the…
Sandro Wagner’s header and substitute Robert Lewandowski’s penalty sealed Bayern Munich’s last-minute comeback 2-1 win against Wolfsburg, who had the temerity to take the lead through Daniel Didavi in the eighth minute. The Bundesliga champions could even afford the luxury of Arjen Robben’s missed penalty nine minutes after the break. 7 — Happily recovered from the flu which forced him to oversleep during last weekend’s win over his former side Schalke, Jupp Heynckes took the opportunity to wield the rotation axe with Tuesday’s Champions League game against Besiktas very much in mind — as Bayern sealed their 21st win in…
Ernesto Valverde has said he will only talk about the possibility of Andres Iniesta moving to China when there’s an offer on the table. The midfielder has always said that he won’t outstay his welcome at Barca and that he will leave the club if he ever feels he is no longer contributing. “If that happens, if he had an offer, we would talk about it,” Valverde said in a news conference when asked if he feared losing Iniesta this summer. “But I have nothing to say about it at the moment because I have not even thought about it.…
Hector Bellerin has said that Alexis Sanchez’s demanding attitude could be “too much” for his teammates at times, but downplayed talk about a dressing room divide over the Chilean. “Alexis is an amazing player, for me one of the best players in the Premier League for sure. But he’s a player who always wants to win. He demands from everyone, and sometimes it can be quite too much,” Bellerin responded. “But the good thing about him, he just wants to win, it doesn’t matter who he’s playing for. At that time when he was playing for Arsenal, he just wanted…