Two ministers-designate, Stephen Ocheni (Kogi) and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe) would be inaugurated as Federal Executive Council (FEC) members on Wednesday, the Presidency has said. A Presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, announced this in his twitter handle late Tuesday night, July 25, 2017 and said that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo would perform the ceremony. Akande said that the inauguration of the ministers would precede the FEC meeting at the council’s chamber of the Presidential Villa. “Ag. President Osinbajo would be swearing in the two new ministers already confirmed by the Senate tomorrow morning at the start of the Federal Executive Council meeting,’’…
Author: David Folami
The Lagos State Government, on Monday gave 48 hours to people trading or living under and around Obalende flyover to quit. The Chairman of Lagos State Taskforce on Environment, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, gave the order when he visited the area to intimate the people of the government’s plan to demolish illegal structures within the vicinity. Egbeyemi said that the people had been served quit notices four years ago and that Gov. Akinwumi Ambode visited the area six months ago to restate the need for them to move. ”Lagos State Government has resolved that no bridge would be a hideout for…
Chelsea were caught cold in the heat of Singapore as three early goals from Bayern Munich gave the German champions a 3-2 win at the International Champions Cup (ICC). A Thomas Muller double and a Rafinha strike saw Bayern race into a 3-0 lead in the first half-hour as the shell-shocked English champions were overrun. Marcos Alonso pulled one back before half-time to keep things respectable before the second half saw new £58m striker Alvaro Morata make his Chelsea debut and Michy Batshuayi grab his second goal in two games. Here are three things we learned from Chelsea’s ICC clash…
Manchester United fans will give short shrift to the idea that Cristiano Ronaldo could return to Old Trafford, should he fall out with Real Madrid again next summer. A month ago, Ronaldo’s people were briefing strongly that he wanted to return to his former club and there was no shortage of journalists prepared to do his bidding. There were enough United supporters interested for it to be headline news, but not again. He’s the boy who cries wolf too often and Ronaldo should be more respectful to the club and fans that were so good to him. United were interested,…
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson insists the squad has enough quality even if manager Jurgen Klopp fails to make more signings before the start of the season. Roma winger Mohamed Salah, Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke and Hull left-back Andrew Robertson are the only new arrivals at Anfield so far this summer. And the Reds have been rebuffed with two bids to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita and had to publicly withdraw their interest in Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk after becoming embroiled in a tapping-up row. Robertson, midfielder Emre Can, returning from extended leave after Confederations Cup duty with Germany,…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not be a Manchester United player anymore but Paul Pogba says the injured striker is still having a big impact at the club. The 35-year-old confounded the doubters with an explosive first season at Old Trafford, plundering 28 goals before injury brought his campaign to an abrupt end in April. Ibrahimovic sustained serious knee ligament damage and will likely be out for the rest of 2017, so it was little surprise that United chose not to extend his huge deal beyond the summer. However, the Swede is undergoing rehabilitation with United and Jose Mourinho has opened the…
Manchester City are making a late bid to try to complete a world-record transfer for Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe, sources have said. City are moving quickly to seal a potential £160 million (€180m) move for the 18-year-old France international with Real Madrid also desperate to conclude a deal. Spanish newspaper Marca has reported that Real and Monaco have an agreement in principle at that price for the teenager. But City are prepared to match any offer and any deal for the French star is certain to break the world record £89m spent by Manchester United for Paul Pogba last summer.…
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Eric Bailly’s extended European ban is excessive punishment. The 23-year-old missed May’s Europa League triumph against Ajax after being sent off in the semifinal second leg against Celta Vigo, and is now set to miss miss next month’s UEFA Super Cup as well. UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary board announced on Monday that the Ivorian would now serve an additional two-game suspension, ruling him out of next month’s Super Cup meeting with Real Madrid and their first Champions League group match. Bailly put a hand into John Guidetti’s face, with Celta defender Facundo Roncaglia…
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is the all-time top scorer in Mexico’s history and third on the list of Mexican players to score in Europe (behind only Hugo Sanchez and Carlos Vela). But as he prepares to join West Ham, his time at Bayer Leverkusen has shown one thing: that he thrives when given a chance to shine. Hernandez never settled at Manchester United after spending five years at the club having arrived from Guadalajara in 2010. And when Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal and assistant Ryan Giggs exchanged a knowing glance when the striker missed a second-half penalty in a…
Manchester United are four games into their preseason programme and Jose Mourinho’s team have beaten LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Manchester City and Real Madrid. They have got three games to come against Barcelona in Washington DC, Valerenga in Oslo and Sampdoria in Dublin before the serious business starts. Mourinho has already identified the Super Cup with Real Madrid in Macedonia on Aug. 8 as the start of United’s season. It comes five days before the start of the Premier League campaign against West Ham at Old Trafford on Aug. 13. There have, however, already been some clues about the…
Bayern Munich new boy James Rodriguez is looking forward to facing his “amazing” former teammate Alvaro Morata in Singapore on Tuesday as the Bundesliga champions take on Chelsea in the International Champions Cup (ICC). James played alongside the new Chelsea striker at Real Madrid and believes the Premier League champions have made a shrewd signing. “Alvaro is an amazing player,” James said. “I think he will do very well at Chelsea. Even though he had limited game time with Real Madrid, he did amazing things, and I wish him all the best for this season.” James is settling in well…
Cesar Azpilicueta has said that Chelsea must learn from the mistakes of their last title defence if they are to retain the Premier League crown they won so emphatically last season. Chelsea romped to the 2014-15 title, finishing eight points clear of Manchester City, but the following season they managed only a 10th-place finish and were just a point above the relegation zone in December, a set of circumstances that new Chelsea vice-captain Azpilicueta wants to avoid a repeat of. “We have to learn from the experience when we won the league three years ago and then had a terrible…
Cristiano Ronaldo has told ESPN that competition with players like Lionel Messi and Neymar is what keeps him motivated to stay at the highest level. Ronaldo, 32, ended last season by winning La Liga and retaining the Champions League, a feat that has made him favourite to land the Ballon d’Or for a record-equalling fifth time. The Portugal international says that “healthy” competition with the Barcelona duo and other elite players is what makes him strive for more. The Real Madrid forward said when asked what other player or players makes him the best: “To mention one is hard, but…
Neymar remains a Barcelona player “until proven otherwise,” teammate Jordi Alba said on Monday amid continued reports Paris Saint-Germain will exercise the Brazilian’s €222 million release clause. However, Alba couldn’t confirm if Gerard Pique’s social media post on Sunday saying Neymar “stays” meant that the forward has, in fact, turned down the offer on the table from the French club. “You will have to ask Pique about that message,” Alba told reporters before Barca’s training session in the pouring rain at the New York Red Bulls’ training centre on Monday. “I don’t know what he’s spoken with Neymar about. I’ve…
Eric Bailly will miss the UEFA Super Cup and the first game of Manchester United’s Champions League campaign after being suspended for a red card he received in the Europa League in May, UEFA announced on Monday. Bailly was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute of United’s semifinal second leg game against Celta Vigo on May 11, and Europe’s governing body has now issued a three-game ban. The game, which finished 1-1 and led to United progressing 2-1 on aggregate, saw Bailly dismissed late on for his part in a melee that also led to Celta’s Facundo…
You only get one chance to make a first impression, so the pressure is already on Alvaro Morata to make an impressive start as a Chelsea player when he faces Bayern Munich in Singapore on Tuesday. But with the mounting attacking problems facing manager Antonio Conte, the onus on Morata to banish Chelsea’s blues with a stand-out display against the German champions cannot be over-stated. Chelsea enjoyed a serene cruise to the Premier League title under Conte last season, with Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scoring 36 league goals between them. Pedro also weighed in with nine, which laid out…
Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro says Barcelona star Neymar would be very welcome at the Bernabeu, and he sees no reason why the move cannot take place. The last week has seen huge speculation around Neymar’s future, with the 25-year-old reportedly considering joining Paris Saint-Germain, who are willing to pay his €222 million release clause and push through the move. The situation remains unclear despite Blaugrana defender Gerard Pique tweeting on Sunday that “he stays,” and Madrid have money to spend after receiving around €120m from moving out squad members including Alvaro Morata, Danilo and James Rodriguez this summer. Speaking after…
Romelu Lukaku could not turn down the chance to join Manchester United after hearing Jose Mourinho’s plan to “rebuild the club.” For much of the summer it had appeared that the 24-year-old was bound to leave Everton for Chelsea, only for United to swoop in. Mourinho was in charge when Lukaku was given the green light to leave Stamford Bridge, but three years on he now sees the striker as a key piece of the puzzle at Old Trafford. United forked out an initial £75 million for the Belgium international, whose mind was made up by his manager’s plans rather…
Big Brother Naija runner up, Debie Rise, has released new pictures ahead of her nationwide tour “RAGE” and a new single which is set to drop this month. The tour will commence on the September 1, 2017 till October 29, 2017. The event will feature dance, comedy, music and some guest appearances. About 16 states and secondary schools will be visited respectively and young Risers will be raised in each state as she intends to donate skill developing equipments ranging from musical instruments to sewing machines to each secondary school. Former Big Brother Africa housemate, Melvin Odua will host the…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied the reports that he said the Federal Government will ban Nigerian movies and music videos produced abroad. Mohammed was quoted to have made the statement during his recent visit to the headquarters of the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) in Lagos. Since the purported ban comment, artistes and stakeholders in the Nigerian entertainment industry have lambasted the Federal Government, protesting what they described as insensitive and irresponsible. However, Mohammed said his statement at COSON was misrepresented. Speaking on Wednesday, July 19, at the end of a two-day Creative Industry…