Author: David Folami

Deji Adeleke, brother to late Senator Isiaka Adeleke has dismissed claims that he was murdered. Senator Adeleke, who was the first civilian Governor of Osun State, died on Sunday, April 23, in Osogbo. He was earlier reported to have died of a heart attack after an overdose of painkillers. However Deji Adeleke said, on Wednesday, April 26, that the cause of the senator’s death is still unknown. The younger Adeleke said, during a press conference at the senator’s home, that the report of the autopsy carried out on the deceased would be out in one to two weeks. According to…

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Manchester United got a reality check the last time they met Manchester City in the Premier League. After three wins in a row to start the season, Jose Mourinho suffered a demoralising 2-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola at Old Trafford in September. Then, it looked like the two Manchester clubs might fight it out for the title. But when they meet at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, there will only be a place in the Champions League up for grabs. A win for United would see them leapfrog City in fourth place and Mourinho will fancy his chances having watching…

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Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has denied touting Dele Alli for Manchester City, claiming he never spoke to a UK newspaper nor mentioned the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder. The Sun published what it claimed were exclusive quotes from Xavi on Tuesday which suggesting that he had spoken to his former Barcelona teammate and manager Pep Guardiola, now in charge of City, who would be interested in signing Spurs’ Alli. However, Xavi — who now plays in Doha for Al-Sadd — told Barcelona-based newspaper Sport that he “never” spoke to The Sun, and “neither” has he ever publicly discussed Alli. The quotes…

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Real Madrid Galactico Gareth Bale’s latest injury woes have brought back the focus on his fitness record, which has seen regularly sidelined during his time in Spain, with doubts and rumours often circulating about the true extent of his problems. The calf muscle tweak that saw Bale limp out of Sunday’s La Liga Clasico defeat at home to Barcelona was the 17th different injury the Wales international has had since his €100 million arrival from Tottenham in summer 2013. The majority of his absences have been due to his problematic calf muscles (six to the left, two to the right),…

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Mauricio Pochettino wants his Tottenham stars to ignore speculation over their futures and focus on making a final push to win the Premier League. Pochettino’s side face a critical week in the title race as they try to close the four-point gap on leaders Chelsea just days after suffering a painful FA Cup semi-final loss against their London rivals. That 4-2 defeat to the Blues at Wembley hasn’t dampened interest in several of Tottenham’s key players as Europe’s top clubs plan their close-season spending sprees. Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier are all reported targets, while former…

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had trained 90 staff in Edo for the continuous Voter Registration (CVR) beginning on Thursday across the country. The Administrative Secretary of the commission in the state, Mr Oscar-Lee Amaechi, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Tuesday. He said that five of the trained personnel would be assigned to each of the 18 local government areas in the state for the exercise. Amaechi said that the exercise would be conducted in INEC’s office in each of the local government areas, adding that…

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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has an opportunity to score a seismic victory over his old foe Pep Guardiola when his side visit misfiring Manchester City on Thursday. Guardiola oversaw a one-sided 2-1 win when he and Mourinho resumed hostilities in September — each at the helm of a new club — and was generally felt to have made a bigger impact than the Portuguese in the season’s early months. But having been condemned to a trophy-free first season at City by Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Arsenal, Guardiola will lose his hold on a top-four place if United…

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During ItsTheReal’s A Waste of Time podcast interview with David Cho, the ex-publisher of The Awl and Grantland shared new details about the making of the 2011 Jay Z and Kanye West joint album, Watch the Throne. Through the re-telling of juicy studio session stories, Cho revealed that Yeezy had the idea to include the N-word in the titles of each song for Watch the Throne. According to Cho, West explained, “We’re gonna put the N-word in every single title on this album, so everyone has to say it and they have to confront it.” While the revelation has Kanye…

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Kendrick Lamar is currently poised for a chart takeover, with his fourth studio album, DAMN., poised to claim the No. 1 spot. With the project on track to mark the Compton rapper’s third consecutive album to debut at No. 1 and being projected to sell around 475,000 album equivalent units in its first week of release, Wale is making it known that he’s not surprised at all that Kung Fu Kenny is experiencing such a level of success. During an interview with RevoltTV, the D.C. rapper made the not-so-surprising claim that Lamar is in his “top five favorite rappers of…

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US actor Will Smith — one of the most bankable stars in the world — is to sit on the jury of the Cannes film festival next month, its organisers said Tuesday. The former hip-hop star, 48, who made his name in the teen television series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, has been nominated twice for an Oscar. He will decide the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, with a nine-member jury that also contains fellow Hollywood star Jessica Chastain and the Chinese “X-Men” actress Fan Bingbing. Having missed out twice on an Oscar despite being one of the favourites…

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We thought Genevieve would only be starring in (and producing) her latest project, Lionheart, which she’s currently shooting in Enugu State. However, it turns out she’s got far more up her sleeve. Yes, that recently released shot from set has her listed as director of the film (working with prolific Director of Photography, Yinka Edward.) It’s an instantly exciting prospect, particularly given the paucity of Genevieve-related projects in recent times. Still no official word yet on a release date, (they’re still on set, after all) but the film also appears to star Kalu Ikeagwu. As well as a significant amount…

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A Prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Femi Fani-Kayode on Tuesday told a Federal High Court, Abuja how he collected N26 million for the defendant from the NSA’s office. Fani-Kayode is a former minister of Aviation. Mr Victor Ehiabhi, the first witness to testify in Fani-Kayode’s trial, said he was sent by the defendant to accompany his gardener, Francis and a domestic staff, Esther to the NSA’s office. Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Johnson Ojogbane, the witness said he was a police officer at the Force Criminal Investigative Department (FCID) before he was deployed as Fani-Kayode’s security…

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A Niger State High Court has ruled that ex-governor Babangida Aliyu, is to be remanded in prison custody until Thursday, May 4, 2017. According to a report by Premium Times, Justice Mohammed Mayaki, who presided over the case brought forward by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, gave the ruling on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Justice Mayaki was also reported to have ordered that the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2015 election, Umar Nasko, also be remanded in prison. The two politicians were on Tuesday docked by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,…

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Babachir Lawal, the suspended secretary to the government of the government of the federation (SGF) was interrogated by the Yemi Osinbajo-led investigative panel today. Lawal is being investigated for alleged mismanagement of funds allocated for the development of the northeast which has been ravaged by terrorist group, Boko Haram. The SGF was suspended on Wednesday, April 19 alongside Ayo Oke, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). Oke was suspended by the president for laying claim to the $43.4m, N23.2m and £27,800 discovered at a private apartment at Osborne Esatate in Ikoyi by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes…

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Some wins are bigger than others, simply because of the implications for the victors and the other teams affected by the result, and this 4-2 victory for Chelsea against Southampton was one of those that was heavy on significance for Antonio Conte’s team. Nine days after suffering their 2-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which gave Tottenham renewed hope of a late surge towards the title, Chelsea bounced back with a win that now heaps huge pressure on Spurs to match them with three points at Crystal Palace on Wednesday. But regardless of what Spurs achieve at Selhurst…

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“When you see him you want to play and progress. He is an icon of football and I’ve heard he manages to improve every player he has at his disposal. I am a Juventus player now, but for sure when there is a coach like him he will coach you and you will become better.” It was not quite a come-and-get-me plea, but Paul Pogba’s February 2016 ode to Pep Guardiola suggested a move to Manchester beckoned. And so it did. Just not to Manchester City, who had confirmed Guardiola was arriving three weeks earlier, but Manchester United. Should the…

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The last time a Manchester derby was staged on a Thursday night, in November 1994, it pretty much signalled the death of the fixture as anything approaching competitive. Manchester City had endured their low-points against United, but there had been some memorable highs over the years, including the day Denis Law’s back-heeled goal for City at Old Trafford signposted United’s relegation in 1974 and the 5-1 victory at Maine Road in 1989. The 5-1 — Blues and Reds refer to the best and worst of derbies in terms of the respective scorelines — was billed as the “Demolition Derby” the…

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Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state has described the death of the late veteran actor, Olumide Bakare, as very unfortunate. The governor, in a statement signed by Mr Yomi Layinka, his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy in Ibadan on Monday, commiserated with the family, friends and associates of the late actor on his death. “Although, the late actor had been on admission at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan for a heart-related disease, we regret that he died at a time he considerably recuperated and was expected back in his favourite love of acting,” he said. Ajimobi described Bakare,…

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Tekno is on his final path to healing! The music star who was diagnosed with acid reflux sometime back says he’s feeling better now. “Feeling so much better! #thankGod,” the ‘Pana’ star wrote on Instagram today, April 25, 2017. Recall that on April 19, 2017, Tekno travelled to the United States of America for an urgent treatment of Acid Reflux. The music star in an Instagram post shared today, April 19, 2017, revealed he has been sick for over a month and it has worsened. But thankfully, he’s feeling better now. He also apologized to his fans and promoters for…

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Among the tons of birthday wishes that former Nollywood’s best, Stella Damasus received on Monday, April 24, one stood out – it brought tears to her eyes. Damasus had turned a year older and it was the perfect day for actress Kate Henshaw to send her an invitation for truce – ‘old beef has passed away’ message. The two, who used to be friends, had gone their separate ways after a brawl severed what was left of their relationship. The beef that turned them against each other was believed to have stemmed from when they, at different times, dated gospel…

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