After suffering two setbacks in the space of a week, Atletico Madrid will be looking to avoid a third when they travel to La Liga leaders Barcelona for Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash at the Nou Camp. Atletico, who won the title at the stadium two years ago, surrendered top spot in La Liga to the Catalan side last weekend and were then eliminated from the King’s Cup quarterfinals by Celta Vigo on Wednesday. Beating Barcelona would send Atletico back on top but the goals have not been flowing of late. Diego Simeone’s side failed to find the net against Sevilla last…
Author: David Folami
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal thanked executive vice chairman Ed Woodward for his support on Thursday as he denied reports he had offered to resign. Van Gaal has faced a trying week following the home defeat by Southampton which saw the Old Trafford crowd turn on the veteran Dutch manager. But Woodward has been steadfast in his support of van Gaal, who has 18 months remaining on his contract, and appears determined to keep him in place until at least the end of the season. Reports suggested van Gaal had even offered to resign following the Southampton setback and…
Liverpool’s transition under Jurgen Klopp will become easier if the team can win the League Cup title, according to midfielder James Milner. England’s second most successful football club have won just one trophy in the last nine years, the League Cup in 2012, and will face Manchester City in the February 28 final. Milner said the change of manager, from Brendan Rodgers to Klopp, has been difficult but believes the Merseyside club can lay foundations for further success by winning the Wembly contest against his former club. “This club is built on success – they’re used to winning trophies. It’s…
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne could be out of action for up to six weeks after injuring his knee and ankle in the League Cup semifinal win over Everton, his agent said on Thursday. The Belgian scored an important if controversial goal, when he turned in a pull-back from Raheem Sterling that appeared to have gone out of play, and set up another after coming on as substitute during City’s 3-1 second leg the Etihad on Wednesday. But towards the end of the match, the 24-year-old appeared to get his studs caught in the turf and then landed on…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday said his ministry had dismissed 13 staff members in one of its agencies for alleged job racketeering. Mohammed, who declined to mention the name of the affected agency, said this at a news conference in Abuja. He said the affected staff members who were between grade levels nine and 16 were already helping the police investigating the alleged job racketeering. “Actually, it is my ministry – Information and Culture. This was what had happened before we got here. “One of the parastatals actually there was a racket in which…
The Federal High Court, Abuja Division has admitted into evidence, documents detailing how the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) electronically transferred N400 million to the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Olisa Metuh. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) tendered the three sets document, which was admitted by Justice Okon Abang, through a senior official from the ONSA, Mr. Baleh Ndam. Marked Exhibits A, B and C, the documents included a petition named “Payment To Companies With No Contract Awards and Approval”, which the ONSA forwarded to the Chairman of the EFCC on…
The traditional ruler of Amassoma kingdom, Major Graham Naingba (rtd) and first cousin of former Bayelsa state governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha had refuted reports that the late leader faked his death to avoid being extradited to the UK. He said the funeral of the ex-governor, which was initially scheduled for November 16, 2015, will commence on March 24 to 26 this year. Naingba said the diseased would have been buried on November 16, which would have been his 63rd birthday, but date was canceled due to preparations for the state governorship election and lack of agreement between the state government and…
The Federal Government is set to recover an additional 750 million dollars of Abacha loot, Abubakar Malami, the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has said. Malami made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja during an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Justice. He said that his ministry also intends to recover 6.9 million pounds “Ibori loot” on behalf of the Federal Government. He said: In respect of the recovery of looted assets, the ministry will engage in an agreed waive policy of using Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements or other bilateral and…
Workers of Kwara State Water Corporation on Tuesday embarked on indefinite strike following the refusal of the management to pay their four months’ salary. The workers under the aegis Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) accused the management of not paying September to December 2015 salaries. Chairman of the union, Mr Murtala Kadir told newsmen that the workers would not return to their duty post until their four months salaries were fully paid. He also accused the management of not remitting deductions of workers cooperative dues from February to July 2O15, which he…
Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday, January 25, 2016, inspected some ministry projects in the North Central Zone. The visit was part of a nationwide tour of projects embarked on by Fashola and Minister of State, Mustapha Baba Shehuri. The projects inspected include the ongoing Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, the Geregu II Power Plant in Kogi State and the Apir 330/132/33KV Transmission Station in Makurdi, Benue State.
President Muhammadu Buhari, today, January 27, 2016, travelled to Kenya on a three-day official visit. Buhari is expected to preside over the Kenya-Nigeria Business Forum, along with Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta, during his stay. The Nigerian president will also attend a memorial service for Kenyan soldiers who were killed by Al-Shabaab in Somalia before holding bilateral talks with Kenyan government officials on Thursday.
Olusegun Obasanjo has written a letter to Senate President, Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara over plans by the National Assembly to buy 469 vehicles. Obasanjo, in the letter dated January 13, 2016, criticized the legislators for being insensitive to the economic situation in the country, The Cable reports. “The recent issue of cars for legislators would fall into the same category. Whatever name it is disguised as, it is unnecessary and insensitive. A pool of a few cars for each Chamber will suffice for any Committee Chairman or members for any specific duty,” the former president…
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Tuesday, January 26, disclosed that the federal, states and local governments shared N387.8 billion as revenue for December, 2015. The Minister, who was represented by the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Mr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, said this in Abuja while speaking to news men on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting. According to her, the shared fund comprised the month’s statutory revenue of N315 billion. She said: “Also, there is the exchange gain of N4.5 billion which is proposed for distribution. Adeosun also said that the money shared included…
Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai, has promised to rebuild the burnt railway round about market in Kaduna South Local government Area of the state which was gutted by fire on Tuesday. Also, Senator Representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Comrade Shehu Sani, has expressed sadness over the inferno and promised that he would ensure that government support the traders. But El-Rufai, who paid a visit to the traders at the popular Station Market, Kachia road said plans were underway for the building of a state of the art neighborhood market centre behind the rail lines…
The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has appealed to government to strive toward prompt payment of entitlements to the families of fallen soldiers. She made the call at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna on Wednesday where soldiers who sustained injuries while fighting insurgents were being treated. “The families of the gallant soldiers who lost their lives in the course of fighting insurgency in the North-East must be promptly paid because they are national heroes.” She said that the regular payment of such entitlements had become necessary as the families left behind would need basic things…
The Sokoto State Government on Wednesday said it had intensified surveillance across the state as part of efforts to curtail the spread of Lassa fever. “Despite initial apprehension of a possible case of the deadly disease in the state, the government said three suspected cases earlier been taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Laboratory Centre for blood sample analysis. “They all came out negative, reaffirming the zero case submission in Sokoto,” Gov. Aminu Tambuwal said in Sokoto on Wednesday. The governor stated this when he went round hospitals in Sokoto town, as part of efforts to intensify awareness…
The new governor of Kogi, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has appointed Mr Edward Onoja as his Chief of staff and Alhaji Abdulkarim Abdulmalik as his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy. A statement issued in Lokoja on Wednesday to newsmen also said that Mr Kingsley Fanwo has been appointed as the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor. The statement said all the appointments took immediate effect. The statement was personally signed by the new governor. It described Onoja, the new Chief of Staff, as a tested administrator who rose to management positions in several blue chip companies in financial, and…
The former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, on Sunday, January 24, lost her daughter, Jackie Ifidon-Ola (nee Waziri), to an undisclosed ailment. According to a reliable newspaper, the Jackie, 39 died at an Abuja hospital in the early hours of Sunday. Report said the deceased, who was based in London, is survived by her husband, two kids and her parents, Senator Ajuji Waziri and Dr. Farida Waziri Confirming the incident, media aide to the former EFCC boss, Ade Williams, said “highly placed Nigerian leaders have been visiting the Waziri family to console them in…
Yahaya Bello was, today, January 27, 2016, sworn in as the governor of Kogi State. Bello is said to have cried while honouring his mother during his inauguration speech. The new governor was sworn in without a deputy due to the refusal of James Faleke to fill the position.
The All Progressives Congress National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has accused some members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of plotting a smear campaign to tarnish his image and severe his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari. In a statement released on Tuesday, Jan. 26, by his media aide, Sunday Are, he said the campaign was tagged ‘Destroy the reputation of Tinubu and his relationship with Buhari’. Tinubu alleged that some of the PDP members who have refused to recover from the 2015 election defeat would stop at nothing to bring him down. He said some of them are facing corruption…