Everton manager Roberto Martinez says he has not a clue about any transfer request made by defender John Stones. This is on the backdrop of a report by the Sun that the England international is considering handing in an official request in an attempt to force a big-money move to Chelsea. Martinez completely denied being privy of any information regarding a move by the 21-year-old to quit the Merseyside club, while also reiterating he is not for sale. Offers of £20m and £26m have already been rejected by Everton; Martinez remained coy when quizzed on a reported third offer of…
Author: Wale Adebayo
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he has a good working relationship with the club’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, and has been in regular contact with the latter on transfers. United have signed winger Memphis Depay, midfielders Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, defender Matteo Darmian and goalkeeper Sergio Romero in the close season. They were heavily linked with Pedro Rodriguez, before the Spain forward, 28, decided to, instead, join Premier League champions Chelsea from Barcelona. “Every day I am updated by him and I trust him. I don’t think anyone has to doubt him because he has proven for…
Algerian midfielder Mehdi Abeid has joined Panathinaikos from Newcastle for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old signed for the Magpies in May 2011 and made 21 appearances in over two-and-a-half seasons. Abeid had a successful loan spell at the Greek club during the 2013-14 season, scoring seven goals in 28 league appearances. A statement by Panathinakos read: “Panathinaikos FC is delighted to announce that came to an agreement with Mehdi Abeid. The Algerian midfielder will belong to our Club for the next three years and we welcome him again to the family of Panathinaikos.” Would like to thanks all the people…
The immediate past governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan yesterday said he was not afraid of the multiple panels set up by Governor Samuel Ortom to probe his administration. Suswam also described his successor’s action as “a journey of vendetta and witch hunting”. Governor Ortom had last week inaugurated two commissions of inquiry into the receipt and utilization of funds by the Suswam administration. In his address at the inauguration, Mr. Ortom pointed out that the objectives of the panels were not meant not witch-hunt anybody but to set the records straight. In his reaction, Suswan in a statement through…
National Secretary of Labour Party (LP), Barrister Kayode Ajulo, yesterday came down hard on politicians from opposition parties that are flocking to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in their numbers, saying they are only trying to escape prosecution for corruption. The LP scribe, who made the claim in a telephone interview with Daily Trust, also expressed surprise that some big wigs in the opposition parties are running to APC, the party which, in the build-up to the 2015 elections, many of them disparaged. “These are people who vigorously opposed the bid of President Buhari during the campaign season, now…
The acting Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. John Atte yesterday directed Area Controllers to increase their weekly average revenue from the current N13 billion to N35 billion. Mr. Atteh, according to a statement by the organisation’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, gave the directive at a strategic session of Customs Management and Area Controllers. The meeting deliberated with officers on various areas of revenue leakages and ways to put in place measures to plug them. The customs boss also directed the immediate setting up of anti-corruption desks in all area commands to monitor officers’ conduct and report to his office…
The seeming stability in power generation and an increase in its supply has been attributed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity. The governing All Progressives Congress, which made the assertion on Thursday, however, noted that without adequate improvement in power supply, the president may not be able to fulfil most of his campaign promises. Before the swearing in of Buhari as President on May 29, 2015 power generation in Nigeria was between 3,000MW and 3,500MW. However, there has been a significant increase in the last two months as electricity generation has continued to stay above 4,500MW. The seeming increase in power…
The authorities of Adamawa State University, Mubi, have recruited 80 hunters to ensure the security of the university community. The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Joshua Shall, disclosed this to newsmen in Mubi on Thursday, just as the institution resumes academic activities. Shall said that the institution was aware of the complementary role played by the vigilante groups and the hunters when the military recaptured Mubi town after it was overrun by insurgents in October 2014. This, he said, informed the decision of the university to recruit the hunters to boost security in the…
The Bishop of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese and member of the National Peace Committee, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has denied that the peace agreement signed prior to the 2015 presidential election by former President Goodluck Jonathan and then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), included a deal shielding alleged corrupt public officials from probe. The clergy and public commentator on socio-political issues, who has been in the news recently for his comments regarding President Buhari carrying out probes, clarified that the peace agreement was to ensure the leading political gladiators in the concluded polls put Nigeria first and not do anything to jeopardize…
The corruption and impunity at all levels of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has ruined our investments in the oil and gas sector, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has said. IPMAN said that most players in the industry were unhappy with the development. The National Secretary of IPMAN, Danladi Pasali, said members had been yearning for positive changes in the oil sector such as the ongoing reforms being implemented by the NNPC’s new management. “No genuine investor was happy with the past situation of the oil sector. Some of our investments were ruined due to corruption at…
Torino midfielder Joel Obi will be sidelined for a week, his club have announced.
The long awaited 2015/2016 season started two weekends ago. As it enters its third weekend, INFORMATION NIGERIA takes a look at how the season has been so far for the top teams. The season opener saw Manchester United take on north London side, Tottenham Hotspur at the theater of dreams. The match ended very uneventful as the only goal seen in the match was an own goal scored by Spur’s full back, Kyle Walker. Save for that own goal, Man Utd could have opened their season account with a barren draw. Man Utd were pretty much unimpressive as well in…
Mofe Duncan and his fiancee had their traditional wedding in Lagos yesterday. The church wedding will hold on Saturday, August 22nd. See their photoshots below:
Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has advised loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop losing sleep over his earlier stand that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would govern Imo for 24 years. The governor gave the advice in a press statement signed by his media aide, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, and made available to journalists in Owerri. “Some members of the PDP in the state, yet to recover from the shock of losing the governorship elections in 2011 and in 2015 consecutively, have been making fruitless efforts to read harmful meaning into that innocent claim of the governor,…
The All Progressive Congress (APC) Lagos State Chapter has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Olabode George over his call to President Muhammadu Buhari to probe former governor of Lagos State Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his successor, Babatunde Fashola. APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, yesterday, said George, like the Lagos PDP Chairman, Tunji Shelle was woken up from a chronic hallucination after suffering a devastating defeat in the hands of APC. “Why is Bode George finding it difficult to believe that the game is over for him in Nigerian politics talk less of Lagos State?…
Former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi has said he left a balance of between N8 to N10billion for his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike. In a statement from his from his media office yesterday, the former governor denied that he handed over an empty treasury to his successor. According to the statement, a total of N7.5 billion cash was left behind as balances in the State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) account with Skye Bank, FAAC account with Zenith Bank, balances with Access Bank and funds in the State reserve fund account in First Bank. “This is besides other balances in the…
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP Abia South), yesterday, in his review of budgets, especially in the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, highlighted huge inconsistencies in budgetary processes and duplication of subheads which accounted for poor implementation. He cited the approval of N1.4billion by Jonathan’s administration for the acquisition of computer software for the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government between 2012 and 2015. Speaking in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Abaribe, who was delivering the 2015 Faculty of Social Sciences Annual Lecture of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) with the topic Our Country, our budget: A…
The United States Government, yesterday, promised to support the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in achieving its set goals and objectives, especially in its resolve to institute the reforms agenda of the Federal Government. The US envoy to Nigeria, Ambassador James Entwistle, who disclosed this in Abuja during a courtesy call on the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu, noted that the US will provide all the support required to turn around the fortunes of the NNPC. According to him, although the job of the GMD of NNPC is about the most challenging job in Nigeria, the…
Second Republic Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, yesterday, expressed doubt about the ability and sincerity of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) to confront the endemic problem of corruption in Nigeria and put an end to it. Musa, who spoke in an exclusive interview with Vanguard in his Kaduna home, said President Buhari had already lost the moral right to prosecute the anti-corruption war by restricting the probe of corrupt officials to those in former President Jonathan’s government. According to him, Buhari had shot himself in the foot by deliberately limiting the war to Jonathan’s era, thereby making some highly…
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu has argued that fuel subsidy was an unsustainable drain on the economy. He, therefore, called for speedy deregulation of the nation’s oil and gas sector. “Subsidy creates distortion in government revenue distribution as a result of round-tripping and unnecessary carryover of expenditures every year in a way that is difficult for government to control or sustain,” Kachikwu said. The NNPC GMD said this while presenting a keynote address titled Energy Crisis and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Way Forward, at the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) Conference…