July
NFF’s FIFA match agent celebrates Nigeria proposed friendly with Mexico
NFF’s FIFA Match Agent, Jairo Pachon of Eurodata Sport, is excited that Nigeria will be playing Mexico in a friendly international on July 3 in the United States. “We are happy to be able to announce this match, which is a clash between two very big teams from two different continents. Mexico against Nigeria is a big match any day and the venue is class,” he said. The two teams will announce their squads for the match sometimes in June. Mexico will play three other games before the clash with Nigeria, as part of their MexTour series. Three-time African champions Nigeria will clash with CONCACAF Gold Cup holders Mexico in a friendly at the famous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the State of California, United States of America. The match, which kicks off at 7.30pm LA time will be the sixth...
PDP hails suspension of three council chairmen by Lagos Assembly
File Photo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended Lagos House of Assembly (LAHA) over the suspension of three council chairmen in the state. The PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Taofik Gani, gave the commendation in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos. The suspended chairmen are: Ogidan Mukandasi of Lekki LCDA, Suleiman Jelili (Alimosho) and Tajudeen Ajide (Surulere). He said that the assembly’s resolution to suspend the three council chairmen over alleged mismanagement and under-performance was commendable. According to him, many local government areas and local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state have remained underdeveloped since the assumption of office by the chairmen in 2017. Newsmen recall that the assembly had, on Tuesday, suspended the council chairmen ...
President Buhari mourns Senator Al-Hassan’s demise
File Photo President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he is deeply saddened by the death of Hajiya Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, “Mama Taraba’’, who was Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development during his first term in office. The Nigerian Mission in Cairo, Egypt, announced the passing of the former minister and Senator. Buhari in a statement issued by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said: “The demise of the notable politician, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan has left many saddened. “Both in office and out of office, her concern for the education of the girl child, especially those of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, shone through. “Her death is a huge loss not only to the female gender activist community but to the country as a whole. Our...
President Buhari sets up panel to probe NPA
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation under Rotimi Amaechi for the setting up of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). According to a statement by the President’s spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, late Thursday night in Abuja, the president also approved the suspension of the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Usman. The presidential aide said Mohammed Koko would act as acting Managing Director of the NPA, pending the completion of investigation by the panel which would be headed by a Director. ”The President has also approved that the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman step aside while the investigation is carried out. Mr Mohammed Koko will act in that position. ”The panel ...
Minister dissolves board of sports federation, set up caretaker committee
Barely three months to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Minister of Youth and Sports Federation, Chief Sunday Dare, has dissolved all the boards of 31 National Sports Federations and set up caretaker committees to run the fairs of the federation. This was disclosed in a press statement on Friday in Abuja. Minister said the dissolution of boards of Federations was inline with the Olympic Charter which stipulates a four year tenure for all Sports Federations Boards, “In keeping with the Olympic Charter which stipulates a 4 year tenure for all Sports Federations Boards, the tenure of the National Olympic Sports Federations in Nigeria have come to an end. There is a need for a transition from the old Boards to the new one. “Within the last 4 years, a few of the National Sports Federations Boards ...
LASIEC unveils guidelines for forthcoming council election
The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has unveiled guidelines for the forthcoming local government election scheduled for July 24. LASIEC Chairman, Retired Justice Ayotunde Philips, in the guidelines issued on Saturday, said the commission had fixed N150, 000, N100, 000 and N75, 000 as nomination forms fees for the chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship candidates, respectively. “Political parties are required to obtain the following LASIEC Forms: LASIEC 001, LASIEC 002, and LASIEC 008 for their candidates as from May 4. This ends at 12 noon, May 5 at the commission’s headquarters, Sabo-Yaba, Lagos. “LASIEC form 001 must be completed and returned to the commission by the political parties not later than June 4,” Philips said. She said that each candidate was...
NDDC: Ijaw youths tackle minister over forensic audit, sole administrator’s tenure
Bayelsa youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide accused the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio of overseeing an unending forensic audit and illegal extension of the tenure of the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Efiong Akwa, describing it as a delib-erate attempt to delay the constitution of a substantive NDDC board. According to the youths, though the conduct of the forensic audit was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari and supported by the stakeholders from the region, Senator Godswill Akpabio has turned the forensic audit into an unending exercise used to perpetuate corruption and further bleed the commission of scarce funds. The spokesman of the IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, who made the statement...
Report: US says ex-Egypt premier had diplomatic immunity from lawsuit
The Biden administration has said a lawsuit seeking to hold former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi accountable for alleged involvement in torture against an Egyptian-American activist should be thrown out because he held diplomatic immunity, the Washington Post reported on Monday. In a submission to the US District Court in Washington, DC, shared by the Post, lawyers for the US Justice Department said “El Beblawi held diplomatic status at the time when the suit was commenced” and the court should dismiss “claims falling with the scope of his immunity”. El-Beblawi had served as Egypt’s representative to the International Monetary Fund, but quit and left the US in late October, the Post reported. The department said in its court filing that it was not making any judgements on the me...
Juan Mata set for Manchester United contract extension
Getty Images Spanish international Juan Mata looks set to be offered a shock contract extension at Manchester United. The 32-year old has seen his first team role steadily reduced under boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the former Chelsea star only making four Premier League starts in 2020/21. However, Solskjaer is keen to retain his experience at Old Trafford and the club will enter into talks over a new deal this summer. According to reports from the Daily Star, Mata’s current contract ends in July, but United will activate their rolling option to extend it by a further 12 months ahead of the 2021/22 campaign. Solskjaer is unlikely to offer anything more than an additional year to the ex Valencia schemer with Mata rumoured to be open to staying in England for another season. He has been li...
Namibian president caught in new fishing corruption allegations
Informante The president of Namibia has been implicated in new allegations of corruption involving the country’s lucrative fishing industry by an investigation released by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and The Namibian newspaper. According to a lawyer who allegedly arranged the deal, President Hage Geingob instructed his close associates to embezzle millions of dollars from a state-run fishing enterprise in order to bribe electors at the 2017 congress of the ruling SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) party, reports the new investigation released on Friday. The lawyer, who is not named by the OCCRP, claims that Hage Geingob – elected as President of Namibia in 2014 and re-elected in 2019 – allegedly asked James Hatuikulipi, then chairman of the sta...
#EndSARS: Lagos governor extends panel sittings by three months
The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has extended the tenure of the state’s Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Related Abuses and Other Matters for another three months. This was disclosed on Tuesday by the panel headed by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi. With the extension the panel had been granted legal backing to six till July 19 instead of the initial deadline of April 19 in its terms of reference. The Lagos Judicial Panel was inaugurated by the Lagos State Governor on October 19 to among other things receive memoranda from concerned members of the public and inquire into cases of abuse, brutality, torture and extra judicial killings by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos. Its terms of reference als...
Tunisian-French rapper Swagg Man sentenced to three years imprisonment
Tunisian-French rapper Swagg Man, known for the Louis Vuitton logos tattooed on his head, has been sentenced to five years in jail for fraud and money laundering, the judiciary said Tuesday. Born in the French Mediterranean town of Nice, the 34-year-old, whose real name is Iteb Zaibet, became an internet celebrity known for his ostentatious clothing, body tattoos, and chunky jewelry. His social media fame led him to be invited onto television shows in both France and Tunisia. On Monday, a Tunis court sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him 100,000 dinars ($36,000) on charges of money laundering and fraud, judicial official Mohsen Dali told AFP. He said funds of about 17 million dinars ($6 million) in euros and Swiss francs were also confiscated from Swagg Man’s accounts. The ra...
