Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani has noted that Northern politicians are now being nice and humble to the people. According to Sani, this could be as a result of lessons learnt from the February 25 presidential election. Nigerians trooped out en-masse to decide their next leader during the presidential election and even though there are reports of massive rigging and electoral fraud across the country, the turnout showed that the people, especially the youth, are now prepared to make decisions about who leads them. Sani, a former representative of Kaduna central Senatorial District in the Bukola Saraki-led 8th Assembly,…

State governments, which sued the Federal Government on the naira redesign policy, have given the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, till Tuesday to comply with the order of the Supreme Court on the currency. The state governments threatened to file contempt charges against the two top officials on Tuesday should they fail to obey the apex court which ordered that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 should be in circulation alongside the new notes till December 31, 2023. Over one week after the court handed…

Manchester United survived Casemiro’s early red card and an impressive display by rock-bottom Southampton as a pulsating Old Trafford encounter ended goalless. Erik ten Hag stressed the need for his side to be at their best as the Red Devils returned to Premier League duty for the first time since last weekend’s historic 7-0 shellacking at rivals Liverpool. United showed impressive character to bounce back and beat Real Betis on Thursday and again produced a display of strength to draw 0-0 with Southampton after Casemiro’s second sending-off of the season. The Brazil international looked gutted when referee Anthony Taylor brandished…

Arsenal restored their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League in outstanding fashion with a ruthless victory at Fulham. The Win Was Arteta’s 100th For Arsenal With 168 games in charge as head coach across four seasons. Mikel Arteta’s side responded to Manchester City’s narrow victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday night by wrapping up this win by half-time as they opened up a 3-0 lead with a devastating attacking display. Gabriel Martinelli had already had a goal narrowly ruled out for offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), before defender Gabriel headed in Leandro Trossard’s corner after…

Napoli bounced back from last weekend’s loss to Lazio to continue their apparent cruise towards the Serie A title with victory over Atalanta. Luciano Spalletti’s side were kept quiet in the first half by an Atalanta side who defended in numbers. But second-half goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Amir Rrahmani secured their 22nd league win of the season. Napoli are now 18 points clear at the top of the table with 12 league games left. Atalanta sit in sixth. Victor Osimhen, Serie A’s top scorer with 19 goals, twice came close to an opener after the break but saw a…

The Young Teranga Lions of Senegal, on Saturday, defeated their Gambia counterparts 2-0 to lift their first-ever Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations trophy at the Cairo International Stadium, Egypt. Goals from forward Sulaymane Faye and midfielder Mamadou Camara were all the team needed to secure Senegal victory over their Gambian neighbours. The Senegalese side zoomed into Saturday’s final with a 100 per cent record, winning all their matches without conceding a goal. The Young Teranga Lions were playing their fourth Under-20 AFCON final, having finished runners-up in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Malick Daf’s tutored side have followed in the footsteps…

Erling Haaland’s second-half penalty was enough to earn Manchester City a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Haaland’s league-leading 28th top-flight goal this season was redemption for a squandered opportunity before the break that saw the Norwegian striker fire over the crossbar from close range. Palace did well to frustrate the visitors for 78 minutes but were undone after Michael Olise brought down Ilkay Gundogan to earn the spot-kick. The result snapped a four-game unbeaten streak at home for the hosts, who remain in search of their first win in 2023. City swiftly took control after kick-off, Rodrigo…

Real Madrid came from behind to cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of LaLiga to six points, with Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio scoring in a 3-1 win over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid entered Saturday’s game having gone three matches without a win, and they threatened to lose further ground in the title race when Joselu’s early strike put Espanyol ahead. However, a solo effort from Vinicius Junior swiftly levelled things up, before Militao nodded home at the back post to put the hosts on top before half-time. Asensio escaped in behind to net a third late…

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has described Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, as the hero of the just-concluded February 25 presidential election. Wike made the statement when he addressed a town hall with Igbo traders in Port Harcourt on Saturday. He said despite Obi not having been declared the winner, his participation in the election ensured a southerner emerged as the President-elect. According to Wike, Obi recorded victories where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would have won, thereby retaining power in the North. “In this election that we just did,” he said, “Obi is…

As the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Anambra State struggles with the Labour Party, LP, for the control of the political soul of the state, the presidential candidate of LP in the February 25 election, Mr. Peter Obi has insisted that he has no problem with the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo. Obi’s position came on the heels of a statement credited to Soludo that constituencies that do not produce APGA members during Saturday’s House of Assembly election, would not be enjoying the dividends of democracy as lawmakers from such constituencies would only be paid their salaries, while…

The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Alkali Baba, has presented cheques of N16 million to families of police officers who died in active service in Kogi. The IG made the presentations through the Kogi Commissioner of Police, Akeem Yusuf, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration: DCP Abel Audu at the Command’s Headquarters in Lokoja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports in Lokoja that the N16 million cheques were presented to the next of kin of 28 Police Officers who died in active service in the state.. Baba explained, “this gesture is part…

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi on Friday gave more insight into the tragic accident involving a train and bus conveying the staff of the Lagos State government to their respective places of work. Abayomi who spoke alongside the Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola and the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, said that a total of 102 people were involved in the train and bus collision that claimed six lives. He explained that two of the victims died at the scene of the accident, while four…