Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has said the allegation that he rigged the presidential election could lead to a lawsuit. The electoral chief issued a reply to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, after the leadership, on Friday, asked him to resign. The opposition charged the police and the Department of State Services, DSS, to investigate the chairman over alleged manipulation of election results. A statement by Yakubu’s Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi said the call was misplaced and challenged the PDP to prove its claims in court. The spokesperson wondered why the party did not…

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, 25, has been named Premier League Player of the Month for the third time this season, equalling a record held by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. Salah set the bar for most Player of the Month awards in a single season in 2017-18. Rashford won the award in September, January and February, scoring four goals in five games last month. Erik ten Hag was named Manager of the Month for the second time. Rashford has now been named Player of the Month four times in his career and topped a six-man shortlist for February which included Kelechi Iheanacho,…

Union Saint Gilloise forward, Victor Boniface has scooped the UEFA Europa League Player of the Week award. Boniface beat Manchester United midfileder, Bruno Fernandes, Roma’s Paulo Dybala and Bayer Leverkusen centre-back, Edmond Tapsoba to the individual accolade. The 22-year-old scored a brace in his Belgian Pro League outfit, Union Saint Gilloise 3-3 draw against Bundesliga club, Union Berlin on Thursday night. UEFA announced the Nigerian striker winner of the award on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “Victor Boniface wins #UEL Player of the week! ⚽️,” reads a tweet on UEFA website. He has scored five goals in the competition…

Flying Eagles of Nigeria have clinched bronze at the ongoing U-20 African Cup of Nations after defeating Tunisia 4-0 in the Third-place play-off on Friday. This will be the third time in history Nigeria have finished third-placed at the competition. The Ladan Bosso led side saved their best performance for the last as this was their biggest win in the competition. Ibrahim Muhammed got the Flying Eagles ahead, scoring the opening goal barely nine minutes into the game. The Tunisians, however, ensured that the Flying Eagles didn’t increase their lead going into the halftime break. Coming into the second half,…

The Bring Back Our Girls co-pioneer, Aisha Yesufu wants the new electoral reform to include that all the major elections be held the same day in the country. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, conducts the Presidential and National Assembly elections two weeks before the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections. But the activist wants the elections conducted in one day. “Further electoral reform is needed,” Aisha tweeted. She added: “Presidential, gubernatorial, National Assembly and state houses of assembly election should be on the same day. Early voting for essential workers. Ballot papers should carry pictures of the candidates…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been condemned by the Labour Party (LP) for coming up with the idea to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines after the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, sought to examine the election materials. LP faulted the claim of INEC backing up data retrieved from BVAS without the presence of independent witnesses and representatives of political parties. This is coming after the Court of Appeal in Abuja granted the commission’s request to reconfigure the BVAS that was used for the presidential election on the 25th of February, 2023. The court dismissed the objection by…

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Christianah Adeyeye on Thursday said Nigeria will not support the trend of legalisation of cannabis for non-medical use. Meanwhile, the agency has launched the 2022 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board, INCB. Speaking during the launch of the INCB Annual Report, Availability Supplement and Precursor Report for 2022 in Lagos, Adeyeye said the 2018 National Drug Use Survey revealed that the prevalence of any drug was 14.4 4 per cent or 14.3 million people using drugs between the ages of 15 and 64 years. She pointed out that it is comparatively high compared with the 2016 global annual prevalence of…

The Presidency has assured Nigerians that the June 12, 1993, saga won’t repeat itself. President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the presidential election allegedly marred by irregularities would not be annulled. Shehu urged candidates and political parties not satisfied with the outcome of the election to approach the court. He spoke in a statement titled “At the 5th United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, LDCs, disclosed President Buhari drummed up support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidency.” The statement reads partly: “Before the trip, he was faced with orchestrated attempts to poison public opinion against national institutions, particularly…

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag hailed goalscoring skipper Bruno Fernandes as the star man in his side’s Europa League last-16 first-leg victory against Real Betis. Fernandes had taken the brunt of huge criticism heaped on United following Sunday’s record 7-0 Premier League humiliation at Liverpool. But Ten Hag confirmed in the build-up the Portuguese would remain captain if Harry Maguire was not on the field – and Fernandes repaid that faith with an outstanding contribution to a much-needed win. It included his eighth goal of the season as he headed home Luke Shaw’s 58th-minute corner. “He was the best player on…

Mikel Arteta did not hide his frustration with Arsenal’s performance in Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Sporting CP, but Fabio Vieira’s display brought him a degree of pleasure. The Gunners took the lead in the first half when William Saliba headed in from Vieira’s corner, only for their hosts to level in similar circumstances just past the half-hour mark at the Jose Alvalade. Paulinho put Sporting in front after the break with a tap-in, but Hidemasa Morita’s own goal seven minutes later ultimately secured Arsenal a draw to take back to Emirates Stadium for the return leg of their Europa League…

Ghanaian star, Paul Acquah scored a hat-trick as Rivers United regained the top spot in Group B of the CAF Confederation Cup following a 3-1 victory against Daring Club Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Uyo. The matchday four encounter was moved from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon following the Congolese team’s failure to arrive in Uyo on time. Acquah also scored the decisive goal in Rivers United’s 1-0 victory in the first leg. The midfielder opened the scoring for the Nigerian champions on the stroke of halftime after he was teed up by Ukeme Williams. His compatriot,…

Ahead of the March 18 gubernatorial election, the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to allow the use of Temporary Voter Cards, TVC. Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order on Thursday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by two Nigerians seeking the use of TVCs in the general elections when Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are not available. According to Justice Egwuatu, the order was made on the grounds that the plaintiffs had been duly registered and captured in INEC’s database prior to the commencement of the general election. The judge, however, said…