Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane trained with the ball for the first time in three months on Wednesday, two weeks ahead of the club’s crucial Paris Saint Germain clash. Mane, 30, took part in the Tuesday morning session, one week after his return to the training pitch. Mane injured a tendon in his leg during his side’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen in November and required surgery that forced him to miss Senegal’s World Cup campaign in Qatar. Bayern travel to Paris for the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie on February 14, with the return fixture…

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, described former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Concord Group of newspapers, Doyin Abiola, 80, as a media icon who upheld the truth and worked zealously for good governance. Buhari’s congratulatory message is contained in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled ‘President Buhari celebrates Dr Doyin Abiola at 80.’ Born on February 1, 1943, Dr Abiola was the Managing Director and Publisher of National Concord Newspaper. A role she assumed in 1986, making her the first Nigerian woman to become the editor-in-chief of…

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Monday, headed to Jigawa State in continuation of his campaign ahead of the February 25 presidential election. Obi assured a crowd of supporters in Dutse that he and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed remain committed to delivering a “new Nigeria” if voted into power at the polls. “I assure you that we are committed to a new Nigeria. The Nigeria you see today is Nigeria of insecurity, Nigeria of poverty, Nigeria of no work, Nigeria of no roads, Nigeria of no schools. That is what we want to change.…

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Femi Fani-Kayode, has alleged the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has weaponised the apex bank and that he wants to derail the country’s democracy by provoking an uprising. The former minister of aviation made the statement in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday. Recall that the CBN had announced January 31 2023, as the deadline for swapping old naira notes with new ones. With a few days to the deadline, Nigerians had lamented their inability to exchange their old notes with the redesigned ones. However,…

Nigeria has again fallen by four places on the latest Corruption Perception Index, CPI, ranking released by Transparency International, TI, on Tuesday. Although in the 2022 ranking, Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points, it fell from 150th to 154th out of 180 countries assessed in the 2022 ranking. The CPI is TI’s tool for measuring the levels of corruption in the systems of various countries around the world. A country can score maximum points 100 points, and the least is zero. Zero signifies the worst-performing government, and 100 is the best-ranked. The latest ranking may indicate that President Muhammadu…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says a cashless policy, when effectively operated in Nigeria, can help stem the surge of illicit election financing by making it possible to track funds. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the vice president received a delegation of the EU Election Observation Mission led by Mr Barry Andrews. The EU Chief Observer is also a member of the European Parliament. “I think that what we should be looking at is to provide more infrastructures. “ The cashless thing has been really advantageous and helps with tracking. “That sort of infrastructure…

The Director General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr. Joseph Ari, yesterday unveiled a blueprint for the National Apprenticeship and Traineeship System (NATS) to institutionalise and boost skills acquisition in the country. This was just as the World Bank Senior Education Specialist, Mr. Tunde Adekola, confirmed that the Bretton Woods institution had released the sum of $200 million to the federal government towards enhancing vocational skills education in Nigeria. Both spoke at the official launch of the framework for NATS in Abuja. Adekola said the World Bank-assisted education project, known as Innovative Development for Effectiveness and Acquisition of Skills in Nigeria,…

Ahead of the deadline of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, cashless policy, suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, members have reportedly distributed some huge sums of old naira notes to commuters in the Lake Chad Basin. The incident reportedly occurred on Saturday along the Maiduguri/Monguno highway after Mairari village in Guzamala LGA of Borno State. The ISWAP members were said to have driven two gun trucks and dressed in military camouflage. A resident in the area, Bakura Ibrahim, said the insurgents positioned themselves under a tree and stood by the roadside with bags of old naira notes,…

Real Madrid are reportedly eyeing a move for Arsenal striker, Gabriel Jesus in the near future. According to Spanish outlet, El Nacional, Real Madrid are keeping tabs on strikers who can come in as long-term replacements for captain Karim Benzema. The report added that Real Madrid president Florentina Perez sees Jesus as a ‘great successor’ to Benzema. Jesus has scored five goals and registered six assists so far this season. But the Brazilian international has not featured for Arsenal since November as he was injured at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The 25-year-old is expected to get back…

Chelsea boss, Graham Potter has allowed Hakim Ziyech to join Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain. The Moroccan has agreed a move to leave Chelsea and is set to sign for the French champions. Ziyech has spent three underwhelming seasons at Chelsea following a £33m move from Ajax in 2020 but many thought his performance at the 2022 World Cup would have been a turn around. The 29-year-old has failed to impress successive Chelsea managers. With the arrival of Joah Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk at Stamford Bridge this January, the Moroccan game-time will only suffer more. Ziyech…

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has switched his attention to Chelsea’s Jorginho in his search for a new central midfielder. According to SportsMail, a deal is a long way off, but work towards the transfer has started. It could be completed ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline. This comes as Arsenal spent the whole of Monday deliberating whether to send in a third offer for Brighton midfielder, Moises Caicedo, amid fears they could damage their relationship with Brighton if they submit an improved bid. Gunners chiefs were deliberating if to improve upon their latest bid of up to £ 70 million. But…

Lorient have finally accepted OGC Nice’s €30m offer for Super Eagles forward, Terem Moffi. The Rivera club offered to pay €25m with another €5 coming in as add-ons, according to French news outlet, footmercato. Nice had several bids rejected by Lorient before their final offer was accepted. Lorient wanted Moffi to join Olympique Marseille after they met their valuation of the player but the Nigeria international insisted on a move to the Riviera club. The 23-year-old will sign a four-and-a-half-year contract upon the completion of his medical. Moffi joined Les Merlus from Belgium Pro League outfit, KV Kortrijk for €8m…