The hottest and most trending news articles for this week in all categories are captured in one shot. Find articles ranging from News to Sports, to Politics, to Entertainment, to Economy, to Metro Plus, and many other categories. See below the top news for the week:
NEWS
- Fear not, elections’ ll hold — FG
The Federal Government assured yesterday that the general elections will hold as scheduled next month. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance at the 17th edition of President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series from 2015-2023 in Abuja.
The minister’s assurance came in the wake of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s alarm that the 2023 polls could be postponed or cancelled if the growing wave of election-related insecurity across the country was not checked.
The Chairman of, Board of The Electoral Institute TEI, INEC’s training arm, Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, who represented INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the validation of election security training resources, in Abuja, had said on Monday: “If the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results and precipitate a constitutional crisis. “This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, security personnel in particular and all elected officials, in general, must be security-conscious and alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenge at all times.”
However, Mohammed said the polls will be held, adding that the Federal Government is aware that INEC is working with security agencies to ensure that the elections are successfully held across the country. “The position of the Federal Government remains that the 2023 elections will be held as planned. Nothing has happened to change that position. We are aware that INEC is working wth security agencies to ensure that the elections are successfully held across the country.
Meanwhile, some members of the House of Representatives have described as irresponsible the statement credited to the electoral commission that the polls could be postponed or cancelled if insecurity persisted. The members who spoke were Sergius Ogun (Esan North East/Esan South East Federal constituency of Edo State) and Kingsley Chinda (Obior/Akpor federal constituency of Rivers State). In his reaction, Ogun accused INEC of deliberately diverting attention from its inability to properly conduct the collection of the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) with the statement, counselling the electoral umpire to table its security concerns before the Federal Government. Similarly, Chinda said INEC couldn’t have made such a statement having had ample time to prepare for the elections.
- Polls: 93.47m voters to participate —INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared its determination to proceed with the conduct of the February/March general elections, two days after it expressed fears about the wave of general insecurity across the country. INEC had lamented, on Monday, that if not tamed, the ugly trend of pre-election violence could precipitate a constitutional crisis by way of the forced cancellation of election results or outright postponement of polls.
Presenting the register of voters to chairmen and secretaries of Nigeria’s 18 registered political parties, on Wednedday, in Abuja, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission had been bolstered by assurances by Nigeria’s defence, security and intelligence architecture that it would ensure a conducive environment for the polls. Consequently, the electoral umpire said it has commenced the airlift of sensitive and non-sensitive materials to states.
Yakubu said the voters’ register now contains 93,469,008 registered Nigerians eligible to vote in the forthcoming elections. According to Yakubu, Lagos leads with 7,060,195 voters, followed by Kano with 5,921,370, and Kaduna with 4,335,208. By gender distribution, the number of male voters stands at 49,054,162, while female voters stand at 44,414,846. Also, youths aged 18 to 34 make up the majority by age with a figure of 37,060,399, representing 39.66 percent of the voters.
Yakubu noted that with just 44 days to the General Election, and with the presentation of the register of voters to political parties, the Commission has now successfully implemented 11 out of the 14 activities on the timetable and schedule for the polls. According to him, the implementation of other activities has proceeded in earnest. Yakubu added that at no time in the recent history of the Commission has so much of the forward planning and implementation been accomplished 44 days ahead of a General Election.
- PVC COLLECTION: INEC extends deadline to Jan 29
Following widespread complaints from many parts of the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday, extended by seven days, the deadline for collection of Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs. The exercise will now end on January 29, instead of January 22, as earlier scheduled.
Since the collection of the PVCs started, the polity has been awash with complaints by citizens over difficulties in picking up the cards worsened by extortion by INEC officials and alleged refusal to distribute the cards to non-indigenes in some states. Photographs of pregnant women, nursing women and the aged in crowded collection centres have been trending in the media
Acting on the issue, INEC also vowed to punish any staff found to have extorted or discriminated against any registered voter in the issuance of the PVCs. National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee at the commission, Dr. Festus Okoye, disclosed the extension in a statement,on Thursday. He said the decision was a fallout of Thursday’s regular meeting wherein the commission deliberated on a number of issues, including the ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide.
- CBN sensitises marketers, guarantees availability of new notes
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured marketers and traders that it has made the redesigned naira notes (1000, 500, 200) available for them via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The Branch Controller, CBN, Lagos State, Mr Koyor Baribokola, gave the assurance when the apex bank took its sensitisation tour on the new naira notes to Balogun Market, Lagos, on Tuesday.
He said the apex bank initially had a challenge as people were not depositing the old notes, but the situation had changed. “We are having much deposits now; this gives us the confidence to push more new notes into circulation and into the economy. We are making them available to you and you will have them if you haven’t had them before. Please have the assurance that you are going to have them.
“We set a date for the deadline for the complete change over that is Jan. 31, and for now, that stands. We have not extended or changed the time. So, between now and the Jan. 31, all the old 1,000, 500 and 200 notes you have in your possession, bring it to the bank and then take new ones,” Baribokola said. He encouraged stakeholders to be the apex bank’s mouthpiece by spreading the message, and to protect and keep the new notes safe.
- 140,000 passports uncollected nationwide, says NIS
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) says not less than 140,000 international passports are uncollected nationwide. Tony Akuneme, the NIS spokesperson, shared the development in an interview with the NAN on Tuesday in Lagos. Akuneme said about 40,000 of the total 140,000 are in the Alausa passport office in Ikeja. He said the majority of the uncollected passports had wrong phone contacts and untraceable addresses.
Akuneme called on applicants to process their international passports themselves using the correct details and without involving racketeers. “In spite of the extensive awareness embarked on by NIS on passport application and its processes, some Nigerians still patronise racketeers or consultants to process their passports, which usually does not work out well,” he said. Some applicants are gullible, they fell into the hands of touts who duped them of their hard-earned money.”
He urged Nigerians to visit https://passport.immigration.gov.ng/application to personally process their passports. “I still want to emphatically plead with passport seekers not to use consultants, racketeers, nor masqueraders while processing their international passports,” he said. Most of the contact numbers inputted by these unethical human beings are not real.” Akuneme called on applicants who had applied for passports before July 2022 and were unable to obtain their passports to visit the NIS website to lodge their complaints.
POLITICS
- Buhari: If you want to serve Nigeria, be prepared for the worst
President Muhammadu Buhari says whoever is interested in serving Nigeria needs to be prepared for the “worst”. According to a statement on Tuesday by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, Buhari said this on Monday at a state banquet in his honour in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe.
Speaking about his administration’s fight against corruption, the president said curtailing the menace has “not been easy” under the current system operated by Nigeria. “In the north-east, God has helped us to clear Boko Haram; the economy has picked up, and some people are asking me about the achievements of my promise to fight corruption,” he said.
“Well, under this system, fighting corruption is not easy. When I was in the military, as head of state, I locked up some people because the constitution says you must declare your assets, and people who couldn’t explain the differences in their assets, I locked them up. In the end, I was also locked up. So, if you want to serve this country, you must be prepared for the worst. But one thing that I am grateful to God for is that nobody can blackmail me.”
The president also said he doesn’t have any land outside Nigeria, adding that he intends to stay in the country after leaving office. “I do not have one square inch outside Nigeria and I intend to stay in Nigeria when I retire from public office,” he said. As I said more than 30 years ago, we have no other country than Nigeria. We must all stay here and salvage it together. The development comes weeks after Buhari told King Charles III that he does not own a house in the United Kingdom.
- You’re corrupt, unfit for public office, Atiku hits Tinubu
The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization has described the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu as corrupt and unfit for public office owing to his alleged corruption. According to the PDP campaign, it’s APC counterpart is trying to market “ a wobbly, wonky and narcotic-devastated Presidential Candidate.
This was contained in a restatement signed by the Spokesperson of the Atiku-Okowa Campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, late on Wednesday. He said the Atiku-Okowa Campaign Council decided to mock the Tinubu campaign over its failed attempt to impute illness on the healthy and energetic Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
He further said, “It is rather unfortunate that the APC Presidential Candidate, who cannot stand erect or walk up an elevation unaided, who is plagued by visible tremor of the hands, who palpitates at the slightest physical exertion and who is reported in the public space as being challenged by incontinence could attempt to speak on the health status of any Nigerian. “Moreover, some medical professionals have associated certain cases of nerve cell death with narcotic use and unhealthy lifestyle and our campaign urges Tinubu to examine himself in that regard.
- PDP in talks with 11 parties for alliance
Ahead of the February 25 presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party has confirmed that talks are ongoing with 11 other parties who have approached the party for a working alliance. This came 24 hours after similar talks took place between the ruling All Progressives Congress and other smaller parties.
Speaking in a telephone conversation with newsmen on Wednesday, the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the party has commenced talks with close to a dozen parties and welcomes more groups to come on board. He said, “There are a good number of them, but it will not be wise to publicly list them out. At the last time I checked, we were in talks with over 11 of them.
- Elections: Big Brother Naija Titan is a distraction, shun the show – Obi’s Labour Party cautions youths
The Labour Party (LP), has warned Nigerian youths against the new reality show, Big Brother Naija tagged:’The Titans’, saying it was a distraction to them. Dr Yunusa Tanko, the Chief Spokesperson of the LP presidential Campaign Committee, (LP-PCC), stated this during a press briefing in Enugu, on Wednesday.
According to him, it is targeted at distracting them from casting their votes on the election dates.
Tanko alleged that the reality show was being sponsored by one of the major opposition parties, to distract the youths from voting for their choice of candidate The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the television programme is designed to hit the airwaves by Jan. 15 barely 40 days before the general elections.
Tanko said, “The essence of this press conference is to alert the ever vibrant Nigerian youths of the hidden agenda behind the new reality show tagged: “The Titans”. We have credible information that it’s being sponsored by one of the major opposition parties to distract the Nigerian youths from changing the leadership that has placed them in perilous times laced with abject poverty,” he said. He stressed that the information made available to them revealed that the son of one of the presidential candidates in active collaboration with others visited South Africa to hatch this plan.
- Again, Buhari Asks Foreign Envoys Not To Interfere In 2023 Elections
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has renewed calls to foreign government representatives not to meddle in Nigeria’s internal affairs. The President made this known when he received Letters of Credence from Ambassadors of Switzerland, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Senegal, and the Republic of South Sudan at the State House.
President Buhari further stated that Nigeria is working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deal with insecurity in the region and also implement strategies to contain the spate of unconstitutional changes in government in the sub-region. He called for cooperation and collaboration from the countries to overcome challenges in West Africa.
President Buhari invited friendly countries to support efforts to address the challenge of insecurity, fight against corruption, diversification of the economy, and our efforts in promoting good governance. President Buhari had in February 2022 asked foreign diplomats not to meddle in Nigeria’s politics.
ECONOMY
- LCCI calls for equity financing for budget deficits
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and industry (LCCI) has advised the Federal Government to adopt exclusive use of equity financing to fund budget deficits, as opposed to continuous issuing of debt instruments with its attendant burden of interest payments.
President, LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, gave the advice in Lagos, on Tuesday, at the Chamber’s quarterly briefing on the State of the Economy, while commending the federal government on the planned electronic payments from public treasury from March 1, 2023.
Commenting on the N5.24 trillion spent by FG on debt servicing in 2022, he stated: “The amount puts the country’s debt service-to-revenue ratio at 80.6 percent for the period under review, a figure far above World Bank’s recommended 22.5 percent for low-income countries like Nigeria. We must warn again that borrowing to fund subsidies, which is spending the money we do not have, is totally unsustainable.”
The LCCI president commended the federal government on the planned policy that all payments from the public treasury must be done electronically with effect from March 1, 2023, noting that effective implementation of the policy will deepen the cashless economy.
- World Bank downgrades Nigeria’s economic growth projection
The World Bank Group has once again lowered its growth projection for Nigeria’s economy, citing a weakened oil sector as its primary reason. This was contained in the bank’s Global Economic Prospects report published on Tuesday. According to the projection, Nigeria’s economy will further decelerate to 2.9 per cent in 2023 and is not expected to record any growth in 2024.
Specifically, the lender said Nigeria’s growth weakened to 3.1 per cent in 2022 and would further decelerate to 2.9 per cent this year. The Washington-based bank said growth momentum in the non-oil sector was likely to be restrained by continued weakness in the oil sector, which would negatively impact Nigeria’s oil-based economy. The Bank noted that a number of factors, such as low oil output, insecurity, petrol subsidies, forex scarcity, among others, hamper growth in the country.
- Marketers predict six-month fuel scarcity, prices rise
The supply hitches associated with the distribution of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, may persist till June this year, oil marketers stated on Wednesday. Nigeria’s downstream oil sector has been grappling with cases of incessant petrol scarcity since last year. The sole importer of the commodity – Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has repeatedly complained of the enormous burden of shouldering fuel subsidy for the country.
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government had budgeted about N3.6tn for fuel subsidy till June 2023. Reacting to the development, oil marketers stated on Wednesday that the fuel supply crisis in many parts of the country that often leads to fuel scarcity, might persist till June, based on the government’s plan to end petrol subsidy in that month.
The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, told newsmen that fuel imports and subsidy were making Nigerians suffer. The President, Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, also stated that the availability of petrol for marketers to distribute had remained an issue of concern.
The Chairman, IPMAN Satellite depot, Akin Akinrinade, told newsmen that its members were yet to take delivery of any product from the state oil firm. Also commenting on the issue, a former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr. Sam Nzekwe, told newsmen that the crisis in the downstream oil sector would be best addressed when Nigeria’s refineries become functional.
Food security: Buhari okays N24.4bn for tech-based irrigation scheme to boost harvest
Mohammad Haruna, executive vice chairman, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), says President Muhammadu Buhari approved N24.4 billion for phase one of the smart irrigation scheme for nation’s agricultural sector.
Haruna disclosed this on Thursday at the foundation laying of the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) in Obudu, Cross River State. Haruna said as part of an all-year-round bumper harvest plan, the federal government decided to establish six AMEDIs in each of the geopolitical zones.
The AMEDIs would teach farmers not only mechanised farming, but also modern farming techniques, he said. In addition, the NASENI boss said Nigeria had been collaborating with Czech Republic and Jordan on modern agriculture and manpower training on mechanised farming.
- IPMAN: Petrol scarcity may continue till June | Ex-depot price now N240 a litre
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says the current petrol scarcity may continue until subsidy is removed. Mike Osatuyi, national operations controller, IPMAN, made this known in an interview with TheCable on Thursday. After an 18-month extension, the federal government had said it would halt subsidy payments in June.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, said the country currently has no problems importing petroleum products. But the setback, Osatuyi said, was that oil marketers failed to get their products at government-approved prices, which automatically pushed prices up at various pumps.
He said independent marketers were getting petrol from depots at N240 per liter, excluding transportation. “We are getting the product between N230 per litre and N240 per litre, without transportation. If I get the product at N260 per litre, how much should I sell?” he said.
Osatuyi added that “it is until the federal government removes subsidy on petrol that all these (petrol scarcity) will be over”. However, he said there is hope that normalcy may return to the fuel situation in a few days’ time.
BUSINESS
- Dubai Immigration Launches Video Call For Visa Services
UAE’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai has launched a new video calling service to enable tourists, residents and its customers across the world complete visa and other residency-related applications within minutes.
The service, which was announced on Wednesday at the agency’s Annual Media Council in Dubai, is the latest feature on its website and will enable customers interact directly with officers of the GDRFA, complete applications and get issues resolved, all via any mobile device with a front-facing camera. The feature also comes with chat and document upload capabilities.
Chairing the event was Director-General of the GDRFA, Lt Gen. Mohammad Ahmed Al Marri, who praised the effort of the team behind the innovation, emphasised on the agency’s transparency and welcomed customers to use the service in solving any country-specific enquiries.
Also in attendance were other top officials including Maj. Gen. Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Maj. Gen. Talal Ahmed Al Shanqiti, Assistant General Director of Airport Passport Affairs sector.
The Director of Customer Happiness Department, Lt. Col. Salem Bin Ali explained that customers can now use this added service, alongside other existing channels including the call centre and the agency’s contact centres across the city.
HEALTH
- Resident Doctors Threaten Nationwide Strike Over Unresolved Grievances
Another industrial action looms in Nigeria’s health sector as members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have threatened to embark on a nationwide industrial action if the Federal Government fails to address their demands
NARD President, Emeka Orji told newsmen that the association does not desire to down its tools, knowing its implication for the health sector, but could be forced to do so if the government refused to address their demands before January 28 when the association will end its National Executive Council meeting. “We have been restraining ourselves as their leaders and that is exactly what we stipulated in the letter,” he said.
The association is appealing to well-meaning Nigerians including the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Aminu Tambuwal and the Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze to intervene and save the looming industrial action
WORLD
- Biden Investigated Over Classified Documents
The US attorney general named an independent prosecutor Thursday to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, after a furor over secret papers found at his former office exploded with the discovery of a second batch. The new find — like the original, from Biden’s time as vice president — was uncovered in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where he often spends weekends, the White House said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that Robert Hur, an appointee of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, would be empowered to examine whether the cache violated any law. “Under the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel,” Garland, who runs the Justice Department, said.
The appointment came hours after the White House acknowledged the second batch of papers but did not address their contents — supercharging a scandal over a first set found at a Washington think tank where Biden had an office.
Republicans in Congress, who have been accusing the White House of a cover-up over the affair, swiftly announced their own inquiry to run independently of the criminal probe. The disclosures have prompted comparisons to the special counsel investigation of Trump’s hoarding of hundreds of classified materials at his Florida beachfront home and his alleged obstruction of government efforts to get them back.
- Ghana’s inflation rises to 54.1% — highest level in 22 years
Ghana’s annual consumer inflation rate accelerated to a new 22-year high of 54.1 percent in December 2022, up from 50.3 percent in November. Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician for Ghana, announced this at a media briefing on Wednesday. The latest inflation rate is the highest since April 2001, when it was at 59.7 percent.
Ghana’s statistics office attributed the hike to steep increases in food, transport, and housing costs. It said prices rose the most in the category of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, increasing to 82.34 percent year-on-year. Furnishings and household equipment came second at 71.52 percent, followed by transport at 71.42 percent, then personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services at 60.94 percent.
The agency said inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 59.71 percent year-on-year. It added that inflation for locally produced items was 51.1 percent, while that of imported items stood at 61.9 percent. Since last year, the West African country has been battling an economic crisis.
As part of efforts to restore public debt sustainability, the Ghanaian government, on December 5, launched a domestic debt exchange programme. The government also suspended debt service payments on eurobonds and commercial term loans.
- UAE Oil Chief To Head COP28 Climate Talks
The head of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company was named Thursday as president of this year’s COP28 climate talks, prompting fierce criticism from environmental activists.
Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), will be the first CEO to take the role at the UN summit, said a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.
“I sincerely believe that climate action today is an immense economic opportunity for investment in sustainable growth,” he was quoted as saying, promising a “pragmatic” approach. Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry, is also the Gulf state’s special envoy for climate change and has taken part in more than 10 COP meetings.
He is CEO of Masdar, the UAE’s renewable energy company, and has “played a key role in shaping the country’s clean energy path”, the statement said. But climate activists were quick to criticise his appointment. Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, said it “poses an outrageous conflict of interest”.
Teresa Anderson, global lead on climate justice at ActionAid, an NGO, said: “This appointment goes beyond putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.” And Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School of international affairs at Tufts University in the US, warned: “The incoming COP president has a dilemma.
- Tigray Rebels Start Handing Over Heavy Weapons
Tigrayan rebels said Wednesday they have begun handing in their heavy weapons, a key part of a deal signed more than two months ago to end a deadly conflict in northern Ethiopia. The terms of the November 2 peace agreement include disarming rebel forces, restoring federal authority in Tigray and reopening access and communications to the region, which has been cut off from the outside world since mid-2021.
Fighting broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed the army in a bid to topple Tigrayan leaders who had been challenging his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases.
There has been no reaction yet from Abiy’s government to his statement, and spokespeople did not respond to AFP requests for comment. A deal on the implementation of the agreement signed in Nairobi on November 12 said the disarmament of heavy Tigrayan weapons would take place at the same time as the withdrawal of foreign and non-federal forces.
Neighbouring Eritrea has backed the Ethiopian army in the conflict but Asmara did not participate in the Pretoria talks. With access to Tigray restricted, it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground. An aid worker based in the strategic Tigrayan city of Shire told AFP by phone Wednesday that he saw Eritrean troops as well as members of armed forces from the neighbouring Amhara region.
SPORTS
- Osimhen Receives Globe Soccer Award Trophy
Super Eagles and Napoli star striker, Victor Osimhen, has received the trophy for the best young player prize at the 2022 Globe Soccer Award. The former Lille of France forward beat Gavi and Valverde to scoop the prize in a ceremony held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai in November 2022.
In a post on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Osimhen said he just received the trophy which he won two months ago and displayed it in a photo accompanying his post. “Just Receive The @Globe_Soccer Award For The Power Horse Emerging Player Of The Year,Thank You For The Recognition,And To Those That Have Been Supporting Me Through The Years,I Appreciate Y’all.GOD Is The Greates,” the Nigerian international wrote.
Following the winter break, Osimhen continued with his top form in the Italian Serie A, scoring one of the goals in Napoli’s 2-0 victory over Sampdoria on Sunday. The goal made him the first player in the league to score 10 goals so far in the season and ensured Napoli remained top of the Serie A table with 44 points ahead of Juventus and AC Milan who both have 37 points each.
- FIFA Chief Infantino Quizzed By Swiss Prosecutors
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has been quizzed by two Swiss prosecutors appointed to take over an investigation into his alleged secret meetings with the country’s former prosecution chief, one of the magistrates confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
“I confirm to you that a confrontation hearing was held in the proceedings conducted by Dr (Ulrich) Weder and myself,” Hans Maurer wrote in an email to AFP. However, I do not comment on the time, scope and purpose of this hearing.”
Earlier Wednesday, news outlets Le Monde and Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Infantino was questioned on Tuesday in Zurich, where the headquarters of FIFA are based.
The boss of world football has been facing proceedings since July 2020 over “incitement to abuse authority”, “violation of official secrecy” and “obstructing criminal proceedings”.
Swiss justices accuse him of three secret meetings in 2016 and 2017 with former attorney general Michael Lauber. Infantino, 52, has insisted that his meetings with Lauber were merely routine. Lauber eventually resigned while FIFA’s internal justice system cleared Infantino.
- Kyrgios Becomes Co-Owner Of Australian Basketball Team
Tennis star Nick Kyrgios became part-owner of Australian basketball side South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday, saying he was looking forward to growing the franchise. The 27-year-old, who is gearing up for the Australian Open next week, has been a long-time fan of the sport and joins an ownership group that includes Los Angeles Clippers player John Wall.
The famously fiery Kyrgios is close friends with the National Basketball League team’s owner Romie Chaudhari and said he was thrilled to be involved. “I love the vision he shared with me, and my team and I are really impressed with the organisation’s accomplishments in a short period of time,” said the Australian, a die-hard Boston Celtics fan. I know there is plenty that I can contribute towards the growth of the franchise.
The 10-team NBL is widely considered one of the best basketball leagues in the world outside the NBA. Kyrgios’ investment in the Phoenix is his latest foray into sports team ownership.
He recently joined Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka in taking a stake in a Miami-based franchise in the new Major League Pickleball in the United States.
- Osaka Announces Pregnancy, Plans Return In 2024
Naomi Osaka announced on Wednesday that she is pregnant and will be taking a break from tennis until 2024. “One thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom’,” the former world number one wrote on Twitter, adding that she intended to return for the Australian Open in 2024.
Naomi Osaka has not played a tennis match since September and her withdrawal from next week’s Australian Open had raised concerns that the former world number one may never appear on court again. Osaka’s social media accounts had stayed silent since Tennis Australia tweeted on Sunday that the two-time Melbourne champion would miss the first Grand Slam of the year, giving no reason for her absence.
Osaka’s posts over the past few months showed her travelling in Europe with her boyfriend, the rapper Cordae, and announcing that her sports management agency had signed up world number two Ons Jabeur. But there was little evidence of the Japanese player spending time practising on court, fuelling speculation that the four-time Grand Slam champion’s tennis career could be winding down at the age of 25.
Tennis writer Ben Rothenberg, who has authored a biography of Osaka due out later this year, believes she has already taken a “meaningful step back” from the sport and is deliberately keeping quiet. “I think she might want to be opaque about it because she doesn’t want to put a label on it necessarily,” he told AFP. I don’t think she would use the word ‘retiring’, but if she was stepping away from the sport for a while — and it could be for any length of time — I don’t know that she would want to speak that out loud. I think she would sense that that would raise a lot of bells and whistles.”
METRO PLUS
- ‘If Kanu dies in DSS custody expect crisis’
The Spokesperson for the Coalition of United Political Parties, Ugochinyere Imo, has raised the alarm over the deteriorating health condition of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Imo, who addressed journalists at his country home in Akokwa in the Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State on Wednesday, said that the country might erupt in crisis if Kanu dies in the custody of Department of Security Service. He advised President Muhammadu Buhari to order the DSS to release Kanu to attend to his health issues.
Imo contended that the continuous detention of Kanu in DSS custody was illegal, citing a judgment by an Appeal Court in Abuja and state High Court in Umuahia, which ordered for his release. The CUPP spokesperson urged Buhari to release Kanu in the interest of national unity, equity and justice. Imo also condemned the terrorism charges preferred against the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, by the DSS .
- Amnesty International demands release of more #EndSARS protesters
Following the release of nine #EndSARS protesters detained since 2020, Amnesty International has demanded the release of others still in incarceration. The international organisation said the investigation it carried out in October 2022 showed that over 40 #EndSARS protesters were still languishing in prisons across Nigeria. A statement on Wednesday by its Country Director, Osai Ojigho, demanded information on the detained protesters as well as assess to their lawyers and families.
It partly read, “Amnesty International welcomes the release on 10 January 2023, of Oyewole Olumide, Rasheed Tiamiyu, Moruf Adekunle, Taoreed Abiodun, Ikenna Amechi, Afeez Ariyo, Ikechukwu Eze, and Adesina Ademuyiwa detained at Agodi Correctional Centre Ibadan, Oyo State for participating in #EndSARS protests in October 2020. The Oyo State Chief Judge ordered their discharge, acquittal, and release. They were detained under trumped-up charges ranging from theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder.
“Amnesty International calls on the Nigerian authorities to also release: Ayodeji Oluwasegun, Andoh Immanuel, Yakubu Olayiwola, Olaogun Ismail, Uba Chukwuma, Dosunmu Taiwo, Daniel Joy-Igbo, Yusuf Rafiu, Olawale Marcus, Muyiwa Onikoyi, Shehu Anas, Suleman Saidu, Rasheed Wasiu Bolaji, Adigun Sodiq, Sunday Okoro, Akiniran Oyetakin, Ogidi Isah, Ibrahim Adesanya, and Faruk Abdulquadri who are #EndSARS protesters detained without trial in Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos since 2020.
“All detained protesters must be immediately and unconditionally released. The Nigerian authorities must urgently respect, protect, promote and fulfill the right to peaceful protest including by publicly directing security and law enforcement agencies to stop infringing on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
- FG orders closure of 2nd Niger Bridge, others for work to resume
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola SAN, has ordered the closure of the Second Niger Bridge and sections of other major roads earlier opened to ease traffic for the 2022 Christmas celebrations. He gave the directive in Abuja, on Wednesday. This, he said is to enable contractors return to site to complete work on the various projects.
This was contained in a statement signed by Engr. Folorunso Esan, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry. The statement read in part, “Recall that barricades were removed at all construction sites on December 15,2022 for ease of movement to reduce travel time during the yuletide season.
“Contractors are now set to resume work on major highways especially the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway( from OPIC to the old toll gate ) and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway (around Kawo on the Kaduna-Zaria Section). To this end the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has directed that construction barricades be returned at construction sites for safety purposes with effect from Tuesday, January 10,2023.
“The Second Niger Bridge will, however, remain closed for public use with effect from Sunday, January 15,2023 for continuation of work on the completion of the access roads to the bridge.
The Honourable Minister seeks the patience and understanding of motorists and members of the public on this action aimed at completing the on-going projects.“
- Edo attack: Security plans for rail stations incomplete — NRC BOSS
Three days after the kidnap of 32 persons from the Tom Ikimi train station in Igueben, Edo State, another victim, a woman, has been reportedly rescued by security agencies combing the area. This came on a day Managing Director of Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, Fidet Okhiria, attributed the attack to sabotage, adding also that the corporation was yet to complete its security architecture of train stations across the country when this latest attack occurred.
This is even as The Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye, disclosed that railway and host communities’ security committees would be established as part of efforts to curb incidence of armed attacks on the nation’s rail infrastructure and passengers.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Land Transport, Nicholas Tofomowo, has called on the federal government to establish railway poilce at every station to curb attacks on rail passengers and stations across the country. Meanwhile, newsmen gathered that police had also deployed helicopter to the area to assist in aerial surveillance of the forests in the area.“
