Author: Chief Editor

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, jailed for 15 months in July for contempt of court after snubbing graft investigators, was placed on medical parole Sunday just two months into his term, prison authorities announced. Zuma, 79, has been hospitalised since August 6 at a health facility outside the prison where he had been incarcerated for ignoring a court order to testify before a judicial panel probing corruption during his nine-year tenure, which lasted until 2018. The Department of Correctional Services said in a statement on Sunday that Zuma’s “medical parole” took effect on Sunday and he will serve the…

Mr Hillary Amodu, the Chairman, Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Local Governments Congress Committee, has described the party’s congress in the state as peaceful and credible. Amodu spoke on Saturday evening at the party secretariat in Ibadan, while addressing news conference on the outcome of the congress. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the congress was held in all the 33 local government areas of the state on Saturday. Amodu expressed satisfaction with the turnout of members and their peaceful conduct during the congress. “I have gone round the 11 local government areas in Ibadan and other…

Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa has emphasised the need for pre-marital drug tests as a key factor to a stable home. Marwa made this suggestion at a conference organised by a non-government organisation (NGO) Coal to Diamond Support Network for young adults in Abuja at the weekend. Marwa’s wife, who is the chief host of the conference, Mrs Munirat Marwa also emphasised the need for drug test before marriage, warning that drugs are destroying many marriages, families and communities. At the conference, Marwa said substance use “has been known not only…

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has called for the World Cup to be held every two years in an interview with French sports daily L’Equipe published on Friday. The 71-year-old Frenchman, who is now director of development at FIFA, also called for a single annual period of international qualifiers in a global football calendar. “The principle would be a grouping of qualifiers every year, and at the end of the season a major competition, World Cup or continental championship,” said Wenger. “Between the two qualifying windows, the player would stay in his club all year round. “There must be less…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday condemned racist abuse aimed at England players during a World Cup qualifier in Budapest as “completely unacceptable”, calling on FIFA to act. Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were targeted with monkey chants during Thursday’s match in the Puskas Arena, which England won 4-0. Manchester City forward Sterling scored the first goal in the convincing win but the result was overshadowed by the abuse aimed at England’s black players, including Sterling. Missiles and a flare were also thrown onto the pitch by a hostile home crowd. “It is completely unacceptable that @England players were…

The Kenyan government said on Friday it will go to the country’s top court to challenge a ruling that halted President Uhuru Kenyatta’s bid to change the constitution, a source of growing controversy ahead of next year’s polls. The sweeping reforms — popularly known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI)– have been touted as a way to end repeated cycles of election violence by expanding the executive and parliament to more evenly divide the spoils of victory. But a High Court in Nairobi in May ruled that the proposed amendments to the 2010 constitution were illegal and that Kenyatta could…

A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has queried N194.89billion Covid-19 spending shortfall in Delta, Enugu, Sokoto and Kaduna. According to the transparency and accountability group, out of N209.61bn allocated for COVID-19 related spending across the four states of the federation, only N14.73billion was disbursed, leading to a spending shortfall of N194.89billion. A representative of Follow The Money International, Pearl Utuk who revealed the findings from a survey championed by BudgIT and other accountability groups on Friday in Abuja said that while an allocation of N50.13billion was earmarked for Covid19 related spending in Delta State 2020 budget, only N4.92billion was…

The Federal Government on Thursday said it was concerned that over 13,777 projects being handled by the Niger Delta Development Commission have their execution “substantially compromised.” It also said that the commission has about 362 bank accounts that lack proper reconciliation. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said this while receiving the forensic audit report of the NDDC from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, in Abuja on Thursday. Malami said the government was concerned about what he described as the colossal loss occasioned by uncompleted and unverified development projects in the…

Cristiano Ronaldo signalled his intention to keep playing for Portugal for “years to come” after breaking the all-time international goalscoring record of 109 previously held by Iran’s Ali Daei. The Manchester United forward scored twice in the dying minutes to move to 111 international goals as Portugal came from behind to beat Ireland 2-1 in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday. Ronaldo, who is the all-time top goalscorer in the Champions League and the leading marksman in Real Madrid’s history, led his country to their only major tournament win at Euro 2016. The 36-year-old spoke of his pride after his latest…

Olivier Giroud has tested positive for Covid-19, his club AC Milan announced on Thursday as the France forward sits out his country’s World Cup qualifiers. In a statement, Milan said Giroud “tested positive in a molecular swab carried out at home”, adding that he is “doing well but must remain in protective isolation”. Giroud tested positive for the virus after France opted not to call him up for World Cup qualifiers this month. Les Bleus stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday in the first of their three matches in the international break. The 34-year-old was…