Author: Chief Editor

•Urges Buhari to step aside The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has wreaked the nation’s economy and should, therefore, step aside for more competent hands to manage the nation. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP condemned the rejection by the Presidency of the recent Financial Times editorial that warned that the country might become a failed state. “The Buhari administration has wreaked our once robust economy, destroyed the value of our naira and turned our nation into world poverty capital, where life has become so unbearable that…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent Freedom of Information (FoI) request to President Muhammadu Buhari and the 36 state governors to disclose details of their proposed ‘security votes’ spending in the 2021 appropriation bills. SERAP, which urged the leaders to prioritise security and welfare of Nigerians, also requested them to explain the measures they put in place to prevent misuse and embezzlement of public funds in the name of security votes. In a statement, the group said: “In the wake of the abduction of over 300 students from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and…

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed that passengers arriving from South Africa and United Kingdom (UK) will from today be received and processed separately by the country’s public health authorities. NCAA issued the directive at the weekend in a letter, which explained that this has become necessary following the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria and the reported highly transmissible new variant of the virus in UK and South Africa. NCAA explained that the federal government, through the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 (PTF), has reviewed the quarantine protocol. In the letter dated December 26, 2020…

Pep Guardiola is optimistic that Manchester City are on course to challenge Liverpool again for the Premier League title after climbing up to fifth and within five points of the leaders with a routine 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday. At a rain and windswept Etihad Stadium as Storm Bella swept into Manchester, it was plain sailing for the hosts as goals either side of half-time from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games. City’s lack of goals has unusually been their undoing so far this season but despite again not hitting…

Lionel Messi will miss Barcelona’s last match of the calendar year after the Catalan giants announced on Sunday that ankle treatment will keep him out of their midweek La Liga match with Eibar. In a statement, Barca said Messi “is completing the treatment for his right ankle, and is expected to return to training after the FC Barcelona v SD Eibar match”. Messi has already missed two matches for Barca in December, as he sat out their Champions League fixtures at Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros. Messi has played 18 times this season for the five-time European champions, scoring 10 times.…

A former Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawrence Alobi, says the Federal Government requires strong political will to tackle insecurity. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that “government must have the political will to tackle insecurity in the country as security and policing are technologically-driven.’’ `The Federal Government should have the political will to adequately fund security agencies and also train operatives for effective service delivery. “If the money stolen by unscrupulous politicians was used to purchase equipment for security agencies, we will not be where we are today,’’ he said. The ex-commissioner noted that…

Abimbola Adelakun aadelakun@punchng.com Last week Thursday, a group of politicians converged at the presentation of a book about former President Goodluck Jonathan. While there was nothing quite out of the ordinary about the gathering, there was still an interesting moment where the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, went on a self-justificatory spree to explain why he removed the immediate past Kano Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II. Ganduje said he fired Sanusi for pretty much the same reason Jonathan did: to save the institutions he headed from his disruptive character. His explanation was neither new nor surprising, but the way he…

It is December 24 -the eve of Christmas, but the usual merry of the season is lacking. Usually by this time, the festive feeling is in the air with preparations for Christian faithful’s symbolic celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. There have always been arguments about whether this time of the year truly represents the period Christ was born, but neither that nor questions as to if his death isn’t more important to his redemptive mission never detracts from the excitement the Christmas season brings. For Christians, the logic is that without a birth, there would be no death. …

Digital payments company Square has held talks to acquire Jay-Z’s Tidal music streaming service, Bloomberg News reported late Wednesday. Square chief executive Jack Dorsey, who also leads Twitter, aims to expand and diversify the company, according to the report, which was based on an unnamed source. Bloomberg said the talks may not result in a transaction. Jay-Z bought Tidal from Europe-based Aspiro in 2015 year in a deal valued at slightly more than $56 million. Owners include several other high-profile artists, including Madonna, Rihanna and Jay-Z’s wife, Beyonce. But Tidal has struggled to compete against much larger streaming services such…

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp moved to dismiss speculation over Egypt forward Mohamed Salah’s future saying on Thursday he is happy at the Premier League champions. The 28-year-old gave an interview in Spain last week in which he said Barcelona and Real Madrid were top clubs and “who knows what will happen in the future”. This led to speculation over whether he was seeking a new longer-term contract beyond 2023 or he was upset Trent Alexander-Arnold had been given the captain’s armband for the Champions League group match with Midtjylland. “We do not speak about deals — well, not with you…