Author: Chief Editor

•Says Nigeria to receive 20m doses of vaccine early next year The federal government has asked COVID-19 treatment centres across the country to prepare for reopening. Some of the centres were shut after the country recorded a decline in cases. However, there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases, with a warning that there might be a second wave of the pandemic in the country. Speaking at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 yesterday, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said he had directed health workers to be on red alert. “We are seeing the increase…

•ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze, PANDEF criticise Buhari for ignoring invitation •Agbakoba, Utomi, Kukah, 43 others demand service chiefs’ resignation The House of Representatives yesterday faulted the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), for querying its power to summon President Muhammadu Buhari. It fired back at the minister that contrary to his claim, the constitution empowers it to invite the president. The president, who was earlier scheduled to appear before the House yesterday to brief lawmakers on efforts by his administration to check the worsening insecurity in the country, expectedly failed to turn up. THISDAY,…

President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to honour the invitation by members of the House of Representatives to address them on the security situation in the country as plenary commenced on Thursday in his absence. Members of the House of Representatives had earlier on December 1st passed a resolution to invite President Buhari to brief the house on the true state of the security situation in the country. This decision was taken when the House considered a motion moved by members from Borno State on the recent massacre of 43 rice farmers in the state by Boko Haram insurgents. In response to this, the…

The former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina on Thursday collapsed in court. The Federal Government is prosecuting Mr Maina on a 12-count charge of fraud and money laundering before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. Mr Maina was recently extradited from the Niger Republic after he jumped bail and escaped the country. The former pension boss collapsed when his counsel, Anayo Adibe was addressing the court on his no-case submission before Justice Okon Abang. This photo shows ex-Pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina after he collapsed in court on December 10, 2020. …

Niran Adedokun niranadedokun@gmail.com If democracy is the way Nigerians hope to pull their country out of the doldrum it currently is, the people have a much longer way to go than they realise. These, at least, are the feelers one gets from the by-elections that took place in Lagos State and other parts of the country this last weekend. Although the elections have been won and lost in places where they held, there were widespread reports of voter apathy across major areas of Lagos. In fact, many polling booths opened for hours without the benefit of anyone willing to…

Abimbola Adelakun aadelakun@punchng.com The news that the National Association of Nigerian Students had elected a 45-year-old Sunday Asefon as their new president, unsurprisingly, met with derision. Yes, I am quite aware that Asefon claims to be a decade younger than his putative age. Still, in a society where people already graduate from tertiary institutions at 20 years, a student leader aged almost four decades is awkward. We associate student leadership positions with youths who can still claim to be possessed by idealistic zeal and an unsullied vision of social transformation, not older men who should be halfway through their…

•AGF: Lawmakers lack powers to invite president •Omo-Agege backs Malami as minority caucus, lawyers disagree •We are yet to be informed of president’s change of mind, say legislators A day before his commitment to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives to address lawmakers on what his administration is doing to combat rising insecurity, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday walked back on his promise. The presidency cited the constitution, which the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), said does not confer the power to summon the president on the National Assembly, for Buhari’s change…

Two headed goals from Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid reach the Champions League knockout stages with a convincing 2-0 home win on Wednesday over Borussia Moenchengladbach, who also progressed to the last 16. Benzema ghosted into the area unmarked to head home a floated cross from Lucas Vazquez in the ninth minute and rose again to score in the 32nd, this time powering a cross from Rodrygo through the hands of Swiss keeper Yann Sommer. The German side were out-classed by the Spaniards but sneaked through from the group as Inter Milan drew 0-0 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in…

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces the unenviable task of eliciting a response from his team in Saturday’s Premier League derby with Manchester City following their UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of RB Leipzig on Tuesday night. United paid for a sloppy start against last season’s semifinalists and exited Europe’s elite club competition after a 3-2 defeat that piled the pressure on Solskjaer, with some angry fans calling for Mauricio Pochettino to replace him. Argentine Pochettino has been out of work since being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur last November and has regularly been linked with the job…

Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann believes his side’s 3-0 defeat by Juventus in the Champions League could be just what his stuttering team needs to knock them back into shape. The loss followed Saturday’s shock defeat by Cadiz and meant Barca failed to finish top of their group for the first time in 13 seasons and will be unseeded for the last-16 draw. But Griezmann hopes it serves as a wake up call to his side, who have made their worst start to a league campaign in 33 years. “This is a tough blow but it will serve us well to…