Author: Chief Editor

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has thrown his weight behind President Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as heading Nigeria towards state failure, insisting that the country is more divided as never before. Soyinka in a statement issued yesterday from his Autonomous Residence of Ijegba, Idi-Aba Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said though he is not a fan of Obasanjo, he embraced any accurate reading of the country as a contraption teetering on the edge of total collapse. Soyinka’s statement was titled, “Between ‘Dividers-in-chief’ and Dividers-in-law.” Obasanjo had said the country was slowly becoming a failed state and more…

•Tinubu urges electorate to reject Edo gov •We will win, Atiku, PDP reply Ahead of the September 19 governorship election in Edo State, all the political parties and their candidates, particularly the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Godwin Obaseki, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, yesterday signed a peace accord to ensure peaceful conduct before, during and after the election. The peace deal signed in Benin City, Edo State capital, which seeks to douse the rising pre-election tension was brokered by the Nigeria Peace Committee (NPC), led by a former Head of State,…

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has topped the Forbes list for highest-earning footballers in 2020. Forbes estimated Messi’s yearly earnings at $126m (£97.2m) with Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo second on $117m (£90.3m). Neymar was in third with Paris St-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe fourth. Three Premier League players – Mohamed Salah, Paul Pogba and David de Gea – made the top 10, as did Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale. Welshman Bale came eighth in the list at $29m (£22.4m) despite a disappointing 2019-20 season, on a personal level, which saw him fall out with Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane and only…

* Says ban on Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, others not political *All airports now open for domestic flights, says FG The federal government has reminded all states of the federation to be vigilant in adhering to the safety protocols developed by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID 19 ahead of the reopening of schools this week across the country. The Chairman PTF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, made the appeal yesterday when the task force briefed the media in Abuja. He said the fear of a likely surge in the pandemic should always put everyone on the toes, while warning that…

A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that no individual or group can decide for the people of Edo State whom to vote, ahead of the governorship election on Saturday. Odigie-Oyegun in a statement issued yesterday said he read with great consternation and disgust a statement purportedly issued by him on a the outcome of the gubernatorial election of Edo State. He stated: “First, let me state emphatically that at no time did I issue any statement, verbal or written, on the fortunes of the APC, or any other party, in the…

The co-Founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates, has said Nigeria must do all within its powers to ensure there’s no resurgence of the wild polio virus in the country. He said the country should also invest more in primary healthcare; especially in Northern Nigeria where 10 to 15 per cent of children die from preventable diseases before their fifth birthday. Speaking exclusively with THISDAY in a telephone interview over the weekend, he said although the Nigerian government has considered the option of e-learning for children due to their inability to get classroom education because of…

Political leaders in the Ondo South senatorial district of Ondo State yesterday said indigenes of the area have agreed to allow the state Governor, Oluwatotimi Akeredolu, to complete another term of four years before “their turn to govern the state.” A former aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Olusola Oke, stated this at Ajagba in Irele Local Government Area of the state during a campaign tour of Akeredolu ahead of the October 10, 2020, governorship election. Oke disclosed that the leaders in Ondo South Senatorial district have resolved to wait for the next four years, and therefore decided…

As the Edo State governorship election inches closer, Adibe Emenyonu takes a look at the parties, their candidates and the likely flashpoints. The Edo governorship election slated for September 19 this year promises to be as interesting as the 2016 election when Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, then of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Mr. Godwin Obaseki, then of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were the major contenders. Obaseki emerged victorious in that election. Four years after, Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu are still the major contenders for the topmost political office in Edo, making analysts to describe this weekend’s governorship election as…

The five socio-cultural groups drawn from both the Southern and the Northern parts of the country that held a two-day meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja last week have berated the Presidency for its condemnation of the meeting. The groups – Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and Middle Belt Forum – yesterday described federal government’s reaction to the meeting as highly disappointing, adding, however, that it would continue to meet with people of like minds with the sole aim of bringing the nation out of the brink. In a joint statement…

•Suspends use of Z-pad for accreditation •Abdulsalami, Kukah to superintend peace accord today •IG deploys 31,000 policemen to monitor election •US issues visa ban on Bayelsa, Kogi ballot riggers Following what it described as the concern expressed in some quarters about the neutrality of its staff engaged for the governorship election in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reassured the electorate in Edo State that their votes would count in the emergence of the winner of the September 19 election in the state. The commission has also disclosed that the z-pad, a new innovation used in the…