Author: Chief Editor

Atletico Madrid’s triumph over Liverpool in March was a throwback to a more celebrated past under Diego Simeone but five months on and the Champions League offers them a very real opportunity in the present. Knocking out the holders at Anfield may prove to be the first glimpse of a new era under Simeone, where the likes of Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente, Jose Gimenez and Jan Oblak push Atletico to challenge for major honours again. Or it could be a last hurrah for the Simeone project, which some believe will never again scale the heights of their incredible La Liga…

Sevilla and Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the semi-finals of the Europa League on Tuesday after respective wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Basel. Five-time competition winners Sevilla face Manchester United on Sunday after snatching a last gasp 1-0 win over Wolves, while Shakhtar take on Inter Milan on Monday after easily seeing off Basel 4-1. The La Liga side made it through to their last four clash with United thanks to Lucas Ocampos’ brilliant headed winner with less than two minutes left on the clock, which ended Wolves’ dreams of European glory. The Premier League outfit thought they were set to…

Kylian Mbappe looks set to feature for Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta in Lisbon on Wednesday having made a good recovery from an ankle injury, his coach Thomas Tuchel said on the eve of the game. “If he trains well on Tuesday evening and nothing extraordinary happens, he will be in the team on Wednesday,” Tuchel told reporters. However, Tuchel did then suggest that Mbappe would most likely be used off the bench against the Italians. “We are really pleased to have the possibility of finishing the match with Kylian on the pitch because that gives…

•Assures military has resources to fight insurgents •Govs demand security bailout •Politicians exploit insecurity for personal gains, Zamfara gov alleges Nigeria is expecting to take delivery of military weapons and aircraft from Jordan, China and the United States to reinvigorate its anti-terror war, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday. The president at a virtual meeting with the Security Committee of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), represented by one governor from each of the six geo-political zones of the country, however, urged Nigerians to be patient and not to expect a dramatic change in the ongoing efforts to combat insurgency because fighters…

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged the federal government and Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, to take urgent steps to end the incessant killing of Nigerians. In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja and jointly signed by its President, Most Rev. Augustine Akubeze, and Secretary, Most Rev. Camillus Umoh, the clergymen said their hearts were bleeding over the massacre presently going on in Southern Kaduna. “Our hearts are bleeding, and we are more troubled when we hear of the massacre presently going on in Southern Kaduna. We want all the people suffering the incessant attacks in…

They are not legislators, their decisions will not bind us, says Obaseki Tension has gripped residents of Benin City, the Edo State capital, following the insistence yesterday by a factional group of 17 members of the state House of Assembly opposed to the Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to sit in the legislative premises despite the ongoing renovation of the complex. However, the state police command has pledged to be neutral in the political crisis rocking the state, which arose from the disagreement between Obaseki and his predecessor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, a former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).…

Over five million Nigerians have applied for the third batch of the N-Power programme, it was learnt on Tuesday. The registration which commenced on the 26th of June 2020 was scheduled to end on the 26th of July but it was extended by two weeks. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development in a statement by the SA to the minister on Strategic Communication, Halima Oyelade said the online portal closed on Sunday 9th of August, 2020 with a total of 5,042,001 applications. According to the federal government, 400,000 applicants will be absorbed upon conclusion of the…

Manchester United are being linked to a move that adds more steel to their defensive line. Reports in Italy have linked Manchester United to a €63m move for the Senegalese star Manchester United have reportedly registered their interest in a €63m deal for Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Manchester United have “expressed interest” in doing a deal for Koulibaly. However, according to the same report, the talks are only in the initial stages just yet. Manchester United finished the 2019-20 season with the third-best defensive record in the Premier League, conceding just 36 goals. Only Manchester City and eventual champions Liverpool conceded…

The die is cast as the people of Ondo brace for the October 10, 2020 governorship election. And the electorate have a clear choice in spite of the number of candidates jostling for the governorship seat. The man they would overwhelmingly cast their votes for is none other than the incumbent governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who has been piloting the affairs of the state with tremendous success since February 24, 2017, having won the primary election of the All Progressives Congress on September 2, 2016 and the governorship election on November 26, 2016 respectively. Just like the keenly contested elections…

PFN tasks FG, stakeholders on violence-free election The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been accused of plotting to stoke up violence that will compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend the Edo State governorship election till November. Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign council for the Edo governorship election, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who made the claim in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the council also had credible intelligence of plans to use security agencies to rig the September 19 election. The governor explained that the APC had concluded plans to capitalise on the assertion of…