Author: Chief Editor

Former Real Madrid and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas has retired from football at the age of 39. Casillas made 725 appearances for Real during a 16-year career at the Bernabeu, winning three Champions League titles and five La Liga crowns. He also helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and two successive European Championships in 2008 and 2012. Casillas joined Porto in 2015 but has not played since suffering a heart attack during trainingin April 2019. During his recovery he was given a role on the club’s coaching staffin July 2019. He made 156 appearances for the Portuguese side, winning…

•Unveils reviewed broadcasting code despite industry-wide opposition The federal government has raised the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5 million and mandated broadcast stations to devote airtime for public education on emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known in Lagos yesterday while unveiling the Reviewed Broadcasting Code, according to a statement by the ministry. The reviewed Nigeria Broadcasting Code contains the anti-trust provision aimed at boosting local content and encouraging the growth of the local industry, among others. Mohammed, at the ceremony organised by the National Broadcasting…

•Fears mount funds might disappear like NDDC’s Despite the controversy surrounding alleged fleecing of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) under his direct watch and supervision, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is said to be making final plans to get N20 billion ” working capital” for the East-West Road whose completion date has become open-ended after costing the federal government some N600 billion since the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. To get the road finished once and for all, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had transferred the funding and project management…

•Ndume: Nigerian Army is Ill-equipped, Underfunded to Fight Insurgents •Govs meet today over insecurity Nigeria’s top security apparatchiks, including the service chiefs, yesterday got a presidential marching order to re-engineer the nation’s security architecture and evolve new strategies of arresting the deteriorating insecurity in the country. President Muhammadu Buhari, at a meeting with the security chiefs in Abuja, restated his displeasure with their inability to safeguard lives and property. He, however, implored Nigerians to be patient and await the fruits of the re-engineering process, assuring them that the situation is redeemable. The nation’s worsening insecurity will also engage the attention…

Arsenal are reportedly set to move quickly to offer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a new deal and tie down the future of their talisman up front. Manager Mikel Arteta is said to have told Aubameyang he can join the esteemed list of Arsenal’s greatest ever forwards should he commit to the club and spearhead the Gunners’ new direction. Now that the season has finished and Arsenal have a clearer idea of their financial projections, they will sit down to discuss with Aubameyang, according to the Mirror. The player is reported to want a three-year deal, which will take him through to the…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied replacing the name of the deputy governorship candidate for African Action Congress (AAC) for the October 10, 2020 election. The commission said that all names uploaded by political parties on its dedicated portal were same names published. The rebuttal was a reaction to the claim by the AAC’s Chairman in Ondo State, Mr. Alex Adeniyi, that INEC illegally substituted the name of the party’s running mate, Mrs. Mopelola Evelyn Ibrahim, with a non-member, Samuel Tope Omotosho. The INEC, in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education…

The Presidency, yesterday, faulted the planned nationwide protest by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged “inaction on the high-level of corruption uncovered at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).” In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, argued that the move was “ill advised and totally uncalled for, considering that there are ongoing investigations in the cases by both the executive and legislative arms of government.” He added that “these processes must be…

Gives seven-day ultimatum to Senate committee chairman Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Tony Elumelu, has given a seven-day ultimatum to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public petition, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, to retract a statement credited to him linking the banker and the UBA to a N41billion fraud allegation. Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Mr. Lawal Rabana and Ms. Oluwakemi Balogun, who are lawyers to Elumelu, in a letter to the senator threatened to sue the lawmaker if he fails to retract the statement and publicly apologise to Elumelu within seven…

A former Senator, who represented Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has warned that the killings in the southern part of Kaduna State is a threat to the peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. Sani said this yesterday in Kaduna when he visited the secretariat of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), an umbrella body for ethnic nationalities in the southern part of the state. A statement issued by the spokesman of SOKAPU, Luka Binniyat, after the visit, quoted Sani as saying that the killings in Southern Kaduna have polarised Nigerians along ethno-religious lines. He warned that the killings in Kaduna should…

Lists grouse against Obaseki He is victim of his indiscretion, unholy machinations, gov fires back Immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, monday gave an insight into why he lost his seat as the party’s chief superintendent. Fielding questions when he featured on the Morning Show, the flagship breakfast programme of ARISE NEWS Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, Oshiomhole said he stepped on toes of powerful forces in the party, who, in a reprisal, engineered his ouster. He, however, expressed no regrets over actions he took as APC national chairman, adding that…