Author: Olukayode Oke

Burnley missed the chance to secure the Championship title as QPR’s 2-1 win at Turf Moor hauled the visitors towards survival. Vincent Kompany’s men have already secured promotion to the Premier League, but their unbeaten home record was undone three minutes from time by Chris Martin’s winner. After a run of just two points from the previous 21 available, Gareth Ainsworth’s side were hardly expected to worry the league leaders but went ahead through captain Sam Field’s volley on 58 minutes. Burnley levelled with 14 minutes to go when Manuel Benson curled an unstoppable finish into the far corner of…

Marco Asensio scored one and made another as Real Madrid comfortably beat Celta Vigo in La Liga. Asensio opened the scoring with a first-time finish after Vinicius Junior’s cutback into the box. A bullet header by Eder Militao from Asensio’s corner three minutes into the second half sealed victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Barcelona, eight points clear of second-placed Real at the top of the table, host Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Iago Aspas had Celta’s best chance of the match when he just had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to beat but the Belgian saved at full stretch. Los Blancos had a…

Riyad Mahrez scored the first hat-trick in an FA Cup semi-final since 1958 as Manchester City kept their quest for the Treble on course by outclassing Sheffield United at Wembley. The Blades battled gamely throughout and even missed a big early chance when Iliman Ndiaye saw his shot saved by Stefan Ortega but once Mahrez scored his first from the spot two minutes before half-time, City made their class count. The Algerian opened the scoring after Daniel Jebbison fouled Bernardo Silva, before taking advantage of a wide-open Sheffield United defence to score the second with a solo effort just after…

The member-elect for Jalingo, Yorro, Zing constituency in Taraba State, Ismaila Yushau Maihanchi is dead. His death, as gathered by our correspondent, occurred in the early hours of Saturday in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. Confirming the report, the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Andeta’rang Irammae, said “Shortly after the election, the member-elect fell sick and has been receiving medical treatment in Abuja.” Describing his death as a rude shock to his party, he said the deceased will be missed not only by the party but the people of the state at large. Also speaking, the Acting chairman…

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has approved the reconstruction of a number of bridges and river crossings for the use of the people. This is in a bid to make movement in the state easier for residents. The bridges include Oke-Onitea junction, Osogbo, river crossing, Shasha-UNIOSUN road, Osogbo and a bridge along Abass road, Ede among others. The state government said the dilapidated nature of the river crossings and bridges has made life difficult for motorists and other residents who ply them since they went into a state of disrepair. In most of the bridges, vehicles could no longer move…

The Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, has dismissed claims that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, is sick. Kalu said contrary to claims, Tinubu is not on a sick bed. He spoke at the celebration of Mass to mark his 63rd birthday in Abuja. Kalu said, “Our President-elect is not sick. It is not true that he’s sick. I don’t want to say much. He is in good health; he is himself.” The senator also recalled a conversation he had with his colleague over Tinubu’s reported ill health. Kalu said: “One of my colleagues said yesterday he heard that the President-elect,…

Labour Party, LP, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to recommend the erring Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs to President Muhammadu Buhari for sanctions. Recall that the former Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa Ari, had defied the Chief Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, and unilaterally announced the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, as the winner, when collation had not been concluded. But, the National headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted swiftly by annulling Ari’s action, suspending him, writing the Presidency to get him sacked. The Commission immediately appointed Mele Lamido…

Mikel Arteta said recently that he has “wild dreams”. For much of this ridiculous night of football, under the Friday night lights, he must have felt like he was living the wildest of nightmares instead. But this Arsenal team — his Arsenal team — is playing by different emotional rules this season, and their fans have learned that nothing is settled until the very end. Late goals have become Arsenal’s preferred currency this season and they somehow found more of them here, to turn a disastrous loss into a weirdly spriting draw. If they had been offered one point before…

Former Bayern Munich coach, Julian Nagelsmann, has taken a final decision not to take over from Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard at the end of the season. According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Nagelsmann, who has been heavily linked with a move to replace Lampard at Chelsea, has withdrawn from the race to become the Blues’ next permanent manager. Recall that Chelsea temporarily put Lampard in charge of the first team until the end of the season after sacking Graham Potter earlier this month. Julian Nagelsmann has now withdrawn from the race to become the new Chelsea head coach —…

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday assured that the May 29th handover date remains sacrosanct. “God willing, nothing will stop it,” he affirmed, stating that he is looking forward to the completion of his second term on May 29, 2023, when he will hand over power to the incoming president. Buhari, who spoke shortly after observing the Eid prayer in Abuja to mark the end of the 30-day Ramadan fasting by Muslims, said after the handover, he would be returning to his home in Daura, Katsina State, to give the next president space. He said: “I thank God for what He…

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has directed candidates for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to proceed to print their examination notification slips. This is contained in a statement by Dr. Fabian Benjamin, Head, Public Affairs and Protocol of the board, and issued to newsmen on Friday in Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 1.5 million candidates would be sitting for this year’s examination in 740 centres across the country. “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) urges all candidates sitting for the 2023 main UTME, to proceed to print their…

Lawmakers elected on the platform of seven opposition parties in the House of Representatives on Thursday announced their intention to contest for the office of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker in the 10th National Assembly. The lawmakers under the aegis of a minority caucus with the maxim “The Greater Majority” noted that its intention was stirred following its numerical strength. The decision was reached at an emergency meeting of the minority caucus leadership held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja Thursday night. The spokesman of the caucus, Victor Adam Ogene in a statement said the outcome of last Saturday’s supplementary elections shows…