Author: Olukayode Oke

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has dismissed allegations that he had launched a fresh plot against the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A media platform (The NATION ) had earlier reported that N500 million windfall was mobilised through high-level CBN agents in Lagos State. The report added that the money was described as “Oga’s own contribution to the takeover-Lagos-from-Tinubu’s-influence,” now that he has become the president-elect and will be relocating to Abuja. Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday signed by the bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isa Abdulmumin, titled, “Re- Emefiele launches fresh plot against…

The Governor of Anambra State, Prof Charles Soludo confirmed on Monday that the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked commercial banks to dispense and accept old naira notes as deposits. Soludo, a former CBN governor, made this known in a statement he posted on his social media handles. He explained that the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele gave the directive at a Banker’s Committee meeting on Sunday. He added that Emefiele personally confirmed the directive to him. According to him, residents should report banks refusing to accept the old notes. “Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, on Sunday disclosed that over 170,000 polling unit results of the Feb. 25 presidential and National Assembly elections have been uploaded on its Result Viewing Portal (IReV). Okoye also revealed that the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Registration Systems (BVAS) would be completed by Tuesday, March 14, in preparation for the March 18 governorship and state Assembly elections. He stated this while featuring on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. According to him, no political party will be given permission to look into the brain…

A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani has noted that Northern politicians are now being nice and humble to the people. According to Sani, this could be as a result of lessons learnt from the February 25 presidential election. Nigerians trooped out en-masse to decide their next leader during the presidential election and even though there are reports of massive rigging and electoral fraud across the country, the turnout showed that the people, especially the youth, are now prepared to make decisions about who leads them. Sani, a former representative of Kaduna central Senatorial District in the Bukola Saraki-led 8th Assembly,…

State governments, which sued the Federal Government on the naira redesign policy, have given the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, till Tuesday to comply with the order of the Supreme Court on the currency. The state governments threatened to file contempt charges against the two top officials on Tuesday should they fail to obey the apex court which ordered that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 should be in circulation alongside the new notes till December 31, 2023. Over one week after the court handed…

Manchester United survived Casemiro’s early red card and an impressive display by rock-bottom Southampton as a pulsating Old Trafford encounter ended goalless. Erik ten Hag stressed the need for his side to be at their best as the Red Devils returned to Premier League duty for the first time since last weekend’s historic 7-0 shellacking at rivals Liverpool. United showed impressive character to bounce back and beat Real Betis on Thursday and again produced a display of strength to draw 0-0 with Southampton after Casemiro’s second sending-off of the season. The Brazil international looked gutted when referee Anthony Taylor brandished…

Arsenal restored their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League in outstanding fashion with a ruthless victory at Fulham. The Win Was Arteta’s 100th For Arsenal With 168 games in charge as head coach across four seasons. Mikel Arteta’s side responded to Manchester City’s narrow victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday night by wrapping up this win by half-time as they opened up a 3-0 lead with a devastating attacking display. Gabriel Martinelli had already had a goal narrowly ruled out for offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), before defender Gabriel headed in Leandro Trossard’s corner after…

Napoli bounced back from last weekend’s loss to Lazio to continue their apparent cruise towards the Serie A title with victory over Atalanta. Luciano Spalletti’s side were kept quiet in the first half by an Atalanta side who defended in numbers. But second-half goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Amir Rrahmani secured their 22nd league win of the season. Napoli are now 18 points clear at the top of the table with 12 league games left. Atalanta sit in sixth. Victor Osimhen, Serie A’s top scorer with 19 goals, twice came close to an opener after the break but saw a…

The Young Teranga Lions of Senegal, on Saturday, defeated their Gambia counterparts 2-0 to lift their first-ever Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations trophy at the Cairo International Stadium, Egypt. Goals from forward Sulaymane Faye and midfielder Mamadou Camara were all the team needed to secure Senegal victory over their Gambian neighbours. The Senegalese side zoomed into Saturday’s final with a 100 per cent record, winning all their matches without conceding a goal. The Young Teranga Lions were playing their fourth Under-20 AFCON final, having finished runners-up in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Malick Daf’s tutored side have followed in the footsteps…

Erling Haaland’s second-half penalty was enough to earn Manchester City a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Haaland’s league-leading 28th top-flight goal this season was redemption for a squandered opportunity before the break that saw the Norwegian striker fire over the crossbar from close range. Palace did well to frustrate the visitors for 78 minutes but were undone after Michael Olise brought down Ilkay Gundogan to earn the spot-kick. The result snapped a four-game unbeaten streak at home for the hosts, who remain in search of their first win in 2023. City swiftly took control after kick-off, Rodrigo…

Real Madrid came from behind to cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of LaLiga to six points, with Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio scoring in a 3-1 win over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid entered Saturday’s game having gone three matches without a win, and they threatened to lose further ground in the title race when Joselu’s early strike put Espanyol ahead. However, a solo effort from Vinicius Junior swiftly levelled things up, before Militao nodded home at the back post to put the hosts on top before half-time. Asensio escaped in behind to net a third late…

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has described Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, as the hero of the just-concluded February 25 presidential election. Wike made the statement when he addressed a town hall with Igbo traders in Port Harcourt on Saturday. He said despite Obi not having been declared the winner, his participation in the election ensured a southerner emerged as the President-elect. According to Wike, Obi recorded victories where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would have won, thereby retaining power in the North. “In this election that we just did,” he said, “Obi is…