Author: Olukayode Oke

Mikel Arteta did not hide his frustration with Arsenal’s performance in Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Sporting CP, but Fabio Vieira’s display brought him a degree of pleasure. The Gunners took the lead in the first half when William Saliba headed in from Vieira’s corner, only for their hosts to level in similar circumstances just past the half-hour mark at the Jose Alvalade. Paulinho put Sporting in front after the break with a tap-in, but Hidemasa Morita’s own goal seven minutes later ultimately secured Arsenal a draw to take back to Emirates Stadium for the return leg of their Europa League…

Ghanaian star, Paul Acquah scored a hat-trick as Rivers United regained the top spot in Group B of the CAF Confederation Cup following a 3-1 victory against Daring Club Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Uyo. The matchday four encounter was moved from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon following the Congolese team’s failure to arrive in Uyo on time. Acquah also scored the decisive goal in Rivers United’s 1-0 victory in the first leg. The midfielder opened the scoring for the Nigerian champions on the stroke of halftime after he was teed up by Ukeme Williams. His compatriot,…

Ahead of the March 18 gubernatorial election, the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to allow the use of Temporary Voter Cards, TVC. Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order on Thursday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by two Nigerians seeking the use of TVCs in the general elections when Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are not available. According to Justice Egwuatu, the order was made on the grounds that the plaintiffs had been duly registered and captured in INEC’s database prior to the commencement of the general election. The judge, however, said…

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Thursday urged traders in his state to accept the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes. Akeredolu said this while decrying the rejection of old naira notes by business owners and traders in Ondo. In a statewide broadcast in Akure, the governor said the rejection of the old naira notes currency was a flagrant disobedience of the law. “It’s imperative that I address you today because of the need to halt a self-induced pain currently being experienced by us all in the state. “This is unfortunate and unexpected. It’s a flagrant disobedience to the…

Stefano Pioli is dreaming of going all the way with Milan in this season’s Champions League after overcoming Tottenham in the first knockout round. Milan held Tottenham to a goalless draw in Wednesday’s last-16 second leg in north London to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory and a place in next week’s quarter-final draw. Mike Maignan made a superb save late on to deny Harry Kane, but Milan finished the game with an expected goals (xG) return of 1.37 compared to 0.46 for Spurs. It is the first time since the 2011-12 campaign that Milan have reached the final eight of the competition,…

The Managing Director, of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Mr Fidet Okhiria, on Thursday, gave an account of the brief he got on the accident involving a train and a bus earlier in the day. The NRC train was involved in an accident with a Lagos State Government staff bus on the rail track in the Sogunle area of Lagos. Two bodies have so far been recovered from the scene, while several others are injured, according to the National Emergency Management Agency Okhiria told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos: “According to the information I gathered at the scene of…

Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has threatened members of his constituency to vote only for the candidates of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, or risk not getting any attention from him. In a video making the rounds on the social media, Soludo was seen telling members of Igbo-Uwku/Aguata 2 State constituency that if they vote another person from another party other than APGA, he would be paying him salaries only. The governor also said it is only his friend who belongs to the same political party that would have access to him. ”Any person who I will work…

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Thursday denied report that the transfer of former Director of ICT is one of the reasons there were glitches during the uploading of the Feb. 25 national election results. Rotimi Oyekanmi, INEC’s Chief Press Secretary, said such report is an attempt to mislead the public. According to him, there could still be glitches even if the former ICT Director was still in charge. “First, the IReV and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) are two separate entities, and they are independent of each other. “The relationship between the two is that the BVAS is…

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has reacted as a train collided with a BRT bus in the Ikeja area of the State. Two persons have been confirmed dead, and many casualties were recorded as a moving train crashed into a Lagos State Government bus known at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of the state on Thursday morning. Reacting on his Twitter page, Sanwo-Olu expressed sadness over the incident. He wrote, ”I am deeply saddened by the news of the train/bus accident . The vehicle was conveying staff of the Lagos State Government, our staff who serve the state…

Two persons have been confirmed dead, while others sustained injury in an accident involving a train and a Lagos State BRT staff bus, Thursday morning, in Shogunle area of Ikeja. The two casualties were staff of the state government. It was learned that the blue staff bus was trying to cross, with the moving train closing in. The train hit the bus and dragged it from PWD Bus Stop to Shogunle, where it stopped. Eyewitnesses alleged that the driver refused to stop at the level crossing. According to Babs, who witnessed the accident, “when officials of NRC stationed at that…

Bayern Munich cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League as they condemned Paris St-Germain to another last-16 exit. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting swept home just after the hour mark for the hosts against his former club, with substitute Serge Gnabry adding the gloss to a professional display late on. PSG have now been eliminated from the competition at this stage in five of their previous seven campaigns and this represented another dismal failure for the Ligue 1 leaders and their under-pressure head coach Christophe Galtier. Despite boasting a collection of stars, the Parisians not only failed to score over two…

The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party LP, Mr Peter Obi has stormed the Court of Appeal, Abuja to witness the Court’s judgment in an application by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking to vary the court’s order for inspection of materials used for the conduct of the February 25 presidential election. Obi was accompanied to the court room by a retinue of the party’s chieftains, comprising the Senator elect for Anambra Central, Chief Victor Umeh. The presidential candidate who is billed to challenge the outcome of the February 25 Presidential election at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal was…