Author: Olukayode Oke

Croatia defender Dejan Lovren has retired from international football at the age of 33. The Lyon centre-back announced on Thursday that he has played his last game for his country. Lovren won 78 caps, the last of which coming in a 3-0 World Cup semi-final defeat to an Argentina side that went on to be crowned champions in Qatar in December. The former Liverpool man, who made his Croatia debut in 2009, was an unused substitute for a victory over Morocco’s in the third-place play-off. Lovren played his part in Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in 2018, when they…

Air Peace on Thursday announced that flight operations will be suspended on February 25 as a result of the general elections. However flight operations will resume February 26, the local airline assured. The airline disclosed this in a statement via its official Instagram handle. The statement reads, “Members of the public are hereby informed that there will be no scheduled flights on February 25, 2023, due to the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections. “Scheduled flight operations resume on Sunday, February 26, 2023.”

The Electoral Act of 2022 signed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in May last year, has laid the groundwork for free, fair and credible elections on February 25 and March 11, 2023. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, made this claim at the 67th session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. Malami’s claim comes barely 48 hours to the presidential and National Assembly elections holding on Saturday, February 25. According to the AGF, the Act embodies enough legislative, political…

Legendary football commentator, John Motson, is dead. Motson died at the age of 77. Motson’s death was disclosed in a statement released by his family on Thursday. The statement read, “It is with great sadness that we announce that John Motson OBE died peacefully in his sleep today.” Motson covered ten World Cups, ten European Championships and twenty-nine FA Cup finals during his 50-year career with the BBC. He retired from broadcasting back in 2018.

Barely 72 hours before the presidential election, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, says it did not call for a sit-at-home during the 2023 polls starting from Saturday. IPOB disclosed that it’s not interested in Nigeria’s election process, adding that it did not call for a boycott. Emma Powerful, the spokesman of IPOB, said those calling for a sit-at-home in the Southeast during the election are anti-democratic forces. A statement by Powerful reads partly: “The global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU who is…

U.S. President Joe Biden called on Thursday for Nigeria’s presidential election on Saturday to be peaceful and transparent. The U.S. president also urged candidates and parties to accept the results as announced by the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nigerians are set on Saturday to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections that are seen as the most wide-open since Africa’s most populous nation switched from military rule to democracy in 1999. Of the 18 candidates vying to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, three stand a chance. Former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu, 70, the ruling party (All Progressives Congress) candidate; former…

All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate Bola Tinubu has given a hint of how he will fight corruption if elected. Tinubu is vying for the presidency against Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP; Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Rabiu Kwankwaso, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, among others. In a letter to Nigerians on Thursday, he said his government would implement policies that would make people shun different forms of graft. Tinubu promised a robust and credit system to enable people to acquire the basics of life, such as housing, cars and household equipment and pay gradually. The former…

Former Nigerian lawmaker and social critic, Shehu Sani, has urged the residents of the South East zone to resist and disobey the sit-at-home order by Simon Ekpa’s faction of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB. Senator Sani’s statement is contained in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday. Recall that the outlawed separatist group had threatened to issue a sit-at-home order in the South East during the general elections. However, the former lawmaker has insisted that the sit-at-home order has a negative and retrogressive action against the democratic rights of the people in the South Eastern part of…

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Oyo State, on Thursday, commenced the distribution of sensitive materials to all the 33 local government areas in the state. The distribution was done at the Central Bank of Nigeria in the presence of the representatives of political parties amidst tight security in Ibadan, the state capital. This exercise confirms the readiness of the commission to conduct the 2023 general election starting Saturday, February 25 and also on March 11. Adeniran Tella, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state told newsmen that the exercise commenced around two o’clock in the morning. Tella, who announced…

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Phillip Shaibu, has been invited by the International Federation of Association Football to the annual celebration of football’s greatest stars, the Best FIFA Football Awards. Shuaibu, who is a sports lover, got the international recognition and invitation due to his contributions towards sports development in Edo State. The awards will take place at Salle Pleyel in Paris, February 27. A letter of invitation sent to Shaibu by FIFA Guest Operations read, Dear Mr Shaibu, It is our pleasure to invite you to the annual celebration of football’s greatest stars, the Best FIFA Football AwardsTM,…

The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has advised corps members who would be on election duty to carry out their tasks with due diligence. Mrs Blessing Iruma, Coordinator of NYSC in Anambra, gave the admonition during a one-day pre-election sensitisation programme for corps members and staff of the scheme in Amawbia, Awka South LGA, on Wednesday. Iruma said they should execute their duty in accordance with the rules as stated in the Electoral Act and in line with the training they received on the general polls, adding that they must ensure they do not stand in the way of a…

Two days to the presidential election in Nigeria, the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has addressed Nigerians. In a lengthy statement on Wednesday night, the Anambra-born politician shared his thoughts on the state of the nation and what Nigerians stand to gain from his government if elected as president. Here is the full text of Peter Obi address to Nigerians: Fellow Nigerians, it’s 3 days to go and in my quiet moments I know that Nigerians are wondering what Peter Obi is thinking. I will share my thoughts here because I have Nigeria on my mind! We are currently…