Author: Olukayode Oke

Ahead of the deadline of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, cashless policy, suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, members have reportedly distributed some huge sums of old naira notes to commuters in the Lake Chad Basin. The incident reportedly occurred on Saturday along the Maiduguri/Monguno highway after Mairari village in Guzamala LGA of Borno State. The ISWAP members were said to have driven two gun trucks and dressed in military camouflage. A resident in the area, Bakura Ibrahim, said the insurgents positioned themselves under a tree and stood by the roadside with bags of old naira notes,…

Real Madrid are reportedly eyeing a move for Arsenal striker, Gabriel Jesus in the near future. According to Spanish outlet, El Nacional, Real Madrid are keeping tabs on strikers who can come in as long-term replacements for captain Karim Benzema. The report added that Real Madrid president Florentina Perez sees Jesus as a ‘great successor’ to Benzema. Jesus has scored five goals and registered six assists so far this season. But the Brazilian international has not featured for Arsenal since November as he was injured at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The 25-year-old is expected to get back…

Chelsea boss, Graham Potter has allowed Hakim Ziyech to join Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain. The Moroccan has agreed a move to leave Chelsea and is set to sign for the French champions. Ziyech has spent three underwhelming seasons at Chelsea following a £33m move from Ajax in 2020 but many thought his performance at the 2022 World Cup would have been a turn around. The 29-year-old has failed to impress successive Chelsea managers. With the arrival of Joah Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk at Stamford Bridge this January, the Moroccan game-time will only suffer more. Ziyech…

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has switched his attention to Chelsea’s Jorginho in his search for a new central midfielder. According to SportsMail, a deal is a long way off, but work towards the transfer has started. It could be completed ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline. This comes as Arsenal spent the whole of Monday deliberating whether to send in a third offer for Brighton midfielder, Moises Caicedo, amid fears they could damage their relationship with Brighton if they submit an improved bid. Gunners chiefs were deliberating if to improve upon their latest bid of up to £ 70 million. But…

Lorient have finally accepted OGC Nice’s €30m offer for Super Eagles forward, Terem Moffi. The Rivera club offered to pay €25m with another €5 coming in as add-ons, according to French news outlet, footmercato. Nice had several bids rejected by Lorient before their final offer was accepted. Lorient wanted Moffi to join Olympique Marseille after they met their valuation of the player but the Nigeria international insisted on a move to the Riviera club. The 23-year-old will sign a four-and-a-half-year contract upon the completion of his medical. Moffi joined Les Merlus from Belgium Pro League outfit, KV Kortrijk for €8m…

Nigerians have taken to social media to condemn popular Nigerian Afropop singer, Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk, professionally known by his stage name Iyanya for pushing a fan off stage while spraying him money in Akwa, Anambra State. A video that angered fans on social media captured the moment the singer pushed a male fan spraying money on him off stage and continued performing as if nothing had happened. Reacting to the massive backlash he received because of the push, Iyanya, in a tweet on his Twitter handle, explained that the fan was slapping his face with the money. He wrote: “The…

The Department of State Services (DSS) said it has intercepted some syndicates in parts of the country for allegedly selling the newly redesigned Naira notes. This is contained in a statement issued by Dr Peter Afunanya, the Public Relations Officer of the DSS, on Monday in Abuja. He said the syndicates were intercepted by operatives of the service during an operation. “Investigation has also shown that some Commercial Bank officials were aiding the economic malfeasance. “Consequently, the Service warns the currency racketeers to desist from this ignoble act. “Appropriate regulatory authorities are, in this same vein, urged to step up…

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday dismissed a suit by a former presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party, HDP, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru, against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2019 presidential election. The suit seeking the outright sack of President Buhari was thrown out by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo on three major grounds. Parts of the grounds are that the suit constituted a gross abuse of court process, statute barred and was an affront to the supremacy of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Besides, Justice Ekwo…

The number of confirmed Lassa fever cases in Nigeria rose to 244 in the first three weeks of 2023. The country also recorded 18 new deaths from the viral infection from January 16 to 22; bringing the total death toll to 37. This is according to the Lassa fever situation report for week three obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Sunday. The cases were confirmed in 16 states and 50 Local Government Areas with a Case Fatality Ratio of 15.1 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of suspected cases of the infection is now 939, which is higher…

The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Orji Innocent, raised the alarm over the huge number of members of the association moving out of the country for greener pastures, saying that the association has lost over 2,000 members in the last two years. He said if the situation is not tackled, it may degenerate to a point where Nigerians would wake up one day and discover there are no more doctors in the hospitals. Innocent raised the concern on Saturday while fielding questions from journalists after the presentation of a communiqué issued at the end of the…

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has appealed to retired military officers to be patient with the Federal Government in the effort to pay their Security Debarment Allowance. According to him, those who retired before the law was implemented were not qualified to be paid the allowance, adding that it took the magnanimity of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to review the law. He said rather than make negative comments on the delay of the payment, the president deserved commendation. Irabor spoke at the 42nd Anniversary Dinner of the Nigerian Defence Academy 28 Regular Course Welfare…

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is personally driving the club’s last-ditch attempt to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica as he fears rival clubs will launch summer moves for the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner. It was reported on Sunday that Chelsea had revived their interest in Fernandez and were preparing a new offer to present to Benfica. The Blues, who have spent more than £400m on new signings since Boehly took over at the west London club, were strongly linked with a move for the midfielder earlier in the window, but talks broke down. Benfica were adamant Fernandez was not for…