Gov poll: We accept Supreme Court verdict, says Osun PDP (Punch)
The Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State said it has accepted the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Governor Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of the September 2018 governorship election in the state. Mr Soji Adagunodo, the State PDP Chairman, in a telephone interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Osogbo said since the Supreme Court was the apex court in the land, the party could not appeal the decision. NAN reports that the Supreme Court in a split judgment of five-to-two on Friday upheld the election of Oyetola. Read more
Atiku reacts to Adeleke defeat at Supreme court (Guardian)
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Nigeria’s 2019 election, has on Friday, reacted to the defeat of Osun governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke to the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola after he was affirmed Osun state governor by the Supreme court. “I join with people of goodwill all over Nigeria to say to Senator Ademola Adeleke, and the people of the great state of Osun, that we stand with them in good times and in difficult days. Read more
Buhari commends Supreme Court over Oyetola’s judgement (Guardian)
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari Friday commended the ruling of the Supreme Court in favour of Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress. “This Supreme Court decision lays to rest the tussle over the governorship of Osun State,” Buhari tweeted. The president said the judgement “removes all encumbrances on the path of the governor from fully delivering the dividends of democracy to the good people of the State.” Read more
I inherited N59.6b local debt, N48.6 foreign loans- AbdulRazaq (Nation)
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has given the local debt profile his administration inherited from the past government at N59.6 billion (N59,585,637,336.62). The governor added the indebtedness was at May 29th, 2019, his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye told our correspondent exclusively in Ilorin, the state capital. Ajakaye added as at December 2018, the new administration inherited a sum of N48.6 million (N48,599,040.43) as foreign loan also bequeathed by the past administration. Read more
Grass-cutting scandal: Court adjourns trial of Babachir Lawal, five others (Punch)
The trial of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and five others before Justice Jude Okeke of Federal Capital Territory High Court Maitama has been adjourned to September 18, 2019. This was contained in a Press release published on EFCC’s website. The EFCC wrote: “Lawal, along with his younger brother, Hamidu David Lawal, Suleiman Abubakar and Apeh John Monday are facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alongside two companies… Read more
There is a sponsored campaign against JAMB – Oloyede (Guardian)
Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said that he was sure of a sponsored campaign against the efforts of the board. Oloyede said this on Thursday in Abuja while presenting another suspect to newsmen, Kokowa Cletus, a 20-year-old, who allegedly falsified his Unified Tertiary Admissions Examination (UTME) result. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the board had on June 24, presented a 19-year-old Adah Eche, who allegedly falsified his UTME result, yet wrote a letter of complaint to the board for presenting him with two results. Read more
Gombe will go ahead with Ruga scheme —Gov Inuwa (Punch)
Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has expressed reservation over the suspension of the Ruga settlement scheme by the Federal Government, saying the state would go ahead with the scheme. The governor stated this after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday. Buhari had on Wednesday suspended the`Ruga Settlement’ Programme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in preference for the National Economic Council’s National Livestock Transformation Plan. Read more
Become next Dangotes of Africa, SGF tells IDP trainee graduates (Nation)
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has told young internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were trained on different job skills in the Adamawa State capital, Yola, to make the best of their new skills and grow to become the next Aliko Dangote of Africa. The SGF gave the charge to the one hundred and seven trainee IDPs who were selected from IDP camps in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and who were given starter packs during their graduation ceremony in Yola on Friday. Read more
AU Summit: Buhari to depart for Niger Republic Saturday (Punch)
President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Saturday for Niamey, Niger Republic to attend the African Union Summit, scheduled to hold on July 7. A statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Friday, said the president would participate in the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union on African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. The presidential aide added that the president would also participate in the First Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the AU and the Regional Economic Communities in Niamey. Read more
Gunmen kidnap two Chinese workers, kill Nigerian guard (Guardian)
Gunmen have kidnapped two Chinese citizens and killed their police guard in southern Nigeria, police said on Friday, the latest such incident targeting workers from the country. The abduction took place Wednesday at the town of Utesi in the southern Edo state, a senior police officer told AFP. “The Chinese were seized by unknown gunmen who had laid an ambush for them outside the premises of their company,” the officer said. Read more
Sudan crisis: Military and opposition agree power-sharing deal (BBC)
Sudan’s military leaders have reached an agreement with the opposition alliance to share power until elections can be held, mediators say. The two sides agreed to rotate control of the sovereign council – the top tier of power – for at least three years. They have also pledged to form an independent technocratic government and to investigate the violence of recent weeks, the African Union (AU) said. Read more
Iranian official threatens to seize British oil tanker (BBC)
An Iranian official has said a British oil tanker should be seized, if a detained Iranian ship is not released. British Royal Marines helped officials in Gibraltar to seize the super-tanker Grace 1 on Thursday, after it was suspected of carrying oil from Iran to Syria, in breach of EU sanctions. Iran later summoned the British ambassador in Tehran to complain about what it said was a “form of piracy”. Read more
‘Drunk driver’ struck and killed twin sisters, 6, in front of their horrified family (Metro)
A drunk driver plowed into twin six year-old sisters in front of their horrified family and killed them, police say. Angelica Garcia, 36, reportedly killed Mia and Mya Coy as they watched an Independence Day fireworks display in Odessa, Texas, on Wednesday night. Her car is said to have smashed through a barricade, struck the children and then crashed into a trailer, where it came to rest. Read more
Norway ex-minister Svein Ludvigsen guilty of sexually abusing asylum seekers (BBC)
A Norwegian ex-cabinet minister has been given five years in jail for sexually abusing three asylum seekers. Svein Ludvigsen, 72, was found guilty of abusing his position as a regional governor and exploiting the vulnerable situation of the three young men. They said they believed their response to Ludvigsen’s demands for sex could either result in being deported or securing permanent residency. Read more
UK slavery network ‘had 400 victims’ (BBC)
Members of a gang behind the biggest modern-day slavery network ever exposed in the UK have been jailed. Police believe more than 400 victims were put to work in the West Midlands by the organised crime gang. They tricked vulnerable people from Poland into England with the promise of work and a better life. Read more
Iggy Azalea sparks Playboi Carti engagement rumours with cryptic ring video (Metro)
Fans think Iggy Azalea and Playboi Carti could be engaged after the rapper posted a video of a massive ring on her wedding finger with no explanation this morning. Iggy shared the video on her Instagram story, which just shows a giant bejewelled ring on her wedding finger without any context – and it obviously got people talking about a possible engagement. The Fancy star has been dating fellow rapper Playboi Carti since September last year, with the couple moving in together in Atlanta just two months later. Read more
SpongeBob SquarePants fan claims Nickelodeon copied art (BBC)
A fan has claimed Nickelodeon used his SpongeBob SquarePants artwork without his permission. Matt Salvador, 17, says the art was featured in an advert for the show which was aired in June. His artwork, uploaded online in 2016, is drawn in the style of a background used in a typical episode. Various YouTube channels have uploaded the video, which the fan says shows the same artwork, but with his signature in the bottom-right corner removed. Read more
AFCON 2019: Kalu tasks Super Eagles to devour Lions of Cameroon (Punch)
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, has asked the Super Eagles to beat the Lions of Cameroon in the decisive second round encounter of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Egypt. Eagles after recording 1- 0 victory in their first two games fell 2- 0 to Madagascar to concede leadership in the group, hence, the crunch fixture which is looking like a semi or final match of the competition. Kalu, in a statement on Friday, noted that any match between Nigeria and Cameroon is always tough. Read more
AFCON 2019: South Africa coach out to cause ‘national disaster’ for Egypt (Punch)
South Africa boss Stuart Baxter believes it would be a “national disaster” for Egypt if his team were to beat the Africa Cup of Nations hosts in Saturday’s last-16 meeting in Cairo. Bafana Bafana scored just once in an unimpressive group stage campaign that featured a 1-0 win over Namibia and defeats to Ivory Coast and Morocco by the same scoreline. The 1996 champions sneaked through in the final qualifying spot reserved for the four best third-placed sides, but Baxter is quietly confident the occasion of playing Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in front a partisan 75,000 crowd will energise his players. Read more
France 2019 has been ‘best women’s World Cup ever’ —Infantino (Punch)
France 2019 has been “the best women’s World Cup ever”, FIFA President Gianni Infantino insisted on Friday. Infantino said the tournament had been “phenomenal” and “incredible” as he promised to increase investment in the women’s game and to propose further expanding the tournament for the next tournament in 2023. Read more
Chinese online giant Alibaba to donate $145m to women’s football (Guardian)
China’s second richest man Jack Ma will contribute to a $145 million donation to the Chinese women’s football squad, it was announced Friday, who despite under funding routinely outperform the men’s national team The one billion yuan ($145 million) donation from Ma — the founder of online shopping giant Alibaba — and two other charitable foundations will be spread over the coming decade. Read more
Alex Morgan hits back at critcism over her celebration in USA’s World Cup win against England (Metro)
Alex Morgan has hit back at criticism over her tea-drinking celebration in USA’s victory over England and has claimed female footballers are fighting against ‘double standards’ when they see men ‘grabbing their sacks’ after scoring a goal in their matches. Morgan scored the winning goal as USA beat England 2-1 on Tuesday evening to reach the Women’s World Cup final for a third consecutive time. But the 30-year-old received some backlash after her tea-drinking celebration was seen as a mocking gesture towards England. Read more
Rio Olympics: Ex-governor says he paid $2m bribe (BBC)
A former governor of Rio de Janeiro says he helped pay a $2m (£1.6m) bribe to secure the Olympic Games for the Brazilian city in 2016. Sérgio Cabral told a judge the payment was made to secure votes in the decision-making meeting in 2009. He said that Carlos Nuzman, then the chairman of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, handled the negotiations. Read more
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopeful over third summer signing for Manchester United (Metro)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has indicated that Manchester United will complete at least one more signing before the start of the new season. United completed the first signing of Solskjaer’s reign last month when Daniel James joined in an £18 million deal from Swansea City. That was followed up last week when United completed their £50m move to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace. Read more
Paul Pogba absent from Man Utd training with Solskjaer’s permission (BBC)
Paul Pogba’s absence from pre-season training at Manchester United this week has sparked more speculation about his long-term future. It has come after the France midfielder used a personal promotional trip to Japan in June to state that “now could be a good time to find a new challenge somewhere else”. But while most of his team-mates reported for pre-season duty on Monday, Pogba is away from United’s Carrington training base with the permission of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – having been given time off after a hectic 16 months. Read more
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Daniel James has already set the standard in first Man Utd training sessions (Metro)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed Daniel James has already caught the eye during his first training sessions as a Manchester United player. The 21-year-old Wales international winger became the first signing of the Solskjaer era last month when United agreed a deal that could be worth up to £18million with Swansea. James joined up with the majority of his new teammates earlier this week, aside from those who have been on international duty this summer, including fellow new recruit Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and the United manager has been impressed at how the youngster has settled in and already set the standard in terms of work ethic and attitude. Read more
Andreas Perreira and Axel Tuanzebe sign new Manchester United contracts (Metro)
Manchester United youngsters Andreas Perreira and Axel Tuanzebe have committed their futures to the club by signing new contracts this Friday. 23-year-old Perreira’s new four-year deal keeps him at the club until 2023 with an option of a further year on top of that. Tuanzebe, 21, has signed a shorter, three-year contract which extends his stay at Old Trafford until 2022, but he also has the option to extend for another year. Read more