Lagos seals bars, nightclubs for flouting COVID-19 order (Guardian)
The Lagos State government, at the weekend, sealed various lounges, bars, spas and nightclubs across the state for flouting the governor’s order on closure of social clubs in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The Director-General, Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, disclosed this yesterday when he led the commission’s compliance and enforcement team to Lagos Island, Surulere, Abule-Egba and environs.
He declared that the state has zero-tolerance for breach of safety guidelines and protocols, as it was observed that from preliminary investigation, some bars, spas, lounges and nightclubs were not complying with the safety guidelines and closure order as directed by the governor. Read more
CACOVID donates 150-bed isolation facility to Lagos (Tribune)
The Private Sector led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has donated a 150-bed isolation centre and medical equipment worth millions of naira to the Lagos State Government.
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, speaking at the inauguration of the centre in Yaba, on Sunday, said it would assist the state government to enhance its COVID-19 pandemic response.
Sanwo-Olu commended CACOVID for the donation, pledging that it would be judiciously used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the state, and indeed Nigeria. Read more
Craters, refuse mar Agege Motor Road as users agonise (Guardian)
After a few months of respite, regular users of the ever-busy Idi-Oro/Mushin end of the Agege Motor Road have begun to experience agony.
At the twilight of the rainy season last year, it was a regular sight of fallen articulated vehicles, crater-sized potholes with murky water, and long-winding vehicular queues that told the story of neglect and nightmare in the area.
The nightmarish challenge that residents and motorists faced was also compounded by activities of traffic robbers, who terrorised road users at will. But with the dry season came some moments of respite as boulders were dumped at a few of the potholes. Read more
NERC’s unusual silence on proposed electricity tariff hike jolts DISCOs (Vanguard)
The Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, said Sunday that they have resolved to continue with the implementations of the upward review of the electricity tariff slated to take off on July 1, 2020, despite unusual silence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, over the issue.
The DISCOs in a statement by their umbrella body, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, ANED, signed by its Executive Director of Research and Advocacy, Barr. Sunday Oduntan, in Abuja, however expressed surprise over the action of the sector’s regulatory body.
Oduntan said the companies decried the recent attempt by their regulatory body, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to distance itself from the July 1 commencement of a new service based electricity tariff regime. Read more
SEC moves to protect investors from bogus offers (Nation)
Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a major amendment to disclosures and information to be included in a prospectus for any public offering as part of efforts to further safeguard the investing public from false claims and bogus offerings.
With the new amendment, companies offering equities or debt issues to the general public will have to include SEC’s contact telephone number and email address conspicuously in the introductory part of the prospectus for interested members of the investing public to confirm the veracity of the offer.
According to SEC, the introduction of the confirmation segment was part of efforts to enhance investor protection and promote transparency in the operations of the Nigerian capital market. Read more
Makinde played politics with my husband’s death – Florence Ajimobi (DailyTrust)
The Wife of the former governor of Oyo state, Florence Ajimobi on Sunday attacked the governor of the state, Engr. Seyi Makinde and his deputy, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan for playing politics with the death of her husband. She said her husband never had any problem with the state government despite their different political affiliation, but alleged that the state government saw him as their enemy. Late Oyo governor, Ajimobi, buried at Oluyole amidst tight security Oyo government denies delaying Ajimobi’s burial The state government had during the time Ajimobi was hospitalised said it extended hands of fellowship to the family of the late governor but they declined. But the wife of the late former governor said it was a lie because she never had any conversation with the state government when her husband was ill. Read more
13% derivation :Itsekiri group urges Buhari to pay oil communities (Vanguard)
An Itsekiri group, Association for the Promotion of Peace and Development in Itsekiri Oil and Gas communities, APPDIOGCOM, have called on the federal.government to pay the 13 derivation fund accruing to the Niger Delta region directly to oil and gas bearing communities.
A statement by the group signed by its Leader, Princess Grace Fregene said payment of the fund to communities will bring development to the neglected communities, adding that the funds would be judiciously used.
“Only him that wears the shoes knows where pinches hence governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa state did not mince words as his call was for the 13% derivation to be paid to the host /oil-producing communities directly, not to the governor of the oil state. Read more
Reactions trail Access bank stamp duty deduction (DailyTrust)
Access Bank customers banking with Access Bank Plc have taken to their various social media pages to express their reactions to the stamp duty deduction by the bank.
The bank had disclosed that it discovered a mistake in its operations records, whereby stamp duty charges on applicable transactions were not passed on to customers.
Consequently, the bank said in emails sent to its customers that the omissions occurred between February 1st, 2020, and April 30th, 2020 and that all concerned customers should prepare to pay off the accrued charges. Read more
Flight resumption: No two airlines will depart the same time – FAAN (Vanguard)
Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Captain Rabiu Yadudu weekend said the agency will implement flight spacing at all its airports as no two flights will be allowed to depart at the same time.
Yadudu explained that the new flight spacing method is to maintain safety due to the current Covid-19 pandemic in the country. He also said the new method will not disrupt any of the airline’s schedules, but to ensure total safety of passengers.
According to him, FAAN had informed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, of its plan, which he said would restrict multiple departures of flights from the same terminal at the same time. Read more
Global coronavirus death toll tops 500,000 (RT)
The number of officially confirmed deaths linked to Covid-19 across the globe has crossed half a million, with roughly a quarter of them recorded in the United States, according to the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The global pandemic of the coronavirus, which was first recorded in Wuhan, China in December, has so far infected over 10 million people.
While the nations around the globe rushed to impose harsh lockdowns and quarantines – many of them have since begun to gradually lift the isolation measures. Read more
Coronavirus: ‘Swift and dangerous turn’ in Texas cases, says governor (BBC)
The spread of coronavirus infections has taken a “swift and very dangerous turn” in the US state of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has warned.
“Over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000,” Mr Abbott said on Sunday.
Several southern and western states have recorded a surge in cases after lockdown restrictions were eased.
The number of reported infections in the US has now surpassed 2.5 million. Read more
Israel kicks US-based evangelical Christian channel off air (RT)
Israel has ordered US-based evangelical GOD TV off air, accusing the obviously religious broadcaster of concealing its missionary agenda which allegedly targeted the Jewish population of the country.
The seven-year broadcasting contract secured by GOD TV and Israel’s main cable provider earlier this year proved to be very short-lived. The broadcaster’s Israeli subsidiary, Shelanu TV, was taken off air after a review by the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, the regulator’s chairman Asher Biton announced. The channel must now stop broadcasting in Israel within seven days. Read more
Poland presidential election heads for second round – exit poll (BBC)
Exit polls in Poland’s presidential election suggest the incumbent, Andrzej Duda, has finished first but without enough votes to win outright.
If confirmed, Mr Duda, a conservative, will face the liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, in the second round in two weeks’ time.
The polls suggest Mr Duda took just under 42% of the vote and Mr Trzaskowski just over 30%.
Turnout was high despite coronavirus and social distancing restrictions. Read more
Trump says he wasn’t briefed on reported Russian bounties on US troops in Afghanistan (VOA)
US President Donald Trump said Sunday he had never been told about reports that a Russian military intelligence unit was secretly offering bounties to Taliban militants in Afghanistan to kill US soldiers.
Trump scoffed at a New York Times report that US intelligence officials had concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and covert operations in Europe aimed at destabilizing the West, had carried out the mission in Afghanistan last year and that he had been briefed about it in late March.
On Twitter, he said, “Nobody briefed or told me,” Vice President Mike Pence or White House chief of staff Mark Meadows “about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an ‘anonymous source’ by the Fake News @nytimes. Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us.” Read more
France municipal elections: Greens score gains in second round (BBC)
France’s Green party and its left-wing allies have made significant gains in a second round of local elections.
They captured cities such as Lyon, Strasbourg and Besançon.
President Emmanuel Macron centrist LREM party, which lacks the type of support at local level it enjoys nationally, failed to win in any major city.
The poll was delayed in March because of the coronavirus crisis. Restrictions such as mandatory face masks remained in place and turnout was very low. Read more
France’s Assa Traore honoured at BET Awards (France24)
International activist Assa Traore, whose brother Adama was killed in French police custody four years ago, was given the BET Global Good award on Sunday.
Traore thanked BET, an American television channel dedicated to African-American and minority people, for the award, calling it “an acknowledgment of our fight.”
“It’s an acknowledgment for all the victims, for all the families who keep fighting for truth and justice,” she said in a video message played during the virtual awards ceremony. Read more
Ighalo equals 95-year Manchester United record, eclipses Ibrahimovic (Guardian)
Odion Ighalo’s goal for Manchester United against Norwich City in the FA Cup on Saturday means that the ex-Nigeria striker has equalled a club record that has stood for 95 years, reports goal.com.
In netting against the Canaries, Ighalo became only the second player in the club’s history to have scored in each of his first four competitive starts for the Red Devils.
According to Opta, the previous player to do this was Jimmy Hanson, who achieved the feat in 1925 when he scored in consecutive starts against Hull City, Blackpool, Derby County and Aston Villa. Read more
Sterling seals Man City semi-final spot (BBC)
Holders Manchester City will face Arsenal in a strong FA Cup semi-final line-up after showing class and patience to beat Newcastle at an eerily quiet St James’ Park.
Shorn of a fervent home support, Newcastle struggled in the first half against their opponents who are aiming to complete a cup treble after conceding the Premier League title to Liverpool this week.
After wasting several good chances, City opened the scoring from the penalty spot when Kevin de Bruyne slotted past Karl Darlow following Fabian Schar’s needless push on Gabriel Jesus. Read more
Ex-MMA icon sets pulses racing with naked social media pic (RT)
One of the pioneers of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, has set pulses racing online after posting a naked photo of herself in near-silhouette to her Instagram page.
Carano, who once fought Cris Cyborg in now-defunct MMA promotion Strikeforce, has transitioned from the cage to the screen with roles in a host of movies and TV shows. But she shot to even greater fame as Cara Dune in the Disney+ Star Wars streaming series “The Mandalorian.”
Now the fighter-turned-actor, who has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, shared a topless pic of herself on her page, accompanied by a quote from pop music legend Prince. Read more
Real Madrid top of La Liga after beating Espanyol (BBC)
Real Madrid are two points clear at the top of La Liga after grinding out a victory at bottom club Espanyol.
Casemiro scored the only goal as he latched onto Karim Benzema’s brilliant no-look backheel through the legs of defender Bernardo Espinosa before firing home.
The Brazilian had earlier gone close to the opener when his shot from his own half was saved by Diego Lopez. Read more
Argentina’s ’86 World Cup coach Bilardo does not have COVID: brother (France24)
Argentina’s 1986 World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo was diagnosed with COVID-19 by mistake, his brother said Sunday.
“My brother has nothing, the very famous lab was wrong, it’s to kill them, almost certainly he’s going back to the same place,” Jorge Bilardo wrote on Twitter.
The 82-year-old had been hospitalised Saturday after testing positive for the coronavirus the day before, despite being asymptomatic. Read more
FA Cup semi-final draw: Man Utd vs Chelsea, Arsenal vs Man City (DailyTrust)
Manchester United will face Chelsea while Arsenal will play holders Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. United defeated Norwich 2-1 to reach the last four while Chelsea edged past Leicester 1-0 in the quarter-finals. FA Cup: Arsenal beat Sheffield to keep hope alive FA Cup: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City get quarter-final opponents The second semi-final would see Arsenal, which defeated Sheffield United 2-1 taking on Manchester city that defeated Newcastle 2-0 at the last quarter-final game. Both ties will be played at Wembley on the weekend of 18 and 19 July. Read more
