Tinubu: Slain army officers, soldiers will be given befitting burial, national honours (ThisDay)
President Bola Tinubu, last night, promised that the sacrifices of the 16 soldiers killed last week in Okuama, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, would not be in vain.
Speaking during the breaking of Ramadan fast at State House, Abuja, with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and the leadership of the House, Tinubu said the deceased military personnel would be given befitting burial and national honours.
The president also used the forum to appeal to members of the National Assembly to exercise restraint in summoning heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) before legislative committees. Read more
EFCC arrests IG user for cyberstalking commission’s chairman, Olukoyede (Tribune)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained one Kayode Cole for Alleged cyberstalking and issuing a death threat against the commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Cole was said to have been apprehended in the Lugbe area of Abuja after making the threat via his Instagram handle, “1billionsecretss,” in response to an Instablog9ja post on February 1, 2024
This was made known in a statement the agency shared on its X account on Wednesday. Read more
Lagos plans database for youths (Punch)
The Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development in collaboration with Lagos State Resident Registration Agency has concluded plans to register the youths in the state.
The Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende, in a statement on Tuesday, stated that the exercise was aimed at building a reliable database for youths in the state.
Ogunlende said the exercise, meant for youths between the ages of 18-35 years, would commence on Monday, March 25 and end on Friday, March 29, 2024, at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja. Read more
NDLEA links Tin-can drug seizure to cartel operating at airport (Vanguard)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has linked the importation of the recently seized 23 packages of heroin at the Tin-can Island port, Lagos to the same cartel operating at the nation’s airport in Lagos.
Speaking while receiving the illicit drugs from the Tin-can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, the Tin-can NDLEA boss, Mohammed Abubakar, said the investigation had linked the drug seizure to the same cartel that brought the recently seized heroin at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
It will be recalled that the Tin-can Island Customs Command had handed over seized items, including arms and ammunition, Indian hemp and heroin to the officials for the Department of States Security, DSS and their counterpart NDLEA. Read more
Frequent Summons: Allow my appointees do their Job, Tinubu tells National Assembly (DailyTrust)
President Bola Tinubu has appealed to members of the National Assembly to exercise restraint in summoning heads of ministries, departments, and agencies before parliamentary committees.
Speaking at the breaking of Ramadan fast on Wednesday in Abuja with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the leadership of the House, the President said while oversight is essential for maintaining transparency and accountability in governance, excessive summoning of officials can disrupt operations and hinder service delivery to citizens.
He, therefore, urged lawmakers to show discretion in the exercise of their oversight functions. Read more
CBN clears valid FX transactions, eliminates $7b legacy backlog (Leadership)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that all valid foreign exchange backlogs have now been settled, thereby fulfilling a key pledge of the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, to process an inherited backlog of US$7billion in claims.
This was disclosed by the apex bank’s acting director, Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi Ali, in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mrs Ali noted that the CBN recently concluded the payment of $1.5 billion to settle obligations to bank customers, effectively settling the residual balance of the FX backlog. She also disclosed that independent auditors from Deloitte Consulting meticulously assessed the transactions, ensuring that only legitimate claims were honoured. Read more
Rival LP Leaders Condemn NLC Picketing Of Party Headquarters (Channels)
The leadership of rival camps in the Labour Party have both condemned the picketing of the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Wednesday by the members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
On Wednesday, workers who were not allowed access into the party office gathered around the premises chanting songs against and demanding the sack of the Labour Party Chairman, Julius Abure, whom they accused of financial impropriety.
The Julius Abure and Lamidi Apapa camps have disagreed over the party leadership, but seem to be on the same page on the issue of NLC picketing the party headquarters. Read more
John Travolta congratulates Timothée Chalamet for matching his box office record (People)
John Travolta is congratulating Timothée Chalamet on his box office success!
On Tuesday, Travolta, 70, congratulated Chalamet, 28, on Instagram for joining him in sharing the record of having two top-grossing films in eight months — after over four decades of holding the record on his own.
“Congratulations Timothée! It’s great to have someone to share my box office record with. Sincerely, JT,” Travolta wrote.
Besides his message, the iconic actor reposted the report previously written by PEOPLE on Chalamet’s new box office record achieved within eight months with his most recent films Wonka and Dune: Part Two. Read more
Love Actually reunion as Bill Nighy joins Richard Curtis’ Christmas comedy (Standard)
British actor Bill Nighy is set to reunite with Love Actually screenwriter Richard Curtis in Netflix’s latest festive film “That Christmas”.
The animated festive feature, co-written and co-executive produced by Curtis, is adapted from his children’s book series and features Nighy, who played Billy Mack in the 2003 Christmas classic, as the voice of Bill, a resident of the seaside town where things turn upside down during Christmas.
Scottish actor Brian Cox, known for playing Logan Roy in Succession, will take the role of Santa while other residents of the town include Mrs Williams, voiced by Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker, and Mrs Trapper, who is brought to life by Killing Eve actress Fiona Shaw. Read more
‘‘The Neverending Story’’ to be adapted as series of live-action films from See-Saw and Michael Ende Productions (Deadline)
Children’s fantasy classic “The Neverending Story” is headed for a big screen reboot via a series of live-action features to be developed and produced by Michael Ende Productions and Oscar-winning See-Saw Films. The partners were granted the rights to Ende’s enduring novel by the author’s executor, Wolf-Dieter von Gronau.
First published in 1979, The NeverEnding Story was a huge hit in Germany, remaining on the bestseller list for years. It went on to be translated into 45 languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide. It also spawned films including the Wolfgang Peterson co-written and directed 1984 cult fantasy, as well as TV series, video games, pop songs, spinoff novels and stage plays. Deadline previously reported that streamers and studios, on both sides of the Atlantic, were chasing screen rights to revive the beloved property. Read more
Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming shares a heartfelt tribute for his 69th birthday alongside a rare family pic (Hello!)
It is a special day for Bruce Willis and his family, as he’s celebrating his birthday this March 19.
As the Die Hard actor rings in his 69th trip around the sun, his wife Emma Heming Willis, who he married in 2009, made sure to celebrate him with a sweet tribute.
His birthday comes one month after the one year mark since the Willis family announced his frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis, which itself came ten months after they first shared his initial aphasia diagnosis. Read more
M Emmet Walsh: Blade Runner and Knives Out actor dies (Sky)
Veteran actor M Emmet Walsh, who starred in Blade Runner and Knives Out, has died aged 88.
The American star died from a cardiac arrest on Tuesday at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St Albans, Vermont, a statement from his manager confirmed.
During his six-decade career, Walsh played a variety of roles, including Harrison Ford’s LAPD boss in Sir Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner. Read more
Indonesia election commission confirms Prabowo Subianto as new president (AlJazeera)
Prabowo Subianto has been formally confirmed as Indonesia’s next president, decisively beating two rivals who have promised to file a legal complaint over February’s election.
Defence Minister Prabowo and his vice presidential running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, won a majority of votes on February 14, winning 59 percent, or more than 96 million votes, General Elections Commission Chair Hasyim Asy’ari said late on Wednesday, the deadline for the announcement of the official result.
Anies Baswedan secured nearly 41 million votes, or 25 percent of the total count, while Ganjar Pranowo received 27 million votes, more than 16 percent. Read more
EU reaches deal to renew tariff-free access for Ukrainian farm products (UPI)
The European Union agreed Wednesday to extend for a further year trade liberalization measures aimed at supporting Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion, pending approval of member countries and the European Parliament.
The deal to renew the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural goods through June 5, 2025, empowers Brussels to swiftly act in the event of “significant disruption to the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries,” the parliament said in a news release.
There will also be an “emergency brake” for particularly sensitive agricultural products including poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, maize, hulled grains and honey. MEPs also secured commitments from the European Commission to act if there is a significant rise in imports of Ukrainian wheat. Read more
Team Nigeria shines at African Games, wins 11th Women’s 4x100m relay gold (Leadership)
Team Nigeria stormed to victory in the Women’s 4x100m relay, beating Liberia and hosts Ghana to win their 11th conservative gold in the 13th edition of the African Games.
Anchored by World Record Holder Tobi Amusan, Team Nigeria won the race with 43.05 seconds, just 0.01 seconds short of the game record set by the country in 2003.
They finished ahead of Liberia (44.02) and host Ghana (44.21) in seconds and third positions respectively. Read more
Finidi says Super Eagles out for good results against Ghana, Mali (Vanguard)
Coach Finidi George has said that the principal objective of African vice champions Nigeria is to earn good results in the upcoming friendly games against Ghana and Mali’s senior teams, scheduled for the city of Marrakech in Morocco.
Looking ahead to Friday’s clash with four-time African champions Ghana, Finidi reiterated that the Super Eagles are presently in high station in African football, having finished as runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, and everything must be done to maintain that status and even exceed it.
“We finished in second place at the Africa Cup of Nations and everyone expects us to maintain that high rating and be even better in a short while. Our objective is to get good results in these two matches and stay positive ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. Read more
Financial rules may force Forest to sell Awoniyi (Punch)
In their bid to avoid another breach of the Premier League’s financial rules, relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest could be forced to sell Nigeria international, Taiwo Awoniyi, at the end of the summer, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Forests were handed a four-point deduction on Tuesday for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
According to the Premier League, the City Ground landlords admitted breaching PSR by £34.5m above their permitted threshold of £61m. Read more
Robinho: Ex-Man City footballer will serve nine-year prison sentence in Brazil for rape (Sky)
Ex-Manchester City footballer Robinho has been told by judges he must serve a nine-year prison sentence for rape in Brazil.
In 2017, Robinho was sentenced in Italy to nine years in prison for his part in a group sexual assault in 2013 when he played for AC Milan.
Brazil does not extradite nationals, which led Italy to seek his imprisonment in his home nation. Read more
Ben White snubbed England after Steve Holland remark about interest in football (IrishIndependent)
The rift that led to Ben White’s self-imposed England exile began with a barbed comment from Gareth Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland in front of team-mates at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
It is understood the fall-out that eventually led to White asking to come home from England’s Doha base at the World Cup in November of that year started with a conversation between the player and Holland in front of other members of the squad.
It was described by sources as having begun when Holland asked Kyle Walker a question relating to Manchester City’s performance in the previous season. Read more
Canelo Alvarez on Ryan Garcia: “As his friend, I wouldn’t let him fight’’ (BoxingScene)
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has trained with Ryan Garcia, befriended him as a mentor and recently watched him from a distance.
Alvarez is concerned.
In a behind-the-scenes Tuesday conversation with DAZN’s Claudia Trejos before a news conference
to promote his own May 4 pay-per-view bout against Mexican countryman Jaime Munguia, Alvarez said he hopes Garcia “has people to help him.”
“And as his friend, or like when we used to train together,” Alvarez said, “I wouldn’t let him fight.” Read more