Tinubu’s academic records: Nigeria’s reputation at stake, says Atiku (Punch)
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday said Nigeria’s reputation is at stake with the controversy surrounding the Chicago State University’s certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission by President Bola Tinubu.
This is as he also urged the relevant stakeholders to uphold the tenets of democracy by establishing the truth about the certificate submitted to the electoral umpire by the President.
“The reputation of our country is at stake and that affects Nigerians everywhere and wherever they may be,” Atiku, who was Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, said while briefing journalists in Abuja. Read more
MohBad: Primeboy surrenders self to police for interrogation (Guardian)
The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed that Owodunni Ibrahim aka Primeboy has turned himself in for interrogation over the death of Afrobeats musician Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, known as MohBad.
The Lagos Police spokesperson, Ben Hundeyin, had on Wednesday declared Primeboy wanted following his failure to honour the invitation successfully sent to him since the commencement of investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Mohbad.
On Thursday, Hundeyin issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) to announce that Primeboy is now in the Police custody. Read more
Supreme Court fixes Dec 15 to determine Nnamdi Kanu’s fate (Vanguard)
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, slated December 15 to deliver its judgement on the appeal that is seeking to compel the Federal Government to release the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention.
A five-member panel of the apex court headed by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, okayed the matter for judgement, after counsel for both FG and the detained IPOB leader, adopted their final briefs of argument.
While FG was represented by a team of lawyers that were led by an Acting Director, Civil Appeals at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. T. A. Gazzali, SAN, Kanu’s legal team was led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kanu Agabi, SAN. Read more
3 killed as BRT crushes motorcycle in Lagos (DailyTrust)
Three persons have lost their lives in an auto crash in the Alakija area of Lagos.
The victims, who were riding on two commercial motorcycles, allegedly had a head-on collision with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle heading to Okokomaiko in the Ojo area of the state from Mile 2.
It was learnt that they were on their way home after a football match at Navy Town also in Ojo, when their motorcycles rammed into the Lagos State government-owned commercial bus. Read more
Senate summons service chiefs over rising insecurity (Nation)
The Senate on Thursday, October 5, summoned Service Chiefs in the country to brief it in a closed door on steps being taken to mitigate rising insecurity in the country.
The Service Chiefs include: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla.
It called on the military and other security agencies to conduct special operations to dislodge the bandits in the Northwest zone and other parts of Nigeria with similar experience. Read more
ICPC seeks DSS collaboration on UNICAL sex scandal (Guardian)
The ICPC has sought the collaboration of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the University of Calabar (UNICAL) sex scandal involving Professor Cyril Ndifon, the erstwhile Dean of Faculty of Law of the institution.
According to the spokesman of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, the Commission had disclosed the refusal of Ndifon to honour its several invitations, thus his eventual arrest in Calabar, Cross River State, by its operatives on October 4, 2023, based on a court order.
“However, the Service, following the Commission’s request and in the spirit of inter-agency cooperation, supported it for a successful operation. Read more
Rivers guber: Tribunal verdict, mockery of judiciary — APC (Tribune)
Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected last Monday’s judgement of the Rivers Election Petitions Tribunal that dismissed the petitions of its governorship candidate, Pastor (Arch) Tonye Cole, and all its Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates.
The party in its first official reaction to the tribunal judgment described it as a mockery of the judiciary.
It stated that the judgment of the Tribunal delivered on Monday 2nd October 2023 “amounts to a mockery of the judiciary as a lower court disdainfully trashed the position of the highest court in the land as it is common knowledge that whatever the position of the Supreme Court is on a matter, becomes law”. Read more
TETFund begins 2nd phase of employability programme for institutions (Leadership)
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have commenced the second phase of employability programme in Nigerian universities.
TETFund executive secretary, Arch. Sonny Echono, who spoke at the national employability programme implementation support workshop
said the fund is deliberately refocusing its intervention activities to support learning outcomes and employability of Nigerian tertiary education graduates.
The second phase of the employability programmes, according to Echono focuses on the implementation of the recommendations from the benchmarking exercise and capacity building in the five employability dimensions which the IFC Vitae instrument examined. Read more
Emma Stone surprises crowd at screening for silent film “Bleat” (People)
Emma Stone surprised audiences when she made an appearance at the New York Film Festival (NYFF) on Wednesday.
The actress, 34, attended the premiere screening of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bleat” at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City, where she called the 30-minute silent film a dream come true.
“If I never had to talk again, I’d be thrilled,” she said during a Q&A moderated by the festival’s artistic director, Dennis Lin, Variety reported. “And so would a lot of other people.” Read more
Jon Fosse, Norwegian master of spare Nordic writing, wins Nobel Prize in Literature (TimesOfIsrael)
Jon Fosse, a master of spare Nordic literature in a sprawling body of work ranging from plays to novels and children’s books, won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for works that “give voice to the unsayable.”
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel literature committee, said Fosse’s work is rooted “in the language and nature of his Norwegian background.”
“I am overwhelmed and grateful. I see this as an award to the literature that first and foremost aims to be literature, without other considerations,” Fosse, 64, said in a statement released by his publishing house, Samlaget. Read more
Joker 2 director shares new look at Joaquin Phoenix (DigitalSpy)
A new look at Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker: Folie à Deux” has been unveiled by director Todd Phillips.
The upcoming sequel to 2019’s Joker will see the actor return to the role of Arthur Fleck, with Lady Gaga joining as Harley Quinn/Dr Harleen Quinzel.
Phillips has now taken to his Instagram account with a new still from the movie to mark exactly one year until its release, showing Phoenix in character as he embraces falling rain, all while surrounded by people with umbrellas. Read more
Sir Patrick Stewart gets candid about why working with Tom Hardy was such an “odd” experience (HuffPost)
Sir Patrick Stewart has admitted that working with Tom Hardy in the early years of the future Oscar nominee’s career proved to be an “odd” experience.
The two actors worked together more than 20 years ago in the film Star Trek: Nemesis, in which Sir Patrick reprised his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Tom played Shinzon, a clone of the iconic character.
In an excerpt of his new book Making It So, published in Insider, the X-Men star reflected on his time on the set of Star Trek: Nemesis, and admits that Tom struck him as “odd” at the time. Read more
Music Venue Trust buys 1st venue under “National Trust of venues” public ownership scheme (NME)
The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced the first acquisition under its public ownership scheme – find all the details below.
The #OwnOurVenues initiative was first announced in May, following the news that legendary gig spaces like North London’s Nambucca and Sheffield’s Leadmill were closing their doors or under threat, respectively.
Having been backed by Ed Sheeran, the scheme aims to secure the long-term futures of such venues by directly tackling the issue of ownership. Read more
Take That to break silence on Robbie Williams’ comments about his time in the band (Standard)
Take That are reportedly set to address controversial remarks made by Robbie Williams during his time in the chart-topping boy band in a new documentary.
Williams, 49, quit Take That in 1995 and went on to form a successful solo career.
Speaking to presenter Dermot O’Leary last year for BBC Two music show Reel Stories, Williams opened up about the struggles he experienced as part of the group, including his difficult relationship with Gary Barlow. Read more
Russian missile strike kills 49, Ukraine says, in one of the war’s worst attacks on civilians (NBC)
A Russian missile strike on a grocery store and café in Ukraine’s east killed at least 49 people on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said.
The death toll following the strike in the village of Hroza, outside the city of Kupiansk, would be among the worst attacks on civilians since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion last year.
“A demonstrably brutal Russian crime — a missile attack on an ordinary grocery store, a completely deliberate act of terrorism,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app Telegram. “Russian terror must be stopped.” Read more
Boniface in contention for Bundesliga’s September Goal of the Month (Guardian)
Super Eagles striker, Victor Boniface is one of ten Bundesliga players in contention for September’s Goal of the Month honour.
Boniface following yet another blistering form in the colours of Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the month under review has been nominated alongside nine other players.
Also in contention are Xavi Simons’s stunning drive against Union Berlin, Julian Brandt’s volley against Heidenheim and Benjamin Šeško’s sweeping header against Union. Read more
Enyimba sign Ghanaian goalkeeper Boateng (Leadership)
Nigeria Professional Football League champions Enyimba have announced the signing of Ghanaian goalkeeper, Frank Boateng.
Boateng moved to the Aba Giants from the Ghanaian club, Kotoku Royals FC.
The 29-year-old will slug it out with Olorunleke Ojo and Djeri Bassa for a starting berth in the game.
The experienced goalie has played for top clubs in Ghana including Ashanti Gold, Medeama Sporting Club and King Faisal in the past. Read more
FIFA appoints referees, VAR officials for Super Eagles, Saudi Arabia friendly (Punch)
FIFA has appointed Portuguese official, Luis Godinho, as referee for the international friendly match between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, at the Estadio Municipal de Portimão on October 13 at 5 pm.
This was contained in a statement by the Director of Communications for Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, on Thursday in Abuja.
Godinho will be assisted by Bruno Jesus (assistant referee one), Tiago Costa (assistant referee two) and Miguel Noguera, fourth official. Read more
Europe, Africa and South America all to host games in 2030 World Cup (France24)
Morocco, Portugal and Spain will be joint hosts for the 2030 World Cup but games will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as the footballing showpiece celebrates its centenary, FIFA announced on Wednesday.
FIFA said in a statement that the matches in South America — one each in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asuncion — were part of the celebration to mark 100 years since the first World Cup in Uruguay.
The announcement puts an end to competition between two major bids, one led by Spain and Portugal and the other from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. Read more
Newcastle’s Burn revels in “dream” Champions League win vs. PSG (ABC)
Dan Burn said he realised a dream by scoring in Newcastle’s 4-1 Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain after being left without a club following rejection by Fulham in his mid-20s.
Newcastle sit on top of Group F in their first Champions League campaign since 2002-03 after defeating French champions PSG at St. James’s Park following goals from Miguel Almirón, Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schär.
And Burn, who grew up in nearby Blyth as a Newcastle supporter, said the goal and performance left him waiting for somebody to “wake me up” from his dream. Read more
Jannik Sinner wins China Open and ends drought against Daniil Medvedev (Guardian)
Jannik Sinner has won the China Open title after a breakthrough victory in the final, beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in Beijing.
The 22-year-old Italian had lost his previous six matches against Medvedev but prevailed here in a little over two hours to claim his ninth career ATP title, and third of the season. Sinner, seeded sixth here, also defeated the No 1 seed, Carlos Alcaraz, for the first time on a hard court with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory in the semi-final.
“Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match,” Sinner said during the trophy ceremony. “We have had some very tough battles, especially this year. Thanks for making me a much better player. I have been training a lot to beat you. My team are working a lot. Thank you very much and it is special to share this moment with you.” Read more