Day: April 8, 2025

Napoli, United in Osimhen talks

Editor

Napoli and Manchester United are in advanced talks over the potential transfer of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen with the Italian club reportedly ready to offer the Red Devils a discount on the player’s release clause. According to Il Mattino, Napoli director Giovanni Manna has flown to London to discuss the sale of the 26-year-old with United officials, potentially offering them a reduced fee that would take another of his major suitors in Juventus out of the race. The Super Eagles striker, currently on loan at Turkish giants Galatasaray, is expected…

Newcastle legend backs Bassey to reach Van Dijk’s level

Editor

Former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given has tipped Fulham centre-back Calvin Bassey to reach the heights of Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, after a standout performance in Fulham’s 3-2 win over the Premier League leaders at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Bassey, 25, was instrumental as Fulham ended Liverpool’s 26-match unbeaten run in the league, producing a dominant display against Mohamed Salah, the league’s top scorer (27 goals). The Nigerian defender kept Salah quiet throughout the match, restricting him to zero shots on target. “Calvin has all the skills to be a top…

Police bust Lagos baby factory, rescue 10 victims

Editor

The Lagos State Police Command has discovered a baby factory in the Ijegun area of the state and rescued 10 people. Three suspects were also arrested. The spokesperson for the command, Benjamin Hundeyin, shared this with reporters on Monday. Hundeyin said the illegal activity was exposed after the police received a tip-off last Saturday. He said officers quickly went to the location and arrested the main suspect, Mariam Vincent, aged 35, along with two others – Orie Ruth, 23, and Ujunwa Ifeanyi, 18. During the operation, the police found and…

EFCC nabs fraudster buying bank accounts

Editor

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested one Olawole Sunday, a suspected internet fraudster, accused of purchasing bank account details from individuals to perpetrate financial crimes. A statement on Monday by the EFCC’s head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, said Sunday’s fraudulent scheme involved recruiting young individuals to open multiple bank accounts. Oyewale alleged that Sunday paid them between N25,000 and N50,000 for each account and collected their full banking details, including Automated Teller Machine cards. He said trouble began when Sunday allegedly used the account…

Naira shed 2.6% in March despite $668m CBN intervention

Editor

The naira depreciated by 2.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent in March at both the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market window and the parallel market compared to the previous month. According to the latest Afrinvest Monthly Market Report titled ‘Analysing Global and Nigerian Economies & Financial Markets’, the naira dropped to N1,536.82/$ and N1,530.00/1.00 at the NAFEM window and parallel market, respectively. AIICO Capital, in its monthly macroeconomic market report in March, also confirmed that the naira came under a lot of demand pressure despite interventions by the Central…

Factional firestorm: Obi, Abure camps clash over parallel NEC meetings

Editor

The leadership tussle in the Labour Party took a dramatic twist on Monday after the Julius Abure-led National Executive Committee of the Labour Party announced the removal of Hon Afam Ogene as LP Caucus Leader in the House of Representatives over his involvement in anti-party activities. The NEC also vowed to direct the disciplinary committee to sanction LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and Abia State Governor, Alex Oti, if they go ahead with their planned stakeholders’ engagement on Wednesday, as well as other activities that may…

LG autonomy: Govs block council chairmen from opening CBN accounts

Editor

The challenges facing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy have assumed a new dimension, with some state governors explicitly warning their council chairmen against opening an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria for the direct payment of their allocations from the Federation Account. The latest development represents yet another significant hurdle, nearly nine months after the Supreme Court granted full autonomy to the 774 local governments across the country, paving the way for direct payment of federal allocations. As part of the Federal Government’s…