Author: Peter Noah KC

THREE Nigerian boxers have booked their spots at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after winning their bouts in the final of the Africa Olympic Boxing qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal on Friday. Nine boxers travelled to Dakar to represent Nigeria at the qualifiers, eight advanced to the quarter-finals, and six made it to the semi-final of the competition while three qualified for the final and all three claimed gold medals after beating their opponents. The journey to glory began with a monumental clash as Cynthia Ogunsemilore squared off against Algeria’s Khelif Hadjila in the Women’s 60kg category. The Nigerian powerhouse left…

ALL 24 countries that will trade tackles at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire have sealed qualification for the tournament. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that five-time AFCON champions Cameroon on Tuesday spanked Burundi 3-O to complete the star studded list of qualified teams. A breakdown of the qualified countries shows that 12 former AFCON champions, including three-time champions Nigeria will be on parade come January, 2024. Hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will be leading a strong West African contingent of 11 countries, including holders Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso among others. Tanzania representing East Africa returns…

INDIVIDUAL clout and national pride are set to be tested to the limit from September 12th to 17th as Africa’s best players descend on Tunis, the Tunisian capital, to slug it out for places in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the World Championships. It is the second major, senior continental tournament this year after the African Cup held in Nairobi, Kenya and the stakes are higher as the winners in the team and mixed doubles events will automatically pick tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The top four countries in the team event will also secure continental places…

CRISTIANO Ronaldo’s luxury Pestana CR7 Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco has become a refuge site for victims of Friday’s earthquake, according to reports from Spanish newspaper, Marca. The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the mountainous High Atlas region of the North African nation leaving at least 2000 people dead and several wounded according to multiple reports. Amidst the tragedy, a number of Marrakech-based organisations and businesses have offered assistance to those affected by the quake. One of them is, a hotel owned by Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo. Reports suggest that the luxury hotel is providing shelter to those who have lost their homes.…

THE Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT) has explained that they did not write the judgment delivered by the Presidential Election Petitions Court which on Wednesday upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu. There have been widespread rumours that certified copies of the judgment by the five-member panel of justices led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, which have the headers with the TPLT on each page were written and handed the justices by the team. But in a statement on Saturday, the coordinator of the TPTL, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), said the lawyers behind the insinuations know that they are untrue, unkind, unfair,…

THE Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) board has unveiled the Strategic Direction and Action Plan for the growth of women’s football in the country ahead of the start of the 2023/2024 season. NWFL Chairman Nkechi Obi said on Thursday that the strategic plan is in tune with the rise in the popularity of women’s football as one of the world’s fastest-growing sports with an increasing record of corporate sponsorship, audience and match day attendance. Obi believed the increasing opportunities for Nigerian players to play professional football across the world have necessitated the creation of a career pathway for the talents…

THE kickoff date for the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) 2023/24 campaign has been postponed again. NPFL Board announced the postponement in a statement on Wednesday. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the NPFL, Davidson Owumi, made the move after consultations with stakeholders. “We have everything set for the kickoff in Ibadan on Saturday but following representations from multiple stakeholders and more cogent is the complex logistics involved in having our Chairman and Clubs leadership travel from Ibadan to Uyo,” Owumi said. “Note therefore that there will be no flag-off game this Saturday, September 9 as originally planned,” the statement…

FORMER World 100m hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan, and 400m hurdler, Ezekiel Nathaniel have secured their spots at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, France. Last December, World Athletics revealed the pathway to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024, including the entry standards athletes will need to achieve between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. Amusan became the first Nigerian athlete to secure her place at the Games. She achieved this feat at the BAUHAUS-Galan Diamond League event in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 2, where she clocked an impressive 12.52secs in the 100m hurdles race at the Olympia stadion. The…

THE experienced quartet of Dickson Ugochukwu, Perpetual Nwanna, Khadijat Folawiyo and Sekinat Alawode retained their titles as the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria concluded its one-day Push Championship at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos on Sunday. Ugochukwu defeated others to emerge Brakeman champion, while Alawode equally retained her Women’s Brakeman title. Folawiyo edged others to maintain her dominance in Women’s Skeleton title and Nwanna finished well to lead others in Women’s Bobsled Driver event. Thirty nine athletes participated in the Push Championship to indicate the popularity of the sport in Nigeria. Technical director of the Federation, Seun Adigun…

FOUR-TIME Nigeria Basketball League champions, Rivers Hoopers, defeated Spintex Knights 74-56 in the final of the Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championship to be crowned champions. The Knights have now been beaten by Hoopers three times in a row. The first edition of the Louis Edem tournament in February this year and twice this week. Mustapha Oyebanji, who was awarded the most valuable player, shot 16 points, including four three-pointers, in the final. Oyebanji dropped back-to-back threes at the start of the first quarter, followed by two foul throws by Michael Daramola, as the KingsMen made an 8-0 run. The former…

THE Federal Government’s expenditure exceeded revenue by N1.43tn in the first three months of 2023, according to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN revealed in its economic report for the third quarter of 2023 obtained by The PUNCH on Friday that this was 9.6 per cent higher than the last quarter of 2022 figure. It stated, “The fiscal operations of the FGN in 2023, Q1, resulted in a deficit. At N1.43tn, the provisional fiscal deficit of the FGN was 9.6 per cent higher than the level in the preceding quarter but 22.1 per cent below the…

THE Handball Federation of Nigeria has called up 18 players to camp ahead of next month’s African Women Youth Handball Nations Championship. The players are expected to report to camp at the Rowe Park training centre in Yaba Lagos. The 19th Africa Women’s Youth Handball Nations Championship will take place from September 16 to 23 in Monastir, Tunisia and serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Youth Handball World Cup. According to the federation, 14 players who participated in the IHF Challenge Trophy were invited to the Nation’s Cup. Top on the list is captain Esther Matthew of Seasiders Babes…

PRESIDENT of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has said that the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has pledged his full support to the Federation on their two-day host of the Cricket World Cup Trophy in the country. According to Akpata, “Despite the short time the Minister has settling down before our request came in to play our chief host for the World Cup, he has embraced it, and also pledged magnanimous support for the event.” The Cricket World Cup is on a Tour of three African countries, Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa, ahead of the ODI World Cup…

RECENTLY-APPOINTED chief executive officer of Enugu Rangers, Amobi Ezeaku, has pledged to make the club truly professional as he unveiled strategic plans to revive the Flying Antelopes. Ezeaku made the pledge when he formally announced to pressmen of the club’s plans and programmes from 2023 to 2027 in Enugu. “We intend to achieve this through professionalism and become one of the most admired and followed clubs in Africa. “The plans will be achieved through three standing, which the club call “Rangers Trinity” in C. S. C. “The first C stands for Commercial Development and the S stands for Sporting Excellence,…

BARELY 24 hours after News Point Nigeria’s report, the Nigerian Army says it is in consonance with other security agencies to track down an armed gang who attacked a military Hilux vehicle in Benin City, the Edo State capital on Wednesday. Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Yemi Sokoya, who disclosed this in a statement, also gave details of the incident. News Point Nigeria had exclusively reported that, gunmen had killed an unspecified number of soldiers following an attack on an army patrol van in Benin City. According to this newspaper’s report the incident was said to have occurred around…

NIGERIA’s Super Falcons have moved up eight places from 40th to 32nd team in the world according to the latest women’s ranking released by FIFA on Friday. In the list by the world football governing body, the eleven-time African champions maintained its position as the number one female national team on the continent. The impressive leap by the Falcons in the latest rankings is largely due to the team’s stellar outing at the just concluded 2023 Women’s World Cup. Nigerian team made it into the second round of the competition after a draw against Canada in their first game, a…

GUNMEN have reportedly killed an unspecified number of soldiers following an attack on an army patrol van in Benin City, the Edo State capital. The incident was said to have occurred around 2 pm on Thursday at First Junction along Akpakpava Road. A military source told News Point Nigeria Friday afternoon that, the gunmen ambushed the military vehicle carrying six occupants, heading towards the Ikpoba-Hill axis of the state capital. As of the time of filing this report, official confirmation of the incident from the relevant authorities is being awaited. More details shortly…

GOOGLE, Netflix, Facebook and other foreign companies operating in Nigeria have paid over N1.98tn in taxes to the account of the Federal Government in 15 months, according to findings by this newspaper. The figure includes both Company Income Tax and Value Added Tax, and is based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics. According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, CIT is a 30 per cent tax imposed on the profit of companies, and VAT is a 7.5 per cent consumption tax paid when goods are purchased, and services rendered and borne by the final consumer. Earlier in 2020,…

BETWEEN July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in over 582 kidnapping incidents in the country, with a reported ransom demand of at least N5billion and an actual ransom payment of over N302million, a figure that could be higher due to under-reporting. An SB Morgan intelligence report released on August 23, 2023, entitled, “The Economics of Nigeria’s Kidnap Industry: Follow the Money,” disclosed these figures. The Nigeria Police Force and the military high command – the Defence Headquarters, however, have gone silent over the heart-wrenching situation, while security experts called on the Office of the National Security Adviser…

SUPER Falcons’ Michelle Alozie says English forward Lauren James did not privately reach her – contrary to speculations – following a stomping incident in Nigeria’s loss to the Lionesses at the just-ended FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Chelsea forward stomped on the defender in the round of 16 tie which the Super Falcons lost 4-2 on penalties after normal and extra time ended barren. Lauren’s action earned her a red card and a two-game suspension. While the incident drew much attention from within and outside Nigeria, with the English star later apologising on social media, Alozie said the Chelsea footballer…