Author: Peter Noah KC

A FORMER National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, has described as lies allegations by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that he failed to execute or complete contracts awarded to him. Secondus said he had never been a contractor and never bid for or collected any contract from the state as alleged by the governor. The governor had during the commissioning of the Eneka-Igbo Etche Road project on Friday accused Secondus of failing to execute the contracts he got from the state government. He said in some instances, the contract sum was fully paid but the projects…

THE Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said he visited the family of late Igbo leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu, to share with them his hopes and dreams for Nigeria. Naija News reported that the former Governor of Anambra State paid a courtesy visit to the widow of the late Biafra warlord, Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, at her residence in Enugu on Friday, December 30, 2022. Speaking with reporters, Obi said he visited the Ojukwu family to receive their blessing and support for the 2023 presidential race, adding that Bianca’s support means that of the late Igbo leader. He said it was…

SUPER Eagles forward Cyriel Dessers has revealed he has high regard for Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, maintaining the two are the best he has ever worked with. Cyriel Dessers and Erik ten Hag worked together for a few months in 2017 at FC Utrecht, a club Ten Hag served as the sporting director and head coach from the summer of 2015 to December 2017. Ten Hag left Utrecht to become the manager of Ajax and in May this year, he was appointed to take charge at Manchester United. Dessers also left Utrecht…

BARCELONA were held to a draw by local rivals Espanyol in a chaotic New Year’s Eve derby at the Nou Camp. Marcos Alonso gave Barca the lead after seven minutes, however they were pegged back by a Joselu penalty. Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba received a second yellow card in the final minutes, while Vinicius Souza was also dismissed for the visitors. The referee also sent off Espanyol’s Leandro Cabrera, although that was overturned by VAR. Despite failing to win, Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga on goal difference ahead of Real Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid 2-0 on…

LA LIGA  “continues to do nothing” about “racists” attending games, says Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr. The Brazil international appeared to be racially abused by fans during the 2-0 win at Real Valladolid on Friday. In September Atletico Madrid condemned “unacceptable” chants by supporters towards the 22-year-old. “Racists keep going to games and watching the greatest club in the world up close and La Liga continues to do nothing,” Vinicius said. “I will carry on with my head held high and celebrating my victories and those of Madrid. In the end the fault is mine.” A La Liga spokesperson said…

– Ronaldo Signs Two-year Contract With Al-Nasr According to reports coming out of Saudi Arabia, Al-Nasr have agreed a two-year deal to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, 37, stunned the footballing world earlier this year after opting to give Piers Morgan a revealing interview, where he appeared to slam Man United for their shortcomings over the years, as well as manager Erik Ten Hag with the Portugal international admitting that he ‘doesn’t respect’ the Dutchman. After mutually agreeing to terminate his contract, the five-time Ballon d’Or, who represented his country at this winter’s World Cup in Qatar, approached the January transfer…

…As West Ham Tackle Brentford, Liverpool Host Leicester City Today PREMIER League and English Football League clubs are set to wear black armbands and hold a minute’s applause to honour Brazil football legend Pele. The three-time World Cup winner passed away on Thursday at the age of 82. Tributes have poured in from across the world and Brazil has declared three days of national mourning. The Premier League’s next round begins with two matches on Friday and concludes on Sunday, with all 10 games paying tribute. The EFL said it would hold a minute’s applause before EFL fixtures on Friday…

ARSENAL Manager Mikel Arteta stepped up his preparations for their Premier League meeting with Brighton & Hove with a training session at London Colney on Thursday, December 29. Spanish football tactician Arteta promoted three promising teenagers of Nigerian descent to first team training before the trip to the Seagulls. Attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri, 15, and striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji ,19, were spotted in the training images from Thursday’s workout. Arsenal youth team guru Jeorge Bird has reported on his website that the 19-year-old Dutch-born Nigerian winger Joel Ideho was also involved in the session. With the exception of Ideho, the aforementioned players…

ITALIAN Serie A side, Sassuolo, have made a bid for Orlando Pirates’ and Super Eagles defender Olisa Ndah. The Super Eagles defender just moved to South Africa last year, but he could seal a big move to Sassuolo. According to reports from Isolezwe. Pirates have a deal in the works from the Serie A team, who are presently 15th in the Italian top division. Ndah has witnessed a meteoric rise in the last five years. The 24-year-old Nigeria international has gone from playing in the doldrums four years ago to being one of the most reputable defenders in South Africa.…

THREE persons have been killed following an explosion in the Okene area of Kogi State. News Point Nigeria gathered that the incident happened on Thursday morning at the Oyinoyi’s Palace in Okenne Local Government Area of the state. This is coming few hours to the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari to commission some projects in the North-Central state. As at the time of filing this report, police operatives of the Anti-Bomb Unit were at the scene of the incident. It is however not clear if the explosion was as a result of a bomb being detonated or a target attack…

THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress have listed conditions for the proposed review of the national minimum wage, saying the continuous rise in inflation and the devaluation of the naira must be checked before the salary increase announced by the Federal Government could be considered. The organised labour explained that the cost of virtually all consumables in Nigeria had been on the rise, stressing that if this should continue; any amount of money that would be added to the minimum wage might not meet the expectations of workers. The NLC and TUC spoke against the backdrop…

LEICESTER City manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that Wilfred Ndidi was dropped from the starting lineup owing to fitness issues and he was not in tiptop condition. The Nigeria national teamer has been a quality player for Leicester City since his move from Racing Genk but had problems with injury this calender year and was out of form at the start of the season, just like most of the Foxes players. Ndidi made cameos off the bench in the last three games played by the Foxes in the Premier League and was a non-playing substitute in the Carabao Cup clash with MK…

SOME unknown gunmen have bombed the Ihiala Police Divisional Headquarters in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, south-east Nigeria. The attack happened on Wednesday at about 3:00 a.m., residents told our sources. The gunmen were said to have thrown improvised explosive devices into the facility, which razed a building inside the station. An indigene of the area, Uju Okafor, said the bombing and sporadic shootings by the gunmen did not allow them to sleep during the attack. “I was very scared when I started hearing of the heavy shootings and bomb explosions,” she said. Mr Okafor said it was…

THE number of mobile Internet subscriptions grew by 12.17 million to 152.15 million in October, the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission have revealed. This was an 8.69 per cent growth from the 139.98 million mobile Internet subscriptions from October 2021. In the time under review, the growth recorded was influenced by MTN which recorded the highest increase of 10.61 per cent from 58.32 million in October 2021 to 64.51 million, followed by Globacom which grew by 8.83 per cent from 38.97 million to 42.41 million. Airtel’s mobile Internet subscriptions also rose by 8.76% from 36.89 million to 40.12…

SEVEN persons have been confirmed dead and 29 others sustained various degrees of injuries in an incident that occurred during the annual Calabar Carnival on Tuesday. News Point Nigeria gathered that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Cross River State has confirmed the ‘bloody’ incident. The Sector Commander of the Corps, Maikano Hassan confirmed the number of casualties. Hassan said that the incident occurred in front of the Jumat Mosque in Bogobiri in the capital city of Cross River during the Bikers Carnival activity of the carnival. He listed the number of injured to include 21 male adults, three…

GOVERNOR David Umahi of Ebonyi State has ordered the arrest of the State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha and a party Chieftain, Chief Eni Chima over communal unrest. This is following a supremacy battle between supporters of Okoro-Emegha and Chima, the House of Representatives candidate for Afikpo North/South federal constituency at Ekoli-Edda, Afikpo South LGA, on December 26. News Point Nigeria gathered that the supremacy battle led to the death of three persons and the destruction of property worth millions of naira including Okoro-Emegha’s house. The order of arrest was contained in a statement signed by Umahi”s…

INATIMI Spiff, a former senator who represented Bayelsa East in the National Assembly, is dead, according to a statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The influential politician who hailed from Twon-Brass in Brass local government of Bayelsa state died on Saturday, December 24, in an Abuja hospital after a brief illness, PM News reported. News Point Nigeria gathers that the PDP spokesman in Bayelsa state, Ebiye Egoli, announced the death of the former Secretary to State Government SSG) in the Old Rivers state on Monday, December 26. “It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that we received…

INDIGENOUS People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu has called for an end to violence in the Southeast. Kanu, who is in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), conveyed the message through his lawyers during a visit to him. He said the enemies were relentlessly exploiting the people and recruiting criminals to destroy Igboland and blame it on IPOB. IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful, in a statement, said Kanu also warned those who claim to be IPOB members and his disciples to desist from being agents of destabilisation. He said: “Our enemies plan to destabilise Igboland using IPOB…

THE United States government has announced a project that will strengthen the forensic and chemical analysis capacity of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, as well as its intelligence gathering and prosecution capabilities. This is according to a statement on Monday by the Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi. According to him, the latest support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) comes on the heels of an award of N500 million grant to fund selected projects in the Agency by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa). The…

NATIONAL Bureau of Statistics’ foreign trade reports has indicated that Nigeria had spent N205.38bn in the importation of medications within nine months. The analysis of the first quarter to the third quarter of the reports indicated that the medications were imported between January and September 2022. According to the reports, the majority of the drugs were bought from the Netherlands, Malaysia, China, and India. The majority of the drugs were imported during the second quarter, followed by the first and third quarters. National Bureau of Statistics’ foreign trade reports has indicated that Nigeria had spent N205.38bn in the importation of…