The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Saturday announced the dates for the draws for both the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The CAF Executive Committee picked the dates at its meeting on Friday in Douala, Cameroon. It said the draws for the qualifiers for the 2023 AFCON scheduled for Côte d’Ivoire will be conducted on January 21 in Douala. The preliminary round will be played by a knock-out system, on the basis of home and away matches. It will include the lower-ranked teams in accordance with the FIFA rankings. The teams…
Author: Newsdesk
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has denied zoning its presidential ticket for 2023. This is contained in a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary , Debo Ologunagba on Saturday. “The attention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to comments and speculations from certain individuals claiming that our Party has zoned its Presidential ticket to a particular part of the country. “This is completely misleading as it does not in any way represent the position of our Party. “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP emphatically and unequivocally states that it has not zoned it Presidential ticket…
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has increased the prize money for champions of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to $5 million (about N2.8 billion). The winners’ prize money was increased from $4.5 million, representing an increase of about 11 percent. The decision was taken on Friday in Douala, Cameroon during the meeting of the Executive Committee of CAF. The prize money increase is beginning with the 2021 AFCON which gets underway on Sunday in Yaounde. The competition’s runners-up will get $2.75 million in prize money, up from $2.5 million and an increase of 10 percent. The prize…
“In times of war, the truth is so precious, it has to be protected by a bodyguard of lies” – Winston Churchill The Nigerian military is battling Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast and bandits in the Northwest. Our gallant soldiers are giving their lives so that ours can be saved. Yet, some enemies within are busy casting aspersions at the patriotic effort of the men and women at the frontline, who are braving hot and cold in deserts and dense forests and the prospect of certain death. These arm-chair experts, reclining in their cozy comfort zones, are dispersing the…
By Gami Tadanyigbe Stakeholders in healthcare sector observe that the effects of Corona-virus Disease (COVID-19) on humanity have affected every sphere of human endeavours such as in education, economy and health, among others. Sarah Gimba, a medical practitioner in Abaji community of Abuja, notes that with the rising cases of COVID-19 cases in the country, government ought to send health workers to the rural areas for effective campaign against the pandemic. She suggests the design of a grassroots user-friendly mobile application for effective information on how to avoid contact with the virus. “This will result in an effective and coordinated response…
The Nasarawa state government has earmarked N31.9 billion for the education sector, representing 30 per cent of the 2022 budget. Daniel Agyeno, Commissioner of Finance, Budget and Planning, made the disclosure on Friday in Lafia during the 2022 budget breakdown. The commissioner explained that education was the topmost priority of the state government which was why it allocated N31.9 billion per cent of its 2022 budget to the sector in compliance with UNESCO’s recommendation. He stated that the budget was made up of N71.770 billion recurrent expenditure and N39.079 billion capital expenditure. Agyeno noted that the state has adhered to international…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it arrested a total of 272 suspects and seized 339.81kg of hard drugs in Akwa Ibom in 2021. The State Commander of NDLEA, Mrs Obot Bassey, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the activities of the agency in Uyo on Friday. Giving the breakdown, Bassey said the suspects comprised of 233 males and 39 females, while the hard drugs siezed were 311.2477kg of cannabis sativa, 1.2581kg of cocaine, 0.2882kg heroin, 0.0545kg of meth and 26.970kg of psychotropic substance. She said the command also convicted 39 persons, made up of 37 males and…
An early morning fire on Friday destroyed a section of a storey building at the Sabot-Oke area of Ilorin, according to an official statement from the Kwara Fire Service. A Director in the agency, Falade Olumuyiwa, disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen by the agency’s Head, Media and Publicity, Hassan Adekunle. Olumuyiwa commended the “swift response and display of professionalism by men of the fire service” which, he stated, stopped the fire from razing down the building completely. The director stated that the fire started at about 8am but added that the cause had yet to be ascertained.…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says only eight political parties have notified it of their intentions to conduct primaries for the Ekiti governorship election, as at Friday afternoon. Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of, Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja. The eight political parties according to Okoye include the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress, Action Alliance, African Democratic Congress; and All Progressives Grand Alliance. Others were Allied People’s Movement, Peoples Redemption Party; and African Action Congress. “So far, as at afternoon Jan. 7, eight political parties have given the…
Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has been named on the final three-man shortlist for the FIFA Best men’s player of the year award for 2021. But the Pole faces competition from Egyptian star Mohamed Salah and Argentine great Lionel Messi. The trio were named by the world football governing body on Friday in a presentation ahead of the award being handed out on Jan. 17 as part of a TV show in Zurich. Lewandowski won the title in 2020 and former Germany international Sami Khedira said there was a “great chance” he would retain the honour. “I would bet on him…