ONE WORD

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday accused the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress, APC, of sabotaging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, operations in last Saturday’s scheduled elections using Amina Zakari. PDP claimed that INEC’s top official, Amina Zakari alongside other commissioners, were used in sabotaging the electoral umpire’s operations. A statement by PDP’s spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari opted for the option because he wanted a staggering election where he can use security operatives to subvert the will of the people. The statement reads: “Nigerians will recall that the PDP had vehemently protested the continued retention of President Muhammadu Buhari’s relation, Mrs. Amina Zakari, in INEC. We have been reliably informed that the same Amina Zakari and another high-ranking INEC commissioner played a pivotal role in assisting the APC and Buhari Presidency in sabotaging the operations...

Ayodele Fayose Taking to his social media page, Fayose wrote: "Two days ago, I told Nigerians that the Presidency cabal were considering postponement of the elections because they knew that they can't win. Now I'm vindicated. With this, they have only succeeded in making their situation worse. Nigerians will defeat this tyranny ultimately." According to INEC, the elections were rescheduled because of logistic issues as the body claimed it was facing difficulty distributing sensitive electoral materials to some states of the federation. The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, read a five-paragraph statement at 2:50 am on Saturday attributing the decision to logistic reasons but refused to entertain any question. Two days ago, I told Nigerians that the Presidency cabal were considering postponement of the elections because they knew that they can't win. Now I'm vindicated. With this, they have only succeeded in making their situation worse. Nige...

—Describes it as national embarrassment By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA—MIXED reactions have continued to trail the postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections from February 16 to February 23 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the National Association of Seadogs, NAS, has called for proper scrutiny of the reasons adduced by the electoral umpire for its action. INEC boss NAS said the action of INEC has caused the country international embarrassment and huge economic loss bearing in mind assurances of the electoral body in every public fora before 16th February that it was ready for the election. INEC urges Nigerians to pick up PVCs, says votes will count The association in a statement signed by its National President, Kwaghbunde Gbahabo, which was made available to Vanguard, argued that the volteface by the INEC and the huge economic cost to the country should not be swept under the carpet. Gbahabo, also stated that INEC must ens...

Miss Osasuwa, a 25-year-old shop attendant in Benin City, the Edo State capital now goes to work without wearing pants. She said she no longer wore pants, especially while going out, following the activities of young men who engage in money ritual in the area. Osasuwa is not the only female in Benin who has stopped wearing pants while going out, for fear of being forced to remove it at gunpoint. Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that last month, a young man in his early 20s was caught with female and children’s pants. It took the intervention of the police to rescue him from crowd justice. It was also gathered that the young men started the act by stealing babies’ pampers from dustbins, a development that forced many women to start burning pampers after use. It was further learnt that these young men graduated from stealing babies’ pampers to female underwear for ritual purposes when pampers were not yielding much dividend. These desperate young men, it was gathered, would ...

Valencia’s Italian forward Simone Zaza (L) vies with Barcelona’s French defender Samuel during the Spanish league football match Valencia CF and FC Barcelona at Mestalla stadium in Valencia. JOSE JORDAN / AFP Samuel Umtiti is set to make his long-awaited return from injury after Barcelona named him in the squad on Sunday to face Lyon in the Champions League. A knee problem has caused Umtiti to play only once in almost five months but the defender resumed training at the end of January and has been included in Barca’s squad for the trip to Lyon on Tuesday. Umtiti is unlikely to start the first leg against his former club but his availability is a plus for coach Ernesto Valverde, with difficult fixtures to come. After Lyon, Barcelona face a trip to Sevilla in La Liga before two Clasicos in four days, the first in the Copa del Rey and the second in the league, both at the Santiago Bernabeu. Umtiti’s absence left Barca short in central defence. They signed Jeison Murillo on loa...

Girona’s Uruguayan forward Cristhian Stuani (2ndL) scores a penalty during the Spanish League football match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on February 17, 2019. GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP Real Madrid threw away their lead and perhaps their hopes of catching Barcelona as Girona came from behind to pull off a shock 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. Girona had not won in 13 matches and looked on course for a seventh straight defeat when Casemiro headed a dominant Madrid ahead in the first half. But complacency set in, and Girona took full advantage as Cristhian Stuani scored a penalty and Portu nodded in at the back post, leaving the European champions scrapping even for a point before Sergio Ramos was sent off in the 90th minute. They failed even to muster that, with defeat here a major act of self-harm for what was beginning to look like a serious resurgence in La Liga’s title race. Barcelona had beaten Real Valladolid by a...

Chelsea board are “worried” over manager, Maurizio Sarri’s decision to play midfielder, N’Golo Kante, in an attacking midfield role. Daily Mail reports that the Blues’ chiefs believe that Kante is being “wasted” under Sarri. Sarri has refused to play the France international in his favoured defensive midfield role since he took over from Italian compatriot, Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge last year. The Italian gaffer prefers to play Jorginho in the defensive midfield role instead of Kante, who was Chelsea’s best player of the year when they won the Premier League title under Conte during his debut season in 2017. Kante, who has done his best to adapt to his new role, will hope to lead Chelsea to victory when they tackle Manchester United on Monday night in the FA Cup fixture. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/epl-chelsea-board-worried-over-sarris.html

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 22, 2015 Renu Begum, eldest sister of missing British girl Shamima Begum, holds a picture of her sister while being interviewed by the media in central London. – A British teenager who fled to join the Islamic State group in Syria is living in a refugee camp and wants to return home, The Times reported on February 14, 2019. Shamima Begum, now 19, expressed no regrets about fleeing her London life four years ago but said that two of her children had died and, pregnant with her third, she wanted to return. (Photo by LAURA LEAN / POOL / AFP) A runaway teenager who has divided British opinion after joining the Islamic State group in Syria but now wants to return home, has given birth, her family said on Sunday. Shamima Begum, whose fate has prompted British soul-searching since she and two friends stirred controversy by fleeing to the terror network in 2015, gave birth to a boy, according to family lawyer Mohammed Akunjee. “We, the family...

Manchester United have identified Inter Milan star, Mauro Icardi as the replacement for striker, Romelu Lukaku at the club. Express UK reports that Manchester United are already in talks with Inter Milan over the possibility to sign Icardi at the end of the season. The report claimed that the Red Devils are prepared to include Lukaku as part of their offer and the striker is “aware of the situation”. The report also claimed that the Serie A giants are not happy with Icardi’s behavior and are willing to cash in on the player during the summer transfer window. Icardi is available to sign for £87million due to a release clause in his current contract with the Serie A giants. The Argentine international was stripped of the captaincy few days ago. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/epl-man-united-identify-87m-striker-as.html

Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar (C) attends the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Girondins de Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes stadium, in Paris, on February 9, 2019. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) Neymar’s father reiterated on Sunday that there has been no attempt to contact Barcelona over a possible return to Spain for the world’s most expensive player. Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain for a world record fee of 222 million euros ($251 million) in August 2017 but has repeatedly been linked with a move back to Barcelona. “Barca are a huge club, we were very happy over there,” Neymar Sr told TF1 on Sunday. “It’s impossible to leave a player like him out of these (transfer market) rumours. But it’s a lie, there hasn’t been a call with Barca.” “There are two people who speak for Neymar: himself and me. Neither of us has spoken about this intention to return to Barcelona,” he added. “These rumours amuse us a lot. These journalists ...

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked Nigerians to blame successive governments since 1999 and the National Assembly responsible for the postponement of Saturday’s presidential election. That will mean blaming 16 years of PDP administration and less than four years of APC for the election fiasco. “Given the increasing tendency to postpone elections and the cumulative failures and corruption over the years, SERAP would, after the elections, pursue appropriate legal action against the government in power and the National Assembly leadership for the catalogue of breaches of constitutional and international obligations, and seek effective remedies for the citizens,”SERAP said. In a statement signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “The postponement of Nigeria’s elections since 2007 shows a systemic failure of leadership at the highest level of government, and suggests that our electoral process is deliberately skewed in...

The Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Bankole Adeoye, says Nigerians staying in Ethiopia over 14 hours, or transiting to other destinations, need to be wary of carrying monies in excess of $3000, or its equivalent in other currencies. Adeoye said this is as a result of a longstanding economic policy by the Ethiopian government. According to him, the policy is being re-enforced, causing Nigerian travellers to lose hundreds of thousands in forex while passing through the country. He further stated that so far, over 25 Nigerians have had monies and valuables confiscated because of the policy. Adeoye, who was speaking on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, however, said the Nigerian government is working to help recover confiscated monies but wants Nigerians to be aware of the risk of carrying forex in excess. He urged Nigerians carrying such monies, to declare them, at the point of entry. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/nigerian-amba...

Girona’s Spanish defender Jonas Ramalho (R) challenges Real Madrid’s Welsh forward Gareth Bale during the Spanish League football match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on February 17, 2019. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) Real Madrid threw away their lead and perhaps their hopes of catching Barcelona as Girona came from behind to pull off a shock 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. Girona had not won in 13 matches and looked on course for a seventh straight defeat when Casemiro headed a dominant Madrid ahead in the first half. But complacency set in, and Girona took full advantage as Cristhian Stuani scored a penalty and Portu nodded in at the back post, leaving the European champions scrapping even for a point before Sergio Ramos was sent off in the 90th minute. They failed even to muster that, with defeat here a major act of self-harm for what was beginning to look like a serious resurgence in La Liga’s title race. Barc...

General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Prophet Samuel Kayode Abiara has said the 2019 Presidential election postponement was a divine intervention. He said the postponement was God’s way of averting ‘devilish plots’, hence Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu should not be blamed. He further stated that the INEC chairman was not God and Nigerians should take the situation as an act of God. Speaking during Sunday’s sermon, Prophet, Abiara, however called on Nigerians to come out and vote on Feb. 23. He said; “Nigerians must thank God almighty for this situation because God owns Nigeria and God is aware of the cancellation of these elections. “It so sad many people travelled from different parts of Nigeria to cast their votes in their various states and they will be disappointed by the postponement. “But Nigerians must appreciate God for averting a series of devilish ploys concerning these elections by the postpo...

Nigerian frontline standup comedian, Francis Agoda, popularly known as ‘I Go Die’, has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari, over the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections. I Go Die shared a video online showing where Buhari was fuming in anger in 2015 after elections were postponed by INEC during Goodluck Jonathan government. According to the comedian, Buhari’s camp were insinuating that Jonathan was behind the postponement in order to extend his tenure as President and to plot his rigging strategy. I Go Die, in an Instagram post on Saturday, called on INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to resign immediately. He wrote, “I CALL FOR THE SUSPENSION OF THE INEC CHAIRMAN AND UNRESERVED APOLOGY FROM PRESIDENT MOHAMMADU BUHARI WHO ONCE CONDEMNED THE 2015 POSTPONED ELECTION.” “I feel this is totally unacceptable from an institution like INEC that had been given 185 billon naira to organise it’s logistics prior to this day. “Federal government has the financ...