The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams, has called on the President, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ensure that the 1999 Constitution was replaced with a new one before the 2023 general elections.
The National Coordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress, who also asked Buhari to restructure the country before the next general election, insisted the task was achievable if the President wanted it done.
Adams, while speaking with correspondents in Ile-Ife at the grand finale of this year’s edition of Oduduwa Festival on Monday, also said anyone pushing for an election with the current system of government in the country, should be called ‘political criminal.’
He said, “Constitution amendment should come before the 2023 general elections. I will neither dissuade them from holding the election nor criticise them because the vacuum must be filled in 2023. But for us to move forward as a country, we must restructure into regions.
The Nigeria Police Force has invited Instagram cleric, Prophet Adelana Adekunle Solomon, popularly known as Oba Solomon, for questioning.
In a letter seen by Sources, the police said the cleric known for his controversial preaching on social media was invited over a petition against him.
“The office is investigating a matter reported to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan Lagos,” part of the invitation letter read.
“In order to facilitate investigation, you are requested to report to the office in-charge of Zonal Complaint Response Unit, CSP Olukode Taofiki with GSM No. 08063250810 on 2nd February, 2022 by 1000hrs.”
Solomon’s Instagram page was reviewed by correspondents, several posts critiquing the Nigerian government and members of the All Progressives Congress were seen.
Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has hosted Ade Omole, leader of the United Kingdom (UK) chapter of the party and the Nigeria Diaspora for Asiwaju (NDA) team in London.
AbdulRasaq Danjuma, Omole’s Personal Assistant, announced this in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
He said the meeting was to consult with the NDA and “critical APC stakeholders” in the UK on Tinubu’s 2023 presidential aspiration.
Newsmen reported how after months of speculation, Tinubu formally declared his intention to run for the country’s president in 2023.
He disclosed this to journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
The federal government yesterday said its electricity deal with Siemens was on course, stating that the first phase of the programme under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) would increase power supply to about 40 million Nigerians.
In addition, the contract which would see the eventual ramp up of the country’s generation capacity to 25,000 megawatts, the government stated, would create at least 11,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Speaking at the commencement of the PPI training on network development studies, by FGN Power Company, the firm overseeing the Siemens power project, in Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, said the unveiling of the training session was a milestone under the initiative.
Ahmed assured that the collaborative effort with the implementing partner, Siemens, on the PPI was on track to bring positive change to the power sector.
Premier League clubs completed the second-highest spending January in history – with a total of £295m spent – as Tottenham made the biggest moves on deadline day.
A total of 12 Premier League transfers on deadline day took spending to the highest total since 2018’s £430m as clubs appear to have recovered from the effects Covid had on finances.
Premier League clubs only spent £70m in January 2021, and less than £10m on deadline day.
Twelve months on Spurs signed two Juventus players, for at least £24m, sold England midfielder Dele Ali to Frank Lampard’s Everton for a fee of up to £40m and loaned out three players.
Newcastle brought in two Premier League defenders, while Manchester City and Burnley recruited strikers for more than £10m.
Pierre Emereck Aubameyang lleft Arsenal for Barcelona on a free transfer, while Juventus loaned Aaron Ramsey to Scottish champions Rangers.
Over half of the money spent by Premier League clubs (£150m) came from the bottom five clubs – Everton, Norwich, Newcastle, Watford and Burnley. Last year the bottom five spent a total of £5m.
Dan Jones, partner and head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “This transfer window indicates that the financial pressures of Covid on Premier League clubs are easing, with spending firmly back to pre-pandemic levels and remarkably among the highest we’ve ever seen in January.
“The Premier League continues to lead the way globally, retaining its status as the world’s biggest domestic football league in financial terms, once again supported by full stadia and securing strong overseas broadcast deals.”
Europe’s other top four leagues combined spent 380m euros (£317m), only £2m more than the Premier League and EFL combined.
Premier League clubs’ net spending (the cost of purchases minus sales) of £180m is the highest since the January transfer window was introduced in 2003.
What happened on deadline day?
Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur joins Spurs for £15.9m (which could rise by £5m) and Antonio Conte’s side have paid an £8.3m loan fee for Sweden winger Dejan Kulusevski with an option to buy for £29.2m.
Record signing Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon), Bryan Gil (Valencia) and Giovani lo Celso (Villarreal) have all left on a temporary basis.
Newcastle signed Brighton’s Dan Burn for £13m and Aston Villa’s Matt Targett on loan to end an impressive month of recruitment.
Manchester City signed River Plate striker Julian Alvarez Jfor £14.1m – although he will go back on loan to the Argentine club until the summer.
Burnley signed strikre Wouf Weighossr from Wolfsburg for £12m.
His Netherlands team-mate Danny Van De Beek became Lampard’s first signing as Everton boss, completing a loan move from Manchester United, and Alli became his first permanent recruit on an initial free transfer.
Crystal Palace signed two strikers Dean -Phillip Mateta who had been on loan from Mainz, for £9m and £1m Luke Plange, who goes back on loan to old club Derby.
Brighton signed Royale Union Saint-Gilloise forward Dennis Unday for a reported £6m but loaned him back to the Belgian club.
Brentford made the first signing of the day when they recruited Denmark midfielder Christain Eriksen on a free transfer
Championship side promotion chasers were very busy with five signings. They signed Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell, Liverpool defender Nat Phillips and Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman on loan, plus forwards Kieffer Moore and Siriki Dembele for undisclosed fees.
Other Premier League players to move to the second tier on loan were Tino Anjorin (Chelsea to Huddersfield), Jed Steer (Aston Villa to Luton) and Charlie Goode (Brentford to Sheffield United).
What happened in the rest of January?
Luis Diaz will link up with Liverpool once he returns from Colombia duty
Liverpool made the biggest signing of the window in England the day before deadline day, with Porto’s Colombia winger Luiz Diaz joining in a deal worth 45m euros (£37.5m), with a further 15m euros (£12.5m) in potential bonuses.
Newcastle had already sealed a deal for Lyon’s Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guinaraes for £35m with £6.6m in add-ons, Burnley striker Chris Wood for £25m and Atletico Madrid and England right-back Kerian Tripper for £12m.
There were four other Premier League signings worth £10m or more.
Aston Villa signed Everton left-back Lucas Dione for £25m, while Everton bought two defenders for a combined £27m – Rangers Nathan Patterson ‘and Dynamo Kyiv’s Vitali Myikekencho.
Wolves made the loan signing of RB Leipzig forward Hwang Hee-Chan permanent for £14m.
The biggest signing in Europe came when Juventus signed Fiorentina forward DusanVilahovic who had been a target for several Premier League sides – for an initial £58m.
Villa signed Barcelona’s Philippe Courtinho on loan, while Adama Traore (Wolves to Barcelona), Anthony Martial (Manchester United to Sevilla) and Amad Diallo (Manchester United to Rangers) all left the Premier League on temporary deals.
Nigeria’s head coach Randy Waldrum has included Ashleigh Plumptre and Ifeoma Onumonu in a provisional 35-player squad for the upcoming Women’s AFCON, Morocco 2022.
The Super Falcons will slug it out with Cote d’Ivoire at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on February 18 and the reverse fixture five days later at Stade Robert Champroux, Abidjan.
American tactician Waldrum missed some fresh legs due to delays in nationality switch and travel, with Leicester City defender and Gotham forward among the new faces.
Plumptre’s inclusion follows her clearance by FIFA to represent the West Africans through her paternal Nigerian grandfather following her 30 appearances at youth level for England.
US-born Onumonu will reunite with the Super Falcons’ fold for the first time since being part of the team’s campaign at the US Summer Series last June, earning her debut against Jamaica.
The list also included captain Asisat Oshoala, Onome Ebi, Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene, Rita Chikwelu, Desire Oparanozie, Francisca Ordega, Uchenna Kanu and Osinachi Ohale.
There were first-time call-ups for U20 and Rivers Angels duo Rofiat Imuran and Deborah Abiodun and Sunshine Queens goalkeeper Christy Ohiaeriaku made a return after one year.
The Super Falcons will begin preparations on Tuesday with most of the domestic players while overseas-based join later on or before February 15.
To reach this stage, the Nigerians pipped Ghana’s Black Queens 2-1 on aggregate in October 2021, while the Lady Elephants eased past Niger Republic 20-0 on aggregate.
The nine-time champions are aiming to defend their African crown in Morocco later in July but must subdue the Ivorians, who dashed their Olympic return dream at Tokyo 2020 in October 2019.
Speculations are rife in Ghana that the Ghana Football Association is at loggerheads with the government over who becomes the next coach of Ghana’s Senior National team
Black Stars are without a coach following the dismissal of Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac who managed the Ghana side to their worst finish at the Africa Cup of Nations
But according o numerous sources in Ghana, following Serbian exit, some bigwigs in the political space have made recommendations to the Sports Ministry to convince the GFA to appoint English based coach of Ghanaian descent Chris Hughton.
Hughton who last managed Nottingham Forest in the English Championship is the suitable coach the New Patriotic Party government is eyeing to be appointed as coach
Meanwhile, the Ghana FA has also set sights on another coach who they are convinced is well prepared to manage the the Blck Stars.
According to reports, officials at the GFA want to offer the top job to Dortumund’s assistant coach, Otto Addo to become the next Black Stars’ coach.
Addo who is a skill coach at Dortmund was appointed as one of the deputies to former Ghana coach, Milovan Rajevac during his recent second stint.
The former Ghana international also worked as a scout for Kwesi Appiah in 2019 for the AFCON.
However, due to his work schedule at the German club, Addo was unable to be with the
Black Stars for the 2021 AFCON but often travelled with the team during international breaks
The Ghana FA is therefore confident that when handed the Black Stars job permanently, Addo will be able to manage the team to their expectations.
Meanwhile, according to reports, some officials of the GFA have arrived in Germany to convince Otto Addo to accept the Black Stars job.
It appears the government who through the Sports Ministry is responsible for paying the Black stars coach is not enthused by the position of the GFA who have in previous times fired coaches for failing to achieve their targets.
As it was five years ago, so it has been now as two parallel congresses of the troubled Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has taken place in two locations.
In Abuja at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, it has been reported that Igoche Mark, the chairman of mark mentors Basketball team emerged as new NBBF president.
There were others elected along with him in their faction of the board.
In Benin, another faction held their election and Musa Kida emerged as the president.
That was also the situation when on June 12, 2017, election was held in Kano in which Tijanni Umar came out as the winner.
The next day, along with other elections in over 30 sports federations, Musa Kida was elected as the president of the NBBF setting a chain of crisis that remained unabated even when both tenures technically expired.
As it is now, it is unclear, which of the elections – Abuja and Benin -will get the official recognition by both the Nigeria sports ministry and the international federation – FIBA.
In Abuja, elected with Mark was Osita Nwachukwu as Vice President.
In Benin, Kida returned as President. Babatunde Ogunade also returned as Vice president. Olumide Oyedeji, a retired NBA player got into the board as representative of South West.
Anambra State Basketball Association charman, Ugo Udeze was elected to represent the South East and Abba Kaka got the nod for North East.
Others are Surajo Yusuff for North West and Adamu Jalong for North East.
Gernot Rohr, Nigeria’s former manager is reportedly intensifying efforts to lead the Black Stars against the Super Eagles in the final play-off for World Cup qualification.
According to Ghana Guardian, a source close to Rohr revealed the Franco-German’s coach readiness to take up the vacant Black Stars job.
“Gernot Rohr is very much open to the Ghana job. Ghana football has great potential and his experience of the African game will help him steer the team in the right direction.
Gernot Rohr’s agent in pushing the coach’s case also reportedly said: “His knowledge of African football is deep, especially with West African teams.
“Besides Nigeria, he also handled Burkina Faso and Niger. Rohr also had a stint with Gabon in 2017. He has the quality to handle the Black Stars.”
“He (Gernot) achieved FIFA World Cup qualification with Nigeria in 2018 and is optimistic on guiding Ghana to the 2022 edition.
“Ghana has big name players like Thomas Partey, Andre Ayew and Daniel Amartey amongst others who are hungry to play at the FIFA World Cup and Gernot can help turn that dream into a reality,” the source concluded.
It’s time now for the “final four” of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.
After the quarterfinals exciting games, Cameroon Indomitable Lions, Burkina Faso Stallions, Egypt Pharaohs and Senegal Teranga Lions completed the “Golden Quartet” of the 33rd TotalEnergies AFCON edition.
The semifinal matches are as follows:
Match 49 – Wednesday 2 February 2022 – 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaounde
Burkina Faso v Senegal
Match 50 – Thursday 3 February 2022 – 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – Olembe Stadium, Yaounde
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