Author: Chronicle Editor

By Owei Lakemfa Two prominent Nigerians, Bashir Othman Tofa and Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan, departed eight days of each other; the former on January 3, 2022 and the latter on January 11. If both men had acted differently in the 1993 crisis when the Babangida military regime hijacked the presidential election in a desperate bid to cling to power, the sorry story of Nigeria today might have been different. The 1993 presidential election were between the then 46-year-old Tofa, the candidate of the National Republican Party, NRC; and Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, SDP. Abiola, with…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been released from Gabon’s Africa Cup of Nations squad and will return to Arsenal because of the striker’s ongoing health issues. The 32-year-old missed Gabon’s draw with Ghana on Friday after scans revealed “heart lesions” following a bout of Covid. The Arsenal forward tested positive on arrival in Cameroon on 6 January. He will undergo further medical checks upon his return to Arsenal. Nice midfielder Mario Lemina has also been released from the Gabon squad after “heart lesions” were also found on the ex-Southampton player’s scan. Newcastle contact Arsenal for Aubameyang, as Haaland picks Spain Gabon’s statement…

The Director General of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Lukman Salihu has resigned his position over the continuous delay of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention. Salihu had earlier called on Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, who is the chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to resign honourably if he fails to conduct the party’s convention tentatively slated for February. But the interim APC planning committee has failed to hold the convention, in fact, a date has not been announced for the national convention expected to hold in February. APC governors set for showdown…

By Lateef Adewole Let me use this auspicious occasion to congratulate all of us, who happen to pass through this great citadel of learning, The St. John’s Grammar School, Oke-Atan, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on the Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of the school, which we are celebrating from Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd of January, 2022. May we live long to witness many more of such celebration. St. John’s, for short, an all-male secondary school, located within the ancient city of Ile-Ife, was established in January 19th, 1962 by a Catholic Missionary from Quebec, Canada, Reverend Father Fabian Cloutier. He not only…

BudgIT, a civic-tech organization in Nigeria’s public finance, has called on the citizens, CSOs, private sector, and the international community to urgently prevail on the National Assembly and Presidency to urgently amend and eliminate the loopholes in FG’s 2022 Approved Budget. BudgIT preliminary analysis of the 21,108 capital projects in the 2022 approved budget revealed 460 duplicated projects amounting to N378.9billion. Recall that BudgIT observed 316 duplicated projects inserted into the 2021 FG Budget approved by NASS. ICPC verified 257 duplications, while the Budget Office confirmed the existence of only 185 duplicated projects worth N20.13bn, after which it informed the…

Juventus want Arsenal’s Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, 28, included in any deal for the Serie A side’s Brazil midfielder Arthur Melo, 25. (Sky Sports Italy, via Mail) Barcelona’s Uruguayan centre-back Ronald Araujo is interesting Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea with the 22-year-old stalling on a new deal with the La Liga side. (Marca) Leicester City are planning for the departure of Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans, 24. (Mirror) Arsenal are keen on signing Tielemans, who has 18 months left on his current Leicester deal. (Sun) Newcastle United are considering launching a bid to sign Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas but the Ligue 1 club want to keep the 35-year-old Costa Rican and are keen not to let…

Real Madrid won a 12th Super Cup title as goals from Luka Modric and Karim Benzema secured victory against Athletic Bilbao in Saudi Arabia. Modric curled in a brilliant strike to give Real a first-half lead at Riyadh’s King Fahd International Stadium. Benzema then made it 2-0 with a penalty after the video assistant referee awarded a spot-kick for handball. The striker’s shot had hit Yeray Alvarez, whose arms were raised as he made the block. Real Madrid into Super Cup final with extra-time win over Barcelona Real were also penalised for a handball late on as Eder Militao was…

PDP Governors Forum will hold a special meeting on Monday 17th January 2022 at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt, to strategise on how to rescue Nigeria. Hon CID Maduabum, director general, PDP Governors Forum in a statement on Sunday said the meeting will review the state of the States, the state of the nation and readiness of the PDP to provide the necessary leadership to ‘RESCUE and REBUILD’ Nigeria. All the elected PDP Governors are expected to attend the meeting to be presided over by the Chairman of the Forum, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR . The…

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday ordered the military to decimate remnant bandits and Boko Haram militants in Niger state. In a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Buhari as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces set the ball rolling for a major military operation in Niger State which has faced continued attacks on its communities by bandits and remnants of Boko Haram terrorists fleeing theaters of war in the Northwestern and Northeastern parts of the country. “In a directive to the Defence Headquarters a few days ago, the President asked the military to respond robustly to the cases of killings and…

Liverpool moved up to second in the Premier League as they overcame a stubborn Brentford side to take all three points at Anfield. Fabinho’s far-post header eased some of the tension that had built up at Anfield over 43 goalless minutes, but the home fans were relieved when Bryan Mbeumo sliced wide from a fine position after the break. Shortly afterwards, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain connected with an Andy Robertson cross to double the lead and Takumi Minamino came off the bench to side-foot home a third. Leaders Manchester City are 11 points above Liverpool, having played a game more. It will…