Author: Chronicle Editor

The Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill which seeks to rename the Federal Polytechnic in Daura, Katsina State, to immortalise late Senator Mustapha Bukar. Late Bukar represented Katsina North in the 8th Senate and sponsored the bill that established the Federal Polytechnic Daura. Bukar’s successor in the Senate, Senator Ahmed Babba Kaita, is the sponsor of a “Bill for an Act to amend the Federal Polytechnic Daura, Katsina State, to make provision for a change of name of the Federal Polytechnic Daura, Katsina State, to Mustapha Bukar Polytechnic Daura, Katsina State and for related matters 2019.” Senators…

Teenager Ansu Fati became the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history as Barcelona ended Inter Milan’s hopes of reaching the last 16. Fati, 17, came on as an 85th-minute substitute, and a minute later scored from Luis Suarez’s pass. Barcelona, already qualified, took the lead through Carles Perez’s close-range goal on his Champions League debut. Romelu Lukaku equalised with a low 25-yard strike but Fati’s late winner consigned Inter to the Europa League. “I played the give and go with Luis and when I scored the stadium just went silent. I’m super-happy,” said Fati, who has represented Spain at under-21…

Merriam-Webster has named “they” as its 2019 word of the year in recognition of non-binary people. The US dictionary also recently added a new definition of “they”, reflecting its use as a singular personal pronoun for non-binary people. Searches for “they” on Merriam-Webster’s website were 313% higher this year than they were in 2018. British pop star Sam Smith came out as non-binary in March, and in September confirmed on Instagram that their pronouns were “they/them”. Announcing their pronouns, Smith wrote: “I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering, but all I ask is you please, please try. I…

Chelsea survived a late scare to move into the Champions League knockout stages with victory over Lille at Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard’s side were in complete control for the most part and set up the victory they required with first-half goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta. Chelsea’s nerves were frayed when former striker Loic Remy pulled one back for Lille late on but they were able to close out victory to reach the last 16 after finishing a tough group in second place behind Valencia but ahead of last season’s semi-finalists Ajax. Abraham scored his 13th goal of the…

Napoli have sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti less than three hours after he guided them into the Champions League knockout stages. The Serie A club had not won in nine games in all competitions until Tuesday’s 4-0 success at home to Genk. Ancelotti was in his second season in charge of Napoli but they sit seventh in the league after that poor run. Last month the manager and Napoli players were in a high-profile dispute with president Aurelio de Laurentiis. De Laurentiis ordered the team to attend a week-long training camp but Ancelotti and his players all returned home. Liverpool beat Salzburg to reach…

Liverpool overcame a difficult night in Austria to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League as Group E winners thanks to a 2-0 victory at Red Bull Salzburg.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has apologised to Nigerians and has accepted that the Vice President was right. The Centre said the Vice President pulled out of the award for reasons which he subsequently cited in a press statement on Monday. In a statement titled, “We were wrong and the Vice President is right”, the Centre said it stands by his decision to award the Vice President with an Integrity award. Senate probes N20trn unremitted stamp duties from banks “Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) accepts the statement from the Vice President’s Office as the true…

The Senate has mandated its Committee on Finance to investigate the non-remittance of over N20 trillion into the Federation Account by Central Bank of Nigeria, an amount collected as stamp duties from Banks and Financial Institutions in the country. The decision to probe the non-remittance of stamp duties was reached sequel to the consideration of a motion on “The need to improve Internally Generated Revenue of the Federal Government of Nigeria through non-oil revenue”. Sponsor of the motion, Senator Ayo Akinyelure (PDP, Ondo Central), said that the Central Bank had in January 2016, issued a circular directing all banks and…

The House of Representatives has directed the relevant house committees to investigate the event surrounding the rearrest of the founder of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore in the Federal High Court. The motion was moved by Minority Leader, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP-Delta) under Matters of Urgent Public Importance at the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday. The committees are National Security and Intelligence, Judiciary, and Human Rights. Elumelu the investigation was on the “invasion of the Federal High Court premises Abuja by yet to be identified persons”. He described the invasion of the court by the…

A bill seeking to reduce frequent accidents by petroleum tankers on Nigerian roads on Tuesday scaled through the second reading in the Senate. The bill, sponsored by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra South), seeks to make consequential provisions towards safe transportation of petroleum products across the country. In his lead debate, Ubah said the bill became necessary to provide a legal framework peculiar to that segment of the transport sector, and to further strengthen existing collaborations between government agencies on transportation of petroleum products by roads. He said the bill was inspired by the urgent need to promote safety in…