Author: Chronicle Editor

Everton have secured a “high-value” naming rights deal for their training complex with a company founded by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov is a close business associate of Everton’s major shareholder Farhad Moshiri and his company, USM Holdings, has struck a five-year agreement to rename the complex USM Finch Farm. It is one of two deals worth a total of £75m revealed by chief executive Robert Elstone at the club’s AGM this week. The other is for shirt sponsorship. Moshiri’s ambitious plans for Everton also include an eventual move away from Goodison Park to a new stadium, with a site…

The Nigerian Police Force has sacked six of its men who violated clear instructions during the 10 December, 2016 legislative rerun elections in Rivers State. In addition, they will be prosecuted for electoral offences. The policemen, all aides of Governor Nyesom Wike, were said to have breached rules handed over by the High Command urging them to be of good conduct and desist from escorting their principals, notably public office holders and politicians to polling units throughout the period of the election. Force Public Relations officer and deputy commissioner of police, Don Nwunah in a statement today said the blatant…

A court in London will decide in coming weeks whether Royal Dutch Shell can face trial in the UK over oil spill allegations in Nigeria, a decision some legal experts predict could attract more cases against multinationals in Britain. The High Court will judge whether members from two communities, Bille and Ogale in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region, can sue the Anglo-Dutch company in British courts. The communities say Nigerian courts are unfit to hear the case against Shell subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). Shell says the case should be heard in Nigeria because the matter is “uniquely…

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has described as baseless and mischievous, a report on Saharareporters platform linking her with allegations of abuse of privileges at the Nigerian High Commission in London. Aisha made this known in a statement by Mrs Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi, her Special Assistant on Media in Abuja on Friday. The statement reads in part: “It was not in the interest of Mrs Buhari to join issues with anyone, but necessary to put the record in proper perspective. “This is necessary as it concerns her trip to UK and the Nigerian High Commission in London. Mrs Buhari…

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of a newspaper publisher, Nsibiet John arrested on the orders of the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Moses Ekpo. SERAP said in a statement today signed by its Senior Staff Attorney Timothy Adewale that “Nsibiet John who publishes a local newspaper, The Ink, was ordered to be arrested for allegedly publishing defamatory materials against the deputy governor. Mr John was arrested on Thursday morning by police detectives from the State Police Headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia.” The statement reads in part: “SERAP unequivocally condemns this abuse of…

President Barack Obama’s administration announced, on Thursday, the transfer of four detainees from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The action is against the advisory of President-elect Donald Trump. The Department of Defence gave the names of the detainees as Salem Ahmad Hadi Bin Kanad, Muhammed Rajab Sadiq Abu Ghanim, Abdallah Yahya Yusif Al-Shibli, and Muhammad Ali Abdallah Muhammad Bwazir. “As directed by the president’s Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases. “As a result of those reviews, which examined…

On Thursday, scores of pensioners in Imo State embarked on a peaceful protest over the non-payment of pensions between 22 and 77 months by the state government. The aggrieved pensioners barricaded the Okigwe road as well as the entrance to Government House, Owerri. Led by their state Chairman, Chief Gideon Ezeji, the pensioners called on the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha to explain what he did with the bail out fund the state received from the federal government. They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the State Governor Rochas Okorocha to order. Ezeji said Okorocha “behaves and treats senior citizens in…

Ahead of the restart of the Ponzi scheme Mavordi Mondial Movement (MMM) on 14 January, promoters have issued instructions to its participants whose accounts were frozen, to perform “Promo Tasks: A New Tool for MMM Community Development.” In its message, subscribers are told to perform tasks, both online and offline, to promote the scheme and drive “traffic and participation” by the time the restriction on the account is lifted. “Being an MMM member implies not only opportunities, but also a responsibility for the state and development of the MMM Community”, the message said. The information raises hopes of the almost…

President of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has hailed the outgoing Minister of Environment, Hajia Amina Mohammed, with an appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari not to appoint a lazy replacement. Mohammed, Chairman of the Governing Council of the reformed Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), was on December 15, appointed as the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General by the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. The Minister was at the forefront of the Ogoni clean-up and implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report. Speaking to newsmen, the MOSOP leader said “Mrs. Amina Mohammed was…

The U.S Army has giving approval for Muslim soldiers and of other religious minorities to wear beards, head scarf or hijabs for women. Soldiers who desire to wear any of the items are to obtain approval to dress and groom themselves according to their religious customs while serving in the military. In a memorandum signed this week, Army Secretary, Eric Fanning, revised the uniform policy to set appearance standards for people seeking religious accommodations to wear beards, turbans and head scarfs. However soldiers with such religious obligations must still be able to wear combat helmets and other protective headgears: they…