Author: Chronicle Editor

Liverpool reached their first Wembley final for six years as a double from Diogo Jota set up a Wembley date with Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. Jota brilliantly filled the gaps left by Mo Salah and Sadio Mane – away at the Africa Cup Of Nations – as his lethal finishing wrecked Arsenal’s trophy hopes for this season after a goalless semi-final first leg at Anfield. Arsenal started impressively, Alexandre Lacazette hitting the woodwork from a free-kick, but Liverpool struck after 19 minutes when Jota’s scuffed shot after a fine run beat scrambling Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale. Lacazette missed Arsenal’s…

As part of the Buhari administration’s plan to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years, the World Bank supported COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus also known as NG-CARES, will also leverage on existing job creation, wealth creation and poverty reduction programmes at the community level. These include programmes such as State Cash Transfer Units, Agriculture Development Agencies, Job Creation Unit/MSE Support Units supported by the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) of the Administration. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the National Launch of the NG-CARES programme implementation with the World…

Equatorial Guinea reached the last 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations after beating Sierra Leone 1-0 – a result which eliminated the Leone Stars. Midfielder Pablo Ganet curled in from the edge of the area to net the only goal seven minutes before the break. Sierra Leone had needed a point to progress, but veteran striker Kei Kamara saw an 84th-minute penalty saved by Jesus Owono. The Equatoguineans finish second in Group E behind Ivory Coast. Juan Micha’s side will now face the winner of Group F – any one of The Gambia, Mali and Tunisia – on Wednesday,…

Defending champions Algeria have been knocked out of the 2021 African Cup of Nations after losing 3-1 to Ivory Coast in Group E. The Ivorians rushed to a three goal lead thanks to goals from Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Pepe. Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez had the chance to pull one back from the spot but his penalty kick came off the woodwork before Sofiane Bendenka headed the north African team back in the game. A late goal by Sebastian Haller was ruled out for offside. Algeria exit bottom of Group E after a torrid display. Djamel Belmadi’s…

The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday arraigned Wasila Musa Ibrahim and her company, Najaatu Petroleum Limited, for oil scam before Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa at the Federal High Court, Kano. They were arraigned on a 10-count charge bordering on money laundering and tax evasion. The complainant, alleged that sometime in 2020 the defendant approached him with a business proposal for the supply of Diesel and Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to a company known as Lee Group. The defendant collected a sum of Thirty Eight Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N38, 200,000.00) from…

At least 29 people, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede at an open-air Pentecostal church service in Liberia. The gathering – known as a crusade – was being held in a densely populated beachside area of the capital. Police say members of a street gang entered the prayer ground on Wednesday night after a collection had been done as the event was ending, causing panic. Some of them were armed with knives and one person has been arrested. Hundreds of people were at the gathering in Monrovia’s New Kru Town suburb, organised by an…

Clubs are set to be limited on how many players they can loan in or out in international deals under new rules. World governing body FIFA will allow clubs up to eight international loans in and eight out from 1 July. The number will reduce to seven in 2023-24 and six the following season. The rules do not apply to domestic loan deals, but FIFA has given domestic associations three years to implement a system “in line” with its new framework. FIFA says the rule changes – which must be approved by the FIFA Council – will help in developing…

National Coalition of Women for Osinbajo (NCWO) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to adopt Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the party’s presidential consensus candidate. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Rabi Dauda, NCWO chairperson, said Osinbajo has the intellectual capacity to make the country progress. She added that the caretaker committee should ensure that the election of APC national leaders at the forthcoming convention is free and fair. “We strongly affirm Nigerian women’s utmost confidence in the candidature of professor Yemi Osinbajo as a people-focused leader with the right intellectual capacity…

The Benue Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, January 20, 2022, arraigned the duo of Francis Orterse and Tertsea Kema on separate charges before Justice A. I. Ityonyiman of the Benue State High Court, Makurdi. Orterse was arraigned on one count of dishonestly obtaining and forging documents purportedly from the Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) and inducing members of the public to purchase the fake receipts. The charge reads, “That you Francis Ortese sometime in April, 2021, in Makurdi within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did dishonestly make false documents purporting same…

A Federal High Court in Lagos has directed Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ministry Of Petroleum Resources and National Petroleum Investment & Management Services (NAPIMS) to stop allocating crude oil to Addax Oil Exploration Plc over alleged non-remittance of royalty amounting to $1. 341, 903, 995 billion. The court presided over by Justice Tijjani Ringim, while giving the directive on Wednesday, held that the crude is from that explored/produced from OMLS 123, 124, 126 and 137 as stipulated in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) of 1998 between the Addax and NNPC. The Federal Government and the Attorney-General of the Federation…