Author: David Great

Juventus’ new signing Randal Kolo Muani is available to make his Serie A debut against Napoli on Saturday, manager Thiago Motta said as his team looks to start a winning run. Juve signed France forward Kolo Muani on loan from Paris St Germain until the end of the season on Thursday, and the Italian club also welcomed right back Alberto Costa earlier in the January transfer window. “Randal (Kolo Muani) is available and we’ll see if he starts or not. It’s important to have taken a player of his level because we think he can help the team win games,”…

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has appointed board chairpersons for 42 federal organisations and a secretary to the board of the Civil Defence, Immigration, and Prisons Services. The president appointed former governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, former Rivers senator, Magnus Abe and former All Progressives Congress youth leader, Dayo Israel. Tinubu also appointed a new managing director for the Nigerian Railway Corporation and a director-general for the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI). President Tinubu directs the board chairpersons not to interfere with the management of the organisations, emphasising that their positions are non-executive. All the appointments take immediate effect.…

The United Nations will seek $910 million this week to help address a humanitarian crisis in northeastern Nigeria, which has been gripped by an Islamist insurgency since 2009 and was ravaged by flooding last year, according to documents released on Wednesday. According to UN records seen by Reuters, 7.8 million people in the three northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe require assistance, with the UN aiming to support 3.6 million of them. According to the documents, it is the most expensive humanitarian disaster in West and Central Africa, costing more than Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger combined. Nigeria…

Portugal intends to boost its acquisitions of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria, as it seeks to end its declining supplies from Russia, stated Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho on Tuesday. In 2024, Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas, with approximately 96% of this volume being LNG, according to data from the electricity and gas grids operator REN. Nigeria represented 51% of the LNG deliveries, with approximately 40% sourced from the United States and around 4.4% from Russia. In 2021, Russia provided 15% of Portugal’s LNG supply but after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…

Nigerian environmental groups on Tuesday criticised a government plan to restart oil production in the troubled Ogoniland, calling for a pause until substantial discussions with local communities are finalised. Ogoniland, located in Nigeria’s coastal Rivers state, serves as a critical area of concern for pollution within the oil-rich Niger River delta region. A significant cleanup effort, amounting to $1 billion, was initiated in 2018 after an extensive study conducted by the United Nations Environmental Programme in 2011. Over 20 organisations, such as Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, and the Ogoni Solidarity Forum, have…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, and Eboh Thaddeus were charged with one count of tampering with a forfeited property. They were brought before Justice A. O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. The count reads: “That you, Ilongwo Angela (NOW AT LARGE), Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, and Eboh Thaddeus, sometime in July 2024 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, without due authorisation, dealt with the property of Obinna Ezenwaka situate…

A 43-year-old Chinese man, Su Donghai, and two Nigerians, Stanley Tochukwu Okafor, 41, and Ogunade Oladele Oluwaseun, have been charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged conspiracy, forgery, fraud of N1 billion, and money laundering. The three men, alongside two firms, WNW Energy Technical Development Limited and Haoti International Limited, were charged before the court presided over by Justice Akintayo Aluko on an 11-count amended charge marked FHC/L/695c/2024. In the charge, the police, through the office of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi Lagos, stated that the defendants and others at large conspired among themselves…

Nigeria intends to update its gross domestic product and inflation data by the end of the month to account for changes in specific sectors of the economy and to better represent current consumption patterns, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The statistics office reported that certain sectors of Nigeria’s economy have seen considerable growth since the last GDP rebasing in 2014 and now need appropriate representation. According to the report, the sectors included the marine economy, arts, culture and tourism, as well as information and communication technology and e-commerce activities. Although it is premature to determine the…

Manchester City announced on Monday that it has signed Uzbekistan central defender Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens of Ligue 1 on a four-and-a-half-year contract. Khusanov, 20, played in 13 of Lens’ 16 league games this season, and City paid a £33.5 million transfer fee for him, according to British media. “For such a young defender, Abdukodir is already very intelligent, as well as being strong, aggressive and extremely quick,” City said in a statement. The centre-back is the Premier League’s first player from Uzbekistan. He will wear the number 45. “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester City, a club that…

Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s top scorer, is a doubt for Monday’s Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday. Palmer, who has 14 league goals this season, landed awkwardly after a challenge during Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, but the England international played the rest of the match. “They kicked him so he didn’t train today, we don’t know if he will train tomorrow,” Maresca said at a press conference on Friday. “Cole Palmer, Levi (Colwill), Romeo (Lavia) were not in the session today. We have three or four players who are a doubt for Monday’s game…