Author: David Great

An Ibadan, Oyo State division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has ordered the First Bank Plc, to pay a total sum of N24, 141,070 million, to a former staff, Abiola Emilola Lufadeju. The sum according to Justice J. D. Peters, who presided over the court, is Abiola’ retirement benefits and cost of instituting the suit against First Bank Plc. Justice Peter gave the verdict when delivering judgment in suit marked NICN/IB/60/2019, filed by Abiola over refusal of First Bank Plc, to pay her all retirement benefits. The claimant, Lufadeju, had approached the court through her lawyer, Ifeoluwa…

USA international forward Christian Pulisic, 24, is set to be part of a summer clearout at Chelsea with the likes of Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech, 29, and Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku, 29 – currently on loan at Inter Milan – also expected to leave permanently. (ESPN) AC Milan are set to revive their interest in Arsenal and England Under-21 forward Folarin Balogun, 21, who is currently impressing as top scorer in Ligue 1 while on loan at Reims. (Mail) However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hinted he has plans to keep Balogun at Emirates Stadium. (Metro) Milan are also keen on Liverpool and Guinea midfielder Naby Keita, 27. (Mirror) Tottenham are among the admirers of Leicester City and England midfielder…

AC Milan ended their seven-game winless run in all competitions after a second-half header by Olivier Giroud earned a 1-0 home win over courageous Torino in Serie A on Friday. Milan, who last won a game over a month ago when the league resumed following the World Cup break, moved provisionally up to third from sixth in the standings on 41 points from 22 games. “I expected a difficult game, it makes you play little and doesn’t let you build cleanly,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN. “We worked a lot inside the match, the goal then unblocked us from…

Argentina forward Lionel Messi is on the shortlist for the FIFA Best Male Player award, joined by Paris St Germain team mate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, soccer’s world governing body announced on Friday. Messi could win his second The Best trophy after leading Argentina to their third World Cup title by beating Mbappe’s France in last year’s final in Qatar, scoring seven goals during the tournament and earning his second Golden ball. World Cup Golden Boot winner Mbappe and France’s 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Benzema feature for the first time among the three finalists. Spain midfielder…

Brazilian captain Thiago Silva has signed a one-year contract extension at Chelsea which will keep him until summer 2024. The 38-year-old joined the Blues from Paris St-Germain in 2020 and helped the club to Champions League success in his first full season. Silva has made 106 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea in all competitions reaching two FA Cup finals and an EFL Cup final. “It is a very special moment for me to sign and stay at Chelsea,” said Silva. “When I signed my first contract here, it was to just do one year. Now it is already the…

Rescue crews on Friday pulled a 10-day-old boy and his mother from the ruins of a collapsed building in Turkey and dug out several people in other sites four days after a huge earthquake wrought death and destruction across southern Turkey and northwest Syria. The confirmed death toll from the deadliest quake in the region in two decades stood at 21,000 in both countries on Friday. Hundreds of thousands more people have been left homeless and short of food in bleak winter conditions, desperate for a multi-national relief effort to alleviate their suffering. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his first…

Manchester City are interested in signing Chelsea and England left-back Ben Chilwell, 26, in the summer. (CaughtOffside) French league champions Paris St-Germain will make a move for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola if he leaves the English club. (Fichajes – in Spanish) Chelsea have identified Napoli and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 24, as their top forward target for this summer’s transfer window. (90min) Inter Milan want to renew Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku’s season-long loan at the club in the summer and a meeting with the Blues about the 29-year-old Belgium international’s future is likely to take place in March. (Gazzetta dello Sport, via Metro) Los Angeles FC do not believe they will be able to convince…

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), requested on Wednesday that the Supreme Court dismiss the lawsuit brought by three state governments against the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) naira redesign policy. The Federal Government maintained that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case in a preliminary objection submitted by the AGF through his attorneys, Mahmud Magaji and Tijanni Gazali. The AGF claims that “the plaintiffs have likewise not proven a viable cause of action against the defendant” in court documents filed on February 8, 2023. They assert that the State Governments’ lawsuit challenges the Federal Government,…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has attacked two chieftains of the party, Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami and Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, labelling them ‘public enemies’. The director of media and publicity, Bayo Onanuga, in reaction to Malami’s decision to challenge the suit filed by three states – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – at the Supreme Court labelled the AGF a public enemy. Malami on Wednesday noted that the federal government would ask the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit filed by the three states on naira redesign policy by the CBN.…

Hours after Mat Ishbia took over as owner of the Phoenix Suns, the team made a stunning acquisition, getting star forward Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets late Wednesday night, according to The Athletic and ESPN. Durant and T.J. Warren are headed to Phoenix in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round draft picks, per the reports. ESPN added that the Nets will get a 2028 draft-pick exchange, too. The Suns add Durant to an underachieving squad that sits at 30-26, tied for fourth place in the Western Conference. Phoenix reached the NBA Finals in 2020-21,…