Author: Opalim Lifted

Tunisia’s miserable World Cup continued as their inability to progress from the group stage was confirmed by defeat against Japan. After a tumultuous week in which they suffered a 5-1 defeat by Sweden, sacked Sabri Lamouchi and appointed ex-Saudi Arabia boss Herve Renard as head coach, it took less than four minutes for them to go behind in Guadalupe, Mexico. An impressive Japan, who were well drilled throughout, broke the deadlock with a quick counter-attack which ended in Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada prodding home from close range at Monterrey Stadium. It did not take long for a dominant Japan side…

Curacao claimed their first ever World Cup point after a remarkable performance from goalkeeper Eloy Room repelled a wasteful Ecuador side. Miami FC keeper Room pulled off a record-equalling 15 saves to keep out the South Americans in Group E. The 37-year-old was in stunning form to match USA goalkeeper Tim Howard’s record for the most saves in a World Cup game. Howard made 15 saves against Belgium in 2014 in a match that went to extra time (also conceding twice in a 2-1 defeat) – but Room’s clean sheet earned Dick Advocaat’s side a historic draw. His first save…

Substitute Deniz Undav emerged as Germany’s hero with a dramatic 94th-minute winner that completed his side’s stunning comeback win against Ivory Coast and booked their place in the World Cup knockout stages. The four-time winners endured a frustrating outing after going behind to a 30th-minute goal from Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie but Julian Nagelsmann turned to his bench in search of a response – and Undav delivered emphatically with a second-half double. The Stuttgart forward applied a smart finish to fellow substitute Nadiem Amiri’s cross to break Ivory Coast’s resistance in the 68th minute before scoring the winner in…

Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been re-elected as the governor of Ekiti State. The incumbent recorded a dominant victory in the election, which took place on Saturday. Oyebanji defeated all other challengers in all 16 local government areas (LGAs) of the state. Adenike Oladiji, the returning officer, announced the final results at the collation centre in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Sunday morning. Oladiji said Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 40,543 votes, and Dare Bejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who scored 12,872 votes.…

Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece as the Netherlands cruised past Sweden 5-1 to all but mathematically guarantee a place in the last 32 of the World Cup. Brobbey was a surprise inclusion in their line-up at the expense of Crysencio Summerville who impressed and scored in the 2-2 draw with Japan, but the Sunderland forward took little time in repaying the faith of manager Ronald Koeman. In the fifth minute the Netherlands went from one end of the pitch in just seven touches – Brobbey took down a long ball from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, played the…

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna State and chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council for the Ekiti governorship election, says the ruling party is targeting at least 500,000 votes for incumbent governor Biodun Oyebanji. Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Saturday, Sani said the election had so far been peaceful, adding that reports from across the 16 local government areas suggested a smooth and transparent process. He said APC agents, security operatives and electoral officials were working together without major disruptions, describing the conduct of the poll as orderly. Sani expressed confidence that the party would…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 188 polling units, representing 7.69 percent of the total, experienced delays during Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election. In a post on its X page, the electoral commission said 2,257 of the state’s 2,445 polling units opened on schedule before 8:30 a.m. INEC added that voting officially ended across polling units at 2:30 p.m., describing the exercise as peaceful and orderly. “Voting has officially ended in most Polling Units across Ekiti State following the close of polls at 2:30 p.m.,” the commission stated. “Earlier in the day, all 2,445 Polling Units were…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the upload of polling unit results from the Ekiti governorship election to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV), more than two hours after the close of voting. The electoral commission began uploading results at about 4:10 p.m. on Saturday after concerns were raised over the absence of polling unit results on the portal despite the completion of voting and counting in some locations. Before the uploads commenced, photographs of polling unit result sheets had already begun circulating online among election observers, political parties, and voters. The delay in publishing results on IReV came…

Dare Bejide, governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Ekiti governorship election, has alleged vote buying and assault at his polling unit. Bejide spoke while addressing police officers at Ward 2, Ilawe-Ekiti, in Ekiti west LGA of the state. The police team was on patrol as the vote progressed across the state. The ADC chieftain said he had repeatedly alerted security operatives to the alleged distribution of money to voters before the situation escalated. “I have been calling the police for the past two hours,” he said. “There was a crisis here. I alerted the police officer…

Voter accreditation was delayed in parts of Ekiti as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) encountered difficulties while capturing the biometrics of several elderly persons. Residents of Ekiti in south-west Nigeria are currently voting to elect a governor. At Polling Unit 007 in Ado ‘J’ Okesa, a 90-year-old woman was unable to complete biometric verification because the machine failed to capture her facial image and fingerprints. Similar difficulties were reported in other polling units, where the BVAS repeatedly failed to recognise elderly voters, leading to delays and queues. At Ugele/Arokun Ward 006 in Ikere LGA, BVAS-related difficulties slowed voting, with…