Author: Opalim Lifted

An official in the US White House asked Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, to review Folarin Balogun’s red card ban, the Associated Press has reported. According to the report, a person familiar with the development said that a high-ranking US official called Infantino about the matter. The source, however, did not share who specifically made the call and when. The revelation comes a few hours after FIFA announced an unprecedented decision to suspend Balogun’s one-match ban for one year. Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute of the round-of-32 match between the US and Bosnia & Herzegovina for a dangerous…

Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has reiterated that his administration will not negotiate with bandits, insisting that criminal groups must either surrender or face the full weight of the law. Represented by his Chief of Staff, Mukhtar Musa, the governor made the declaration on Sunday during the inauguration of the secretariat of the Association of Zamfara State Indigenes Residing in Kaduna. “The governor will never negotiate with bandits. Those willing to surrender should do so or face the law,” Musa said. Lawal said his administration would continue supporting military operations by providing logistics, equipment, ammunition and other operational assistance to…

Erling Haaland’s second-half double helped Norway stun five-time winners Brazil and book their place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time. Brazil were left to rue Bruno Guimaraes’ missed penalty in the first half as Haaland, who had a quiet game until that moment, stole ahead of centre-back Gabriel to meet a cross from Andreas Schjelderup and put Norway ahead in the 79th minute. The Manchester City striker then sealed Norway’s progress with a superb low drive from outside the box in the 90th minute. Brazil were awarded a second penalty in the dying seconds of…

China has released Jin Mingri, pastor and founder of Zion Church, from prison after nearly nine months. Mingri’s case was raised by US President Donald Trump during his state visit to China in May. Trump said he discussed the pastor’s imprisonment with Chinese President Xi Jinping and asked him to reconsider the case. The US president also sought clemency for Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong democracy activist. “I think he’s giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump said on his way back from Beijing, referring to Mingri, but added that Lai’s case would be more difficult. ChinaAid, a…

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has renewed his call for President Bola Tinubu to resign, citing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) claim that Nigeria failed to include about ₦8.83 trillion in public spending in its 2025 budget. The renewed demand follows comments by Christian Ebeke, the IMF’s resident representative in Nigeria, who said the unrecorded expenditure amounts to about two per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). According to the IMF, the omission makes Nigeria’s fiscal deficit appear smaller than its actual borrowing requirements. In a statement issued on Sunday, Obi described…

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s claim that Nigeria excluded public spending equivalent to two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) from recent national budgets. In a statement on Saturday, Atiku said that with Nigeria’s economy estimated at about ₦441.5 trillion, the two percent gap represents roughly ₦8.8 trillion spent outside the official budget process. His comments followed remarks by Christian Ebeke, the IMF’s resident representative in Nigeria, who said the discrepancy makes…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Nigeria failed to report public spending equivalent to about 2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in recent official budgets, creating a gap between the country’s reported fiscal deficit and its actual financing needs. Speaking at a meeting with business executives in Lagos, the IMF’s resident representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, said the discrepancy makes Nigeria’s fiscal deficit appear smaller than the government’s true borrowing requirements. According to Ebeke, some capital expenditure was excluded from budget documents and implementation reports, with part of the unreported spending linked to major government projects executed…

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has postponed the Computer-Based Test (CBT) for applicants to its Nigeria-Russia Scholarship Programme, which was scheduled to hold on Monday, July 6, 2026. In a public notice issued on Sunday, the commission said the postponement was due to unforeseen circumstances beyond its control. It apologised to affected applicants for the inconvenience. The NDDC assured candidates that a new date for the examination would be announced in due course and urged all applicants to regularly monitor their email addresses and the commission’s official communication channels for updates. The commission also thanked applicants for their patience,…

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA) has warned that flooding across parts of Nigeria could persist until September. Umar Mohammed, director-general of the agency, said the flooding is anticipated based on NiHSA’s forecasts and warned that the situation could worsen between August and September if urgent action is not taken. Speaking through Emmanuel Tuna, head of NiHSA’s Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing Department, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, Mohammed said the agency had issued early warnings before the floods. “This is something we foresaw. We saw it coming,” Mohammed said. “As we speak now, with the flooding…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the National Assembly to disclose all records relating to the approval of more than ₦1.3 billion allocated to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC)/Presidential Economic Advisory Council in the 2026 Appropriation Act. In a Freedom of Information (FoI) request dated July 4, 2026, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas to release certified copies of all documents linked to the allocation of ₦1,302,978,784 to the council. SERAP also called on the National Assembly…