Author: Opalim Lifted

There have been 13 video assistant referee (VAR) mistakes in the Premier League so far this season – down from 20 at the same point last term – say league bosses. Four incorrect VAR interventions and nine missed interventions from the first 23 rounds of games have been found by the competition’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel. There have been 70 VAR interventions in 239 league games this season – around one every three matches. The league says the accuracy of ‘Key Match Incidents’ is at 96.4% – up from 95.7% at the corresponding point last term. “Nobody here underestimates…

President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Wednesday for Paris, France, on a private visit. A statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said Tinubu will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron during his trip. Onanuga said the president would subsequently leave Paris for Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. “In Addis Ababa, President Tinubu will join African leaders at the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State, scheduled from February 12th to 16th, 2025,” the statement added. Tinubu is…

Liverpool manager Arne Slot says right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold will miss the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Thursday. Alexander-Arnold was substituted after 70 minutes in the Premier League win at Bournemouth on Saturday with what appeared to be a thigh injury. The Reds, who won the League Cup last season in Jurgen Klopp’s final term in charge, will be aiming to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Spurs when they host the second leg at Anfield. “He [Alexander-Arnold] is going to miss the [Tottenham] game,” said Slot, whose side play Plymouth in the FA Cup fourth round…

A Nigerian lady living in the United Kingdom (UK) has narrated how a little linguistic mix-up landed her in police custody. In a TikTok video, she recounted how a comment during a phone call at the pharmacy while picking up medication for her sick husband unexpectedly triggered a visit from the police. “I was on call to say, ‘Ah, I got the drugs, I got two drugs for you. So, when I get home, when you use it, you are going to be strong, okay?’ Not knowing people closer to me were like, ‘drugs, drugs, drugs,’” she added, hinting at…

Chinedu Uburu, chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Ebonyi, said workers who died in 2009 are still drawing salaries from the state’s local government coffers. Uburu disclosed this during a meeting with the executives of the Ebonyi chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ). He said the issue was uncovered during the ongoing verification exercise at the various LGAs. The ALGON chairman expressed worries over the local government’s inability to pay salaries following the federal government’s minimum wage increase, urging workers who are yet to receive their payments to be patient. He commended the…

The structure of Nigeria’s banking system is stifling savings, wealth creation, and economic growth, particularly for low-income individuals and small businesses. Over the past few years (2023–2025), interest rate spreads in Nigeria have surged from 6 percent to 19 percent, making it harder for businesses and individuals to access affordable credit. Financial experts explained that saving and investment are two sides of the same coin—when savings decline, investment also declines, negatively impacting economic growth. The report highlighted how high lending rates discourage borrowing for productive investments, thereby hindering wealth creation and stifling economic expansion. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and…

The Federal Government on Tuesday said that Nigeria is steadily being positioned as a growing hub for quality healthcare and now attracting patients for medical care not just from the West African subregion but also from countries as far as the United States and the United Kingdom. This Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Minister highlighted key decisions aimed at bolstering Nigeria’s healthcare system. One of…

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has imposed a 15 percent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the United States as retaliation for the Donald Trump administration’s economic sanctions. On February 2, the US president signed economic orders imposing significant new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. According to the Trump administration, the tariffs are aimed at curbing the inflow of drugs and undocumented immigrants. China’s commerce ministry had said it would file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and “take corresponding countermeasures”. The ministry said tariffs are “not constructive” and will only “undermine”…

President Bola Tinubu has declined assent to a bill seeking to establish the Federal University of Education, Numan, Adamawa state. The bill was passed by both chambers of the national assembly in 2024. Tinubu’s decision to decline assent to the bill is contained in a letter read by Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker, on the floor of the house of representatives, on Tuesday. The president highlighted several errors in the bill, including the disposal of the university’s land to the governor instead of the president. “Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended),…

President Bola Tinubu has signed a bill seeking to establish the North Central Development Commission into law. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced on the floor of the senate on Tuesday that Tinubu has also signed the bills establishing a federal polytechnic in Rano, Kano state, and a federal university of health sciences in Tsafe, Zamfara state. There have been calls on the president to sign the bill establishing the north-central commission into law. The law seeks strengthen the economy and infrastructural development of the geopolitical zone. Akpabio did not give the date when these bills were signed, but his announcement…