Author: Opalim Lifted

Liverpool will go into Sunday’s huge Premier League game with Manchester City on the back of a seventh straight win after taking control of their Europa League last-16 tie against Sparta Prague. The Reds were at their ruthless best in the first leg, scoring three goals before half-time to silence the home fans on a chaotic night in the Czech Republic capital. After Asger Sorensen fouled the Argentina World Cup winner, they took the lead thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s sixth-minute penalty. Darwin Nunez’s wonderful dipping finish from outside the penalty area doubled the lead – Liverpool’s 1,000th goal under…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has justified the interception and arrest of 21 trucks loaded with food items allegedly being smuggled into neighbouring countries, describing it as economic sabotage. Dele Oyewale disclosed this on Wednesday while fielding questions in an interview session on EFCC Radio, 97.3 FM. Oyewale stated that EFCC is saddled with the mandate of tackling all forms of economic and financial crimes, especially issues that directly affect the economy, to avert sabotage. “Anything that has a negative bearing on the economy is an act of economic sabotage or serves as a leakage, distortion, or disequilibrium…

The trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, continued on Thursday before Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja confirmed that the documents used to request the payment of $6.2 million for foreign election observers were forged. The witness, Bamaiyi Meriga, called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the court that following forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature and that the seal of execution was different from the original. He also confirmed that the signatures were not…

Senegal scheduled elections for this month, even though the nation’s apex court and the government set different dates for the vote as the country rushes to elect a new president before incumbent Macky Sall’s term ends. The plan to hold the vote before Sall’s mandate expires on April 2 removes the risk of a power vacuum in the West African nation. A panel of Senegalese leaders had proposed that the ballot be held on June 2 and that Sall remain in power until a successor is appointed, even after the Constitutional Council ruled that Sall’s term in office can’t be…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja accused former governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, of evading court process in the N40 billion alleged fraud charges against him. Lead counsel to the anti-graft agency and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Sylvanus Tahir, made the accusation at the resumption of the trial of the former governor in the corruption charges against him. Tahir informed Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo that, in compliance with the order of the Court made on Monday, he filed a counter affidavit to oppose the bid by Obiano to…

Electricity consumers have collectively called for the immediate resignation of Bayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, now referred to as the “minister of darkness,” as the never-ending power outage deprives Nigerians of economic and social well-being nationwide. Adelabu disclosed after a meeting with electricity stakeholders on Wednesday that “as the Minister of Power, I am deeply concerned about the deteriorating electricity supply across the country,” the statement partly reads. “It is disheartening to witness the decline in power supply despite the concerted efforts to improve the situation,” he added. Reacting to Adelabu’s statement on his X page. Elbruzieee (@bruzieee) wrote, “It’s…

Real Madrid reached the Champions League quarter-finals as Vinicius Junior provided the quality finish which RB Leipzig lacked to secure a 2-1 aggregate win in the last 16. Like the first leg, German side Leipzig were made to pay for wasting a host of chances when Vinicius clipped in Jude Bellingham’s pass with 25 minutes left for a 2-0 lead. Leipzig finally converted an opportunity three minutes later when skipper Willi Orban flicked in a header. The goal provided renewed belief to the Bundesliga side and they continued to open up the Spanish league leaders as they searched for a…

Manchester City enjoyed the perfect warm-up for Sunday’s crucial Premier League trip to Liverpool as they cruised past Copenhagen to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh successive season. Ahead by two goals from the first leg in Copenhagen three weeks ago, any lingering hopes of a shock were ended within nine minutes as Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez found the net. Erling Haaland went joint top of the tournament scoring charts alongside Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe as he netted his sixth of the campaign—and 29th in all competitions—as City scored a third before halftime after the visitors…

Former Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro has urged Nigerians not to relent in their support for the Super Eagles despite a heart-wrenching defeat to hosts Ivory Coast at the AFCON 2023 in January. Peseiro announced his decision to step down as coach of Nigeria early last month. The 63-year-old Portuguese coach met the target of guiding the Super Eagles to the semifinal of the tournament set for him by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) but opted to move on. ‘On Thursday, the Portuguese wrote a farewell message to Nigerians on his X handle stating, ‘I want to thank all Nigerians…

A Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison term of four years and nine months for football coach Carlo Ancelotti who is accused of avoiding 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in taxes on image rights revenues while he was at Real Madrid in 2014 and 2015. The prosecutor said in a statement on Wednesday that although the Italian was a resident in Spain for tax purposes at the time and filed his tax returns there, he had omitted the income earned through his image rights – 4.2 million euros in total. The prosecutor said Ancelotti allegedly committed two tax fraud crimes.…