BAMY BLOG

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday appealed to Nigerians in the diaspora to actively participate in the country’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery efforts. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President made the call in a video message to commemorate this year’s Diaspora Day which is being observed on July 25 of every year. The statement was titled “COVID-19: President Buhari urges Nigerians in Diaspora to play active role in economic recovery as remittances inflow hit $25bn”. Adesina said the President appealed to his compatriots, whose home remittances exceeded $25bn annually in three years, not to abandon their fatherland in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement quoted Buhari as saying, ”Over the past three years, Nigerians in the diaspora have brought in over $25bn annually as home remittances to the Nigerian economy through official and non-formal channels. ”This is about 6.0% of our annual GDP and upw

The 2020-21 Premier League season will kick off on September 12th and end on May 23rd,according to an announcement made by the the English top-flight on Friday. Most clubs will have a seven-week break between the end of the 2019/20 season this weekend and the start of the new campaign. However, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Wolves could have just three weeks off if they were to progress to the finals of the Champions League or Europa League in August. The Champions League final will take place in Lisbon on August 23 with the Europa League final two days earlier in Cologne. “Premier League Shareholders today agreed to start the 2020/21 Premier League season on 12 September 2020,” the league said in a statement. “The final match round of the campaign will take place on 23 May 2021.” The English Football League confirmed the Championship, League One and League Two will also start the same weekend. The Premier League said it “will continue to consult The FA

Arie Luyendyk Jr. surprised his wife Lauren Burnham with some new sparkle. The former “Bachelor,” 38, recently gifted his wife a new diamond eternity band by jeweler Jean Dousset, and for a very meaningful reason. “This eternity band symbolizes that we will always have each other in our darkest times,” Burnham, 28, captioned a photo of the bauble on Instagram Thursday. “If you’ve been here for the last couple of months you’ll know that we recently had a period of that.” In May, the couple revealed that Burnham suffered a miscarriage while expecting her second child with Luyendyk. They have a 1-year-old daughter Alessi. The reality star also showed off the stunning ring on her Instagram Stories, and called Arie “husband of the year.”

Seyitan Babatayo,the lady who accused musician, Oladapo Oyebanjo aka D’Banj, of rape has written a letter to the police withdrawing her petition. This happened just as the police said it has been unable to establish a case of rape against the musician, In a letter dated July 17, 2020 addressed to the Inspector-General of Police through her lawyer, Olamide Omileye, she said she was withdrawing from the case for personal reasons. The letter read in part, “We hereby officially notify you of our client’s intention to withdraw and discontinue her petition against Mr. Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo aka D’Banj for personal reasons. Our client further humbly applies that the investigation and all other action that is currently being carried out by the police with respect to the statement.” In his response to the letter, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Admin), Umar Sanda, said investigation had discontinued due to lack of evidence. The letter posted on Twitter by Kemi Olunloyo, read in

Bill Gates has pushed back against some of the conspiracy theories spreading online accusing him of creating the coronavirus outbreak. “It’s a bad combination of pandemic and social media and people looking for a very simple explanation,” the Microsoft founder said during a CNN Town Hall interview. Doctored photos and fabricated news articles crafted by conspiracy theorists – shared thousands of times on social media platforms and messaging apps, in various languages – targeting Gates have gained traction online since the start of the pandemic. A video accusing Gates of wanting “to eliminate 15 percent of the population” through vaccination and electronic microchips has racked up millions of views on YouTube. “Our foundation has given more money to buy vaccines to save lives than any group,” Gates said, referring to his eponymous foundation. He has pledged $250 million in efforts to fight the pandemic, and his foundation has spent billions of dollars improving health care

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, on Thursday moved heavily against persons dealing illegally in the sales of domestic gas in Kogi State, sealing off 15 retail gas outlets in the process. The operators of the outlets were subsequently arrested and handed over to men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence, NSCDC who were part of the special committee set up to go round the Lokoja metropolis. Speaking during the raid, the Chief operating officer, Idris Mohammed said that the raid became necessary in view of the proliferation of retail outlets sited in a residential areas, which run contrary to the safety rules laid down by the DPR. He said that the affected outlets have refused to heed to the repeated calls on them to approach DPR to obtain necessary guidelines for operating retail outlets. Mohammed described citing retail outlets in a residential area as a time bomb that can explode at any time if not urgently addressed. “We have repeatedly called on the affec

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has replied to the National Assembly denying he said that the lawmakers got 60 per cent of the contracts awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who announced the receipt of Akpabio’s response, said the minister claimed to have referred to old contracts awarded by the NDDC which had not been paid for and some of which are part of the constituency projects of the lawmakers. Gbajabiamila said Akpabio’s response would be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to look at the merits of the minister’s arguments. The minister’s response came after Gbajabiamila said the lawmakers would sue Akpabio for failing to prove that NDDC awarded contracts to them. More details later... 

The Nobel Foundation, which manages the Nobel Prizes, on Tuesday cancelled its traditional December banquet because of the coronavirus pandemic saying the award ceremonies would be held in “new forms”. This is the first time since 1956 that the lavish banquet has been cancelled, according to the foundation. The event traditionally marks the end of the so-called Nobel Week, when the year’s prize-winners are invited to Swedish capital Stockholm for talks and the award ceremony. “The Nobel Week will not be as it usually is due to the current pandemic. This is a very special year when everyone needs to make sacrifices and adapt to completely new circumstances,” Lars Heikensten, director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement. Heikensten added that the laureates and their work would be highlighted in “different ways”, hinting that prize winners would receive their awards in their home countries or at embassies. Traditionally, the prize-winners join the Swedish royal famil

Former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, has been elected the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the October 10 governorship election in the state. Jegede defeated other contestants having polled 888 votes, while the deputy governor of the state, Mr Agboola Ajayi, polled 657 votes; and the PDP National Vice Chairman, Dr Eddy Olafeso, came third with 175 votes. Dr Bode Ayorinde scored 95 votes, Mr Banji Okunomo polled 90, Senator Boluwaji Kunlere got 33, Sola Ebiseni scored 29 and Godday Erewa polled 13 votes respectively. The election was keenly contested among the eight aspirants, and no fewer than 2,122, delegates from the 18 local government areas of the state participated in the election. The accreditation of the delegates commenced around 10am while the delegates started to cast their votes around 2pm at the main, auditorium of the International Event Centre, Akure, the Ondo State capital The exercise was conduc

The Nigeria Police Force says it has commenced an investigation into a video trending on social media showing policemen interrogating a 25-year-old female suspect and asking her embarrassing questions about her sex life. The police said this in a series of tweets on Wednesday. The tweets read in part, “The Inspector General of Police has ordered discreet investigations into the circumstances surrounding the dehumanising treatment meted out to a female citizen in the above viral video. “The IGP, while condemning the act, has directed the commencement of comprehensive investigations aimed at unravelling the true identity of the perpetrators with a view to bringing them to justice. “Members of the public are hereby assured that any member of the Force found culpable in the incident will be made to face appropriate sanctions.” In the undated amateur video which is about six minutes long, a policeman who identified himself as ‘Wyclef’ along with his colleagues, interrogate a you

Liverpool set up their trophy presentation as Premier League champions with a thrilling 5-3 win over Chelsea to deny the Blues sealing their place in next season’s Champions League. Sweet first-half strikes from Naby Keita, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum ensured a night to remember for Jurgen Klopp’s men was accompanied by a positive result after just two wins in five previous games since they clinched the first title in 30 years. Olivier Giroud pulled a goal back just before half-time, but Liverpool looked to be cruising when Roberto Firmino’s first league goal at Anfield this season made it 4-1 early in the second half. The introduction of Christian Pulisic transformed Chelsea on the hour mark as he set up Tammy Abraham then smashed home himself into the top corner to cut the deficit to a single goal before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave Liverpool breathing space six minutes from time. The defeat sees Chelsea slip to fourth and leaves Frank Lampard’s men stil

Gal Pissetzky, the legal representative of suspected Internet fraudster, Ramon Abass, aka Hushpuppi, has said the suspect is on his way to California, United States of America, for trial. He disclosed that Hushpuppi had not been released as being speculated online. Pissetzky also noted that he was still his lawyer. “He has not been released and I am still his lawyer. He is on his way to California. Not everything you see on court documents is accurate. “Just because the jail record says ‘released’ does not mean he has been released. He is being transferred to California,” Pissetzky said. Hushpuppi is facing trial for alleged Internet fraud. He was initially taken to a Chicago court, where he was denied bail, before the case was transferred to California. The matter is being handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which took over the case from the Dubai Police. The Dubai Police alleged that the 37-year-old and his gang defrauded 1,926,400 people from different pa

As part of an effort to ascertain the level of preparedness of worship centers towards their reopening in Ogun State, the government has sent a delegation to visit churches and mosques. The delegation comprised the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, her counterparts in the Physical Planning and Urban Development, and Environment, Tunji Odunlami, and Abiodun Abudu-Balogun respectively. The delegation held a meeting with clerics after they inspected preventive measures provided by respective faith-based organizations. The delegation visited churches and mosques in Ijebu Remo and Egbaland. Addressing journalists after the visit, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mrs. Tomi Coker, noted that mixed reactions were noticed among the religious bodies on their level of preparedness. She said an intelligent decision towards reopening of the worship centers would be considered based on evidence at government disposal, for the overall benefit of worshippers. She said, “We obser

Trouble could possibly be in paradise for Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, following his string of controversial tweets and his recent presidential campaign rally in South Carolina. According to a report from Us Weekly on Wednesday (July 22), Kim has been seeking legal counsel as she is in talks of divorcing Kanye. "Kim has been meeting with lawyers to explore and talk about divorce," a source told the outlet. Another source told Us Weekly that despite their recent ups and downs, Kim has "wanted to make it work" and hasn't officially filed in the past "because of their children."  Most recently, Kanye went on another Twitter tirade and said that he has been trying to legally separate from his wife. "I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek Mill at the Waldorf for 'prison reform,'" ’Ye said in a portion of a now-deleted tweet. He added, "Meek is my man and was respectful. That's my dog. Kim was o

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has given the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, 48 hours to name the lawmakers who received contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission. Akpabio had said before a House committee on Monday said that 60 per cent of the contracts awarded by the NDDC was given to lawmakers. The minister’s claim had generated controversy and questioned the integrity of the committee set up to probe the alleged N81bn fraud perpetrated by the NDDC. Addressing the House on Tuesday, however, Gbajabiamila, who has been a federal lawmaker since 2003, said he had never received any NDDC contract before. He subsequently gave Akpabio 24 to 48 hours to reveal the identities of the lawmakers that received the contracts or face severe sanction. The Speaker said, “This is my 5th term here and I have never for once collected anything from the National Assembly and I know I speak for a great majority of members of this

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, said his relationship with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), “is okay”. Jonathan also appreciated the President for naming a railway station in Agbor, Delta State, after him. President Buhari on Saturday approved that the name of the railway station be called the Goodluck Jonathan Railway Station and Complex. Jonathan, in an interview with State House correspondents on Tuesday shortly after meeting Buhari behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, described the naming of Warri-Itakpe rail station after him as a good gesture by the President. Their meeting centred on the crisis in Mali and efforts aimed at restoring peace in the country. But when asked to speak on his relationship with the President, Jonathan said, “You have been seeing me coming to see the President and you have been seeing us having friendly conversation. So, our relationship is okay.” Jonathan added, “Let me use this opportuni

The Federal Government says the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State begins from Friday midnight July 24, 2020 to January 23, 2021. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Abuja. He stated that between 2015 and 2019, the government undertook a survey of all the bridges in Nigeria to determine their conditions and the urgency of repairs that should be done on them. Fashola said, “Some were critical, others were less critical and the Third Mainland Bridge is one of those bridges. At the time we estimated that we will need about N277bn to do all of that work over a period of four years. We didn’t get the budget that we expected, but we got something and we have started some work over the last few years. Currently, we have intervened on 37 bridges across the country, doing maintenance work and all of that.”

The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it has directed higher institutions to commence first and second choice admission exercise as from August 21, 2020. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s spokesman, broke the news yesterday while making the 2020 admission guidelines available to journalists in Abuja. The board, however, warned institutions against advertising or selling application forms into specific programmes, nothing candidates should rather apply for such through its office. The newly released guidelines added that application for admission into all forms of higher institutions would be solely handled by JAMB through its central admission processing system. It also noted that institutions that violate the stipulated guidelines by the board would face appropriate sanctions. “The first and 2nd choices admission-exercises be conducted for all institutions from August 21 2020 to a later date that would be determined by the Federal Ministry of Education a

Nicki Minaj has announced that she’s expecting her first child with Kenneth Petty, her husband. The 37-year-old rapper took to her Instagram page on Monday to share a handful of photos showing her in what seemed to be a two-piece sporting a baby bump. In one of the photos, the ‘Good Form’ rapper can be seen wearing a tiny glitzy bikini and a bright yellow wig — posing on a pink chair and showing off her brightly made-up face. “Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes,” Minaj, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, captioned one of the pictures. In September 2019, Minaj gave fans a shocker when she announced she was retiring from music to start a family — in a decision that elicited mixed reactions from music lovers. “I’ve decided to retire & have my family. I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me, in the box- cuz ain’t nobody checkin me. Love you for LIF

Chelsea defeated Manchester United 3-1 in the semi finals of the FA Cup at Wembley stadium on Sunday, no thanks to errors from David de Gea. The win means Chelsea have reached the final for the third time in five years and will play against Arsenal on August 1. United’s defeat is the sixth time they have lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup. The win is also Chelsea’s first victory against the Red Devils since the 2018 FA Cup final. Manchester United were on a 19-game unbeaten streak before the defeat against the Blues, no thanks to de Gea, their error-prone Spanish goalkeeper. The 29-year-old gifted the first goal to Olivier Giroud deep into first half injury time. He failed to stop the French striker’s feeble flick to hand the Blues a 1-0 lead. De Gea also handed Chelsea the second goal in the first minute after the interval. The former Atletico Madrid shot stopper spilled Mason Mount’s feeble shot from 25 yards out for a 2-0 lead. It went from bad to worse for United as Harry

The organisers of the Ballon d’Or, have cancelled the 2020 edition of the award due to the “exceptional circumstances” the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the season. In a statement released earlier today, the organisers said the prestigious prize will not be handed out this season due to the “lack of sufficient fair conditions”. The development makes it the first of its kind in the award’s history. The Ballon d’Or has been given out every year since Stanley Matthews won the first one in 1956. Lionel Messi has won it a record six times – one more than longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo. “For the first time in its history, which began in 1956, the Ballon d’Or will not be awarded in 2020, due to the lack of sufficient fair conditions,” France Football wrote in a statement. “Messi and Rapinoe (as well as De Ligt and Alisson, winners of the Kopa and Yachine Trophies) will have to wait a year. The winners of the last edition of the BO will have no successors at the end of the year.

The acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Kemebradikumo Pondei, passed out during a session of the house of representatives committee probing the commission today. He passed out while testifying before the panel. He had appeared alongside the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio who revealed that some contracts from the commission were awarded to some house of Rep members. Pondei who had walked out on the committee last week was been grilled by the committee led by Thomas Ereyitomi. The probe has been suspended following the drama.

Recently, stories of the alleged crash of Nigerian musician Olugbemiro Tokunbo - (GT Da Guitarman) four-year-old marriage to Annie Obiageli has been flying round social media. The singer in a recent interview has confirmed that he has been separated from his wife for about six months. He said, “I have been separated from my wife for about six months but I don’t know how the news got out. Couples disagree and fight, so it’s not much of a big deal. For all that its worth, she is still my wife, as we are not divorced yet. She remains one of the most amazing human beings that I have ever known. She gave me two amazing kids, so I would just focus on the good times we had. Even if we cannot salvage the relationship, I wish her the best. I pray that we are able to bring up our kids in the way of the lord. I want to use this medium to tell people to let my private life remain private. I don’t like putting my affairs in the public,” he said. On the lessons he has learnt from his marita

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has unveiled integrated handwashing and sanitiser dispensing machine for use by schools as they prepare for resumption as directed by the Federal Government. Adeboye urged the schools to cooperate with the government and make an adequate provision for preventive measures against COVID-19. The cleric unveiled the machine fabricated by the Redeemer’s College of Technology and Management at the Redemption Camp, Mowe, Ogun State, saying it was in preparation for the much-anticipated resumption of schools in the country. He noted that he looked forward to the resumption of academic activities in the country. He said, “The machine which was fabricated as a measure to check the spread of the coronavirus in preparation for the reopening of schools has features which include leg pedal designed to dispense soap, water and hand sanitiser; it has a water storage tank and also has a tissue paper holding d

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta outmanoeuvred his mentor Pep Guardiola as the Gunners reached the FA Cup final with victory at Wembley, this makes it two vital wins in a week for the Gunners. Arteta, who left his job as Manchester City assistant manager to succeed Unai Emery at Arsenal in December, now has a chance to mark his first season in charge with major silverware when they face Chelsea or Manchester United in final. The match-winner was Arsenal’s captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the world-class striker Arsenal are desperate to secure on a new long-term contract, as he ruthlessly exposed City’s defensive deficiencies. Aubameyang had already shot straight at Ederson with one clear chance but there was no escape for City after 19 minutes when he showed great technique to steer home Nicolas Pepe’s cross with the outside of his foot at the far post. City dominated possession after the break but squandered their opportunities and Aubameyang made them pay once more in the 71s

Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has fired back at Frank Lampard after his Chelsea counterpart suggested Video Assistant Referees (VAR) have favoured them this season. Lampard said Manchester United benefited from contentious VAR decisions and poor on-pitch decisions. He commenting on how a “clear and obvious decision” went their way on Thursday when Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha was fouled, but no penalty kick was awarded. Ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, Solskjaer suggested Manchester United have also been unlucky with decisions. “I can sit here for hours now and try to talk about this. It looks like there’s a narrative. It looks like people want to influence whoever is making the decisions,” the Norwegian told reporters on Saturday. “I hear people talking about luck, that we’ve been lucky more than unlucky. If you look at the factual decisions —- I don’t want to sound like a certain manager talking about facts —- but if you’re offside, y

Twitter has disclosed that hackers “manipulated” some of its employees to access accounts in a high-profile attack, including those of Joe Biden and Elon Musk, and apologized profusely for the breach. Posts trying to dupe people into sending the hackers Bitcoin were tweeted by the official accounts of Apple, Uber, Bill Gates and many others on Wednesday, forcing Twitter to lock large numbers of accounts in damage control. The hack has also raised questions about Twitter’s security as it serves as a megaphone for politicians ahead of November’s election. More than $100,000 worth of the virtual currency was sent to email addresses mentioned in the tweets, according to Blockchain.com, which monitors crypto transactions. “We know that they accessed tools only available to our internal support teams to target 130 Twitter accounts,” said a statement posted Saturday on Twitter’s blog. For 45 of those accounts, the hackers were able to reset passwords, login and send tweets, it add

Arsenal’s number 9, Alexandre Lacazette is the subject of growing transfer speculation – including links with Juventus. L’Equipe recently named the Turin-based club amongst a host of clubs interested in trying to land the Arsenal striker. It has now been claimed by Le10 Sport that they have opened talks by getting in touch with both Arsenal and Lacazette’s representatives. Lacazette is said to be tempted by the prospect of a move but Arsenal are not keen to let him go. And manager Mikel Arteta gave a clear answer on the prospect of Lacazette leaving the club when asked about speculation this week. Speaking ahead of their FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City, the Spaniard indicated that he has been delighted with Lacazette’s impact after overcoming a tough spell and sees him as a big part of his future plans. “Why would I want to lose a player like him?” Arteta said. “I’m really happy with him. I really like Alex. I said that even before I joined here that he is the

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has announced a conveniently timed vacation not quite long after he was forced to address his now former staffer’s racist and sexist message board posts. The controversial commentator closed out his show with a temporary farewell, saying he was going off the air for a “long-planned” vacation to do some “trout fishing” and will return next Monday. Other Fox News hosts have coincidentally also found themselves with scheduled time off in the middle of scandals, including Carlson himself last year after he claimed that white supremacy was a hoax. Laura Ingraham took a recess from “The Ingraham Angle” in March 2018 after mocking Parkland survivor David Hogg, while Bill O’Reilly left for some “R&R” in April 2017 after news broke of his $13 million settlement with five women who accused him of sexual harassment. He never returned to the air. Carlson’s announcement Monday followed his first public acknowledgement of the firing of his show’s top writer, B

The limbless, headless torso of a millionaire tech entrepreneur was found inside his swanky Manhattan condo Tuesday afternoon — an electric saw lying next to the remains, police said. Police made the grisly discovery in a building on E. Houston St. at Suffolk St. on the Lower East side about 3:30 p.m. Cops found contractor bags near the torso, sources said, but didn’t immediately open them to see if the body parts were inside. An NYPD official said investigators believe the victim is tech entrepreneur Fahim Saleh, 33, who bought the condo for $2.25 million last year. Saleh, a website developer turned venture capital, is the CEO of a motorcycle-sharing company in Lagos, Nigeria. NYPD spokesman Sgt. Carlos Nieves said all of the body parts were found at the scene but declined to give specifics on where. “We have a torso, a head that’s been removed, arms, and legs. Everything is still on the scene. We don’t have a motive,” he said. Detectives were waiting for fingerprint and fo

Police arrested “Empire” actor Bryshere Gray on domestic violence charges after a nine-hour standoff with a SWAT team. The incident began Sunday night at about 10:15 p.m., when Goodyear Police responded to a 911 call alleging “an adult female victim had been allegedly assaulted at her Goodyear home by her husband, who she identified as Bryshere Gray, an actor on the TV series ‘Empire,’ " police said in a statement. Her injuries were non life-threatening, and she was treated and released, police said, adding that detectives and a Victim’s Advocate “continued to assist her after her discharge from the hospital.” When cops got to their home, Gray refused to come outside and speak with officers, the statement said. “Goodyear SWAT and Crisis Negotiations were called out to assist,” police said. About nine hours later, he was “taken into custody without incident” just after 7 a.m. Monday, arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail on domestic violence charges, police s

Michael Beasley left the NBA “bubble” after testing positive for coronavirus, according to multiple reports. He signed with the Nets just five days ago and is the eighth player on the team to test positive. Four Nets contracted the virus in March; only Kevin Durant was named at the time. As testing has ramped up ahead of the NBA’s purported bubble restart in Orlando, four more Nets have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks: Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Jordan and Beasley. Dinwiddie, Prince and Jordan opted out of the restart after testing positive, along with Wilson Chandler, who opted out for family reasons. Durant and Kyrie Irving are out with season-ending injuries. The NBA announced Monday that two players had tested positive inside the Orlando so-called bubble and departed. It was not immediately clear if Beasley was one of the two. In addition to the support staff coming in and out of the NBA area, it has already been a challenge keeping players

The House of Representatives has called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to order a partial reopening of schools to allow pupils sit for the 2020 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. The House made the call at the plenary on Tuesday following a unanimous adoption of a motion moved by a member, Nnolim Nnaji. The Committee on Basic Education and Services had earlier on Friday faulted the decision by the Federal Government to suspend the plan to partially reopen schools for pupils in final classes to take external examinations. The committee had particularly criticised the decision to disallow Nigerian pupils from sitting for WASSCE to be conducted by the West African Examination Council for the 2019/2020 academic session. Schools at all levels have been shut since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had earlier in June said the Federal Government, in what it called “safe reopening of sch

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck out two suits by Lagos and Ekiti Governments challenging the validity and constitutionality of the Virtual Court Sittings procedure. A seven man panel presided by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour struck out the suits after they were withdrawn by the plaintiffs. The first suit with number: /260/2020 filed by the Attorney General of Lagos State has the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly as the 1st and 2nd defendants respectively. The Lagos state government in the suit prayed the Supreme Court to determine whether having regard to Section 36(1), (3) and (4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) use of technology by remote hearings of any kind, whether by Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Skype or any other audio visual or video-conference platform by the Lagos State High Court or any other Courts in Nigeria in aid of hearing and determination of cases are constitutional. However, when the matter

Manchester City’s two-season European ban has been lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. UEFA’s club financial control body (CFCB) sanctioned City in February for what it said was a breach of its Financial Fair Play (FFP) and club licensing regulations. The CFCB said City had overstated sponsorship revenue in their accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016, and for failing to co-operate with its investigation. City immediately signaled their intention to appeal, and CAS has now cleared them to compete in the Champions League next season and reduced a £30m euro fine to 10m euros (just under £9million). City issued a statement welcoming “the implications” of the ruling. The Club welcomes the implications of today’s ruling as a validation of the Club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present. The Club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered.

Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen might seal a deal with Serie A club Napoli very soon. The 21-year-old visited Napoli’s training facilities, plus head coach Gennaro Gatusso and president Aurelio De Laurentiis two weeks ago. Osimhen was however not too keen on linking up with the Partenopei due to racism issue in Italy. The former VFL Wolfsburg striker spoke with Senegal forward Kalidou Koulibaly who reassured him there is no racism issue in Italy. According to multiple reports, Napoli director Cristiano Guintoli met Lille president Gerard Lopez and Osimhen’s intermediaries for more face-to-face negotiations on Monday. He hopes to sweep aside the remaining doubts and convince Osimhen that this is the best step in his career. The cost of the transfer will be in the region of €50m plus Adam Ounas, which will bring the total up to €81m. Osimhen scored 18 goals and recorded six assists in 38 appearances across all competitions for Lille in the 2019/20 season.