Again, police seal PDP secretariat as court restrains Sheriff

For the second time in two weeks, security agents have sealed the National Headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja.
It was learnt that security agents acted to prevent a repeat of Thursday’s violent confrontation between supporters of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee and those backing the ousted National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
Armed policemen and their counterparts from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps prevented entry into the locked premises even as journalists were told to stay off the premises till Monday.

Ajimobi warns SSG, exco against backbiting, frivolity

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has sworn in Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli, and 15 commissioners, with a warning that he will not tolerate backbiting, character assassination and frivolities.
Ajimobi gave the warning while addressing the new cabinet members at a ceremony held at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office in Ibadan on Friday.

Obanikoro sues EFCC, seeks N100m damages

Former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, has dragged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission before a Federal High Court in Lagos over an alleged breach of his fundamental human rights.
Obanikoro, who served under the immediate past administration, is demanding the sum of N100m as general damages for the alleged unlawful and unconstitutional forceful seizure, detention and/or freezing of several items, properties and personal effects belonging to him and members of his family by the EFCC on June 14, 2016.

Forex crisis: Nigerian students abroad apply to home universities

Many Nigerian students studying abroad have been seeking transfer to Nigerian universities to complete their education at home because of the scarcity of foreign exchange.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the students were forced to take the decision following the huge exchange rate which many parents could no longer afford.
Some of the students told Saturday PUNCH that they would prefer to return to the country to complete their studies, instead of going through difficulties and long waits for forex that is no longer available to them at the appropriate time.

Buhari’s administration lacks vision –US ex-lawmaker

A former Chairman of the United States House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, has flayed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for the way Nigeria is being run.
In an opinion article he wrote on Thursday in the US-based Wall Street Journal, titled, “Buhari is Nigeria problem, not its solution,” Hoekstra accused Buhari-led Federal Government of lacking vision in addressing the country’s dire economic and financial conditions.

Real Sapphire academy poised to groom real talents

There could be a million football academies scattered across Nigeria but the management of Real Sapphire Football Club have said they are determined to create a distinct identity that should place them shoulder to shoulder with any other quality sports training centre in any part of the world.
The Chairman/Chief executive Officer of the academy, Frank Peters, said in Lagos on Thursday that the project was born out of passion to develop the Nigerian young player the way he should be and it is expected that the desire for excellence will push the managers to the level they desire.
He said, “Having seen so much of the quality academies in Europe and the Americas, our goal here is to replicate them and this is achievable. We want young Nigerians to truly develop and showcase their talents the way it is done in standard sporting environments.

Rufai solicits HotSports’ partnership for football talent hunt

Ex-Super Eagles star, Peter Rufai is seeking the partnership of HotSports Nigeria, a subsidiary of HS Media Group, in discovering and promoting hidden football talents in schools in order to help develop the game nationally.
The renowned ex-goalkeeper nicknamed ‘Dodo Mayana’ was at the company’s corporate headquarters in Oregun, Lagos on Thursday where he held a closed door meeting with the Group’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Taye Ige on how best to collaborate in discovering skilful players for Nigeria.

Toriola joins Belgian club

Nigerian table tennis star, Segun Toriola, will join a Belgian table tennis club after the 2016 Olympic Games.
The player, who will be featuring in his seventh Olympics for Nigeria in August, quit French Division Two side, Argentan Bayad, after nine years.
Toriola played his last game for Argentan on May 3 and was honoured by officials of the club in France.
Before dropping to second division two years ago, Argentan played in the Premiership Division with Toriola leading the team. They however finished third last season and failed to secure a return to the Premier League.

Russia 2018: FIFA to conduct special African ranking

World football governing body FIFA has said a special ranking will be established for African countries for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
In a letter sent by mail to the football federations of the 20 countries in the last stage of the qualifiers, FIFA said it would release the ranking on June 21 following complaints from several of the teams.
The previous ranking, which was done by FIFA last week, was fraught with complaints as some countries believed it should have been done with the June FIFA ranking.
Egypt were reportedly among the countries who complained about the seedings, which put them in Pot two along with Nigeria. They argued that they should be in Pot 1, which is reserved for the top seeds.

Fathia Balogun goes bald again

Nollywood screen diva, Fathia Balogun, has gone bald again in a new film titled ‘Shola Arikusa’. This is coming 15 years after she went bald for her own production, ‘Makomi’ which was a hit movie.
The mother of two said she took the decision  because she did not want to relent in bringing out the best in her.