The Lagos State Government has disbursed a total of N2.017 billion in retirement benefits to 644 retirees. 

Based on a report by the National News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday during a 101st batch Retirement Bond Certificate presentation for retirees in Lagos State, Babalola Obilana, the Director-General of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), made the announcement.  

According to him, the payment made on Wednesday represented the retirement benefits accrued to these retirees for their past service prior to the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2007. 

Obilana emphasized the significance of the occasion, which aimed to honour and recognize the exceptional retirees who had dedicated their time, energy, and talents to serving Lagos State. 

• “It is indeed an honour to recognize and commend the retirees’ hard work and commitment demonstrated throughout their years of service to Lagos State. This retirement bond certificate presentation is not just a formality; it is a moment to reflect upon the remarkable contributions you all have made.” 

The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training, and Pensions,  Olawale Musa, lauded Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for prioritizing the welfare of the public service workforce, even in retirement. 

Musa encouraged retirees to exercise prudence in managing their funds and to make careful choices when considering investment opportunities.

He also reassured the retirees that they could reach out to LASPEC or the ministry for pension-related information or further clarifications. 

• “I applaud our retirees for their exceptional contributions and unwavering dedication to the development of Lagos State and pray that their retirement be filled with joy, fulfilment, and new experiences,” Musa remarked. 

Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series (2023) took place Tuesday in Las Vegas, and we’re grading the winners from the five fight card, which streamed on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.

With a simple but digestible format that has had the MMA fanbase responding, this series has shown to have legs in multiple ways while serving as a crockpot for contenders the UFC matchmakers can use for future events. With that trend in mind, I once again will be taking a look at the winning fighters, regardless of whether or not they won a UFC contract, and grading their performances in regard to their probability of returning to a UFC stage.

Bolaji Oki

Weight class: Lightweight
Result: Bolaji Oki def. Dylan Salvador via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:46
Grade: A+
Summary: Setting a strong tone for the night was a one-round barnburner between Bolaji Oki and Dylan Salvador.

I was familiar with Salvador and his striking background heading into this match – which is probably why I came away so impressed with Oki.

Not intimidated by his opponent’s pedigree, Oki did exactly what he needed to do to a fighter who is used to the pacing of a muay Thai/kickboxing bout by pressing the action immediately.

Oki utilized his cross beautifully by both doubling up on it and variating it to the body, which interrupted the kicks and striking rhythms of Salvador. Once Oki attached a solid left hook to the liver, Salvador clearly felt winded and backed up to the cage (crumbling soon after).

Between this being a body-shot stoppage to Oki being a near 2-1 underdog, I couldn’t help but give Oki the ever-elusive A+ for pulling off the upset in impressive fashion. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him paired up with someone like Yanal Ashmouz or Anshul Jubli for his first UFC assignment.

Thomas Peterson

Weight class: Heavyweight
Result: Thomas Peterson def. Chandler Cole via submission (Americana) – round 2, 1:08
Grade: B+
Summary: Despite doing basically everything he could’ve done as a fighter in his position, I still couldn’t quite get to an A when grading Thomas Peterson’s winning performance opposite Chandler Cole.

Don’t get me wrong: Peterson showed serviceable southpaw striking on the feet, as well as a fluid enough takedown and top game to stand out in the heavyweight division.

It’s just hard to get a good idea of Peterson’s potential ceiling given the quality of opposition he was against (with all due respect). Still, I don’t blame the UFC president for bringing Peterson aboard given the lack of grappling threats north of 205 pounds.

I say match him up with his British doppelganger, Mick Parkin, for an action-filled affair.

Timothy Cuamba

Weight class: Featherweight
Result: Timothy Cuamba def. Mateo Vogel via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Grade: B
Summary: Despite Timothy Cuamba being a fighter who carries a lot of Las Vegas support, I can’t say that I disagreed with Dana White in this spot.

Aside from the fact that Cuamba is still incredibly young, I didn’t like how he both let off the bodywork and the gas overall in regard to his output.

Although I have no issue with Cuamba winning two rounds to one, many (including myself) thought that Mateo Vogel had a solid argument to win on the cards due to the Canadian’s consistent leg kicks in the second frame.

Thankfully for Cuamba, he avoided that costly lesson marking up his resume and will live to fight another day. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cuamba called up on short notice (for hopefully a better contract) on a future UFC card due to his clear skills and athletic potential.

Marcos Silva

Weight class: Middleweight
Result: Marcos Silva def. Yousri Belgaroui via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Grade: B
Summary: Even though this ended up being sloppier than a steak at Truffonis, I couldn’t help but award Marcos Silva a B for doing what he had to do to come through as an underdog opposite Yousri Belgaroui.

An accoladed kickboxer who fought the likes of Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya, it’s safe to say that there were a lot of eyes on Belgaroui.

The former Glory kickboxer actually demonstrated solid takedown defense and clinch fundamentals up against the fence, but he was unable to string together more than one meaningful strike at a time (which left little room for error inside of the smaller cage). And by the end of the first round, Silva was already picking up steam, seemingly sensing a potential momentum shift.

Silva was able to clearly outwork Belgaroui for the rest of the contest, but it wasn’t enough to get Dana White to recruit the Chute Boxe Diego Lima product.

That said, if I were a betting man (which I am), I’d be willing to wager that Silva will get the call to fill in for a short-notice spot somewhere within the next three months given the way the UFC keeps their relentless schedule running these days.

Carlos Prates

Weight class: Welterweight
Result: Carlos Prates def. Mitch Ramirez via TKO (punch) – round 2, 1:14
Grade: A+
Summary: Closing out the night was an impressive performance from Carlos Prates, who took out an ultra-tough Mitch Ramirez.

Even though Prates wooed us with a fully-fledged muay Thai arsenal from multiple ranges, the Brazilian’s ability to effortlessly land long, lethal left-hands reminded me of former UFC featherweight, Kevin Souza.

The UFC president used Anderson Silva as his comparison, and I don’t blame him given the 70 percent accuracy that Prates was working with in that first round.

From mixing straight to circular to his consistent building off the bodywork, Prates was able to push all of the right buttons to get me to pull out another A+ on this card. I agree with White in regard to Prates being UFC-ready, so don’t be surprised to see him thrown on the upcoming Sao Paulo card against someone like Gabe Green or Adam Fugitt.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie

Former world champion Sergio Mora believes that Daniel Dubois did not deserve the win against Oleksandr Usyk. 

The two heavyweights fought over the weekend in Poland, with Usyk successfully defending his IBF, WBO and WBO belts.

He ended the fight with a ninth-round jab that left Dubois counted out for the second time in his career. 

However, the 25-year-old Briton might have had victory if Usyk had not recovered from his own knockdown in the fifth round. But the referee allowed the Ukrainian several minutes to recover instead, after ruling the shot to be a low blow.

Dubois rejected the interpretation from the ref after the fight, but with the punch coming on Usyk’s waistband, there is argument on both sides of the dispute. 

Speaking on JABS on DAZN, Mora believes it was not a low blow, but Dubois failed to take advantage when he had the chance.

He explained: “The punch wasn’t low, it was borderline, and borderline isn’t low, but all this is to the discretion of a referee, so what I like to do, as a fighter, is take a look two times and know it’s a borderline shot. It wasn’t flagrant, it wasn’t on purpose like a lot of others do when they’re hurt. It was in the middle of a moment. 

“The trajectory of the punch was an uppercut, when it landed, the moment of impact, it was above the hip line. You have to forget about the belly button or the trunks. It’s the hip line that you have to focus on, not the navel, not the trunks. If you look at Usyk’s trunks, you couldn’t even see his belly button.

“You have to imagine where the punch landed, it landed right on the money, it was a fair shot, it should have counted as a knockdown.

“Do I think Dubois deserved to win? No, Usyk dominated. It wasn’t a low blow and Usyk won fair and square and got up like a champion. Did he use the rules to his favor? Absolutely, like a lot of sly fighters do. 

“That’s why Usyk is a great champion, he soaked up that time. He had more than three minutes, an entire round on the floor, and that’s Luis Pabon’s fault right there. Usyk should have gotten up. We’ve seen Usyk hurt to the body for, if you studied his amateurs. Anthony Joshua hurt him with the same body punch. You can tell that the punch was studied by Dubois and his trainer, but it just didn’t go in his favour.”

[dazn]

Manchester City have reached a verbal agreement with Wolves to buy midfielder Matheus Nunes for £47m.

The two clubs have settled on the fee – which is yet to be formally ratified – after City’s first offer for the Portugal international was rejected last week.

Nunes has refused to train with Wolves this week as he tried to force a move from Molineux and seems set to become City’s fourth summer signing before the transfer window closes on Friday.

Personal terms are not expected to be an issue for the 25-year-old, who was sent off in what is set to prove his final game as a Wolves player, the 4-1 defeat by Brighton.

Wolves are set to gain a replacement from City with Tommy Doyle set to go in the opposite direction and in a separate deal.

The 21-year-old, who helped Sheffield United win promotion to the Premier League last year, will move to the Midlands on a season-long loan. Wolves will have an option to buy him in a deal that would bring City a substantial sell-on clause.

Nunes only joined Wolves a year ago from Sporting Lisbon for a club record £38m and has scored one goal in 40 appearances for them.

City turned their attentions to him after Kevin de Bruyne was ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury and they had to abandon their interest in West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, who faces an FA investigation into potential breaches of betting regulations.

[independent]

The Zamfara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised concerns over bribery allegations of judges at the governorship election petitions tribunal sitting in Sokoto by a supporter of APC in the state.

The concern was raised by the acting Chairman of the party, Mouktar Lugga, while briefing journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on the alleged bribery. 

He cited an audio clip circulating on social media posted by one Anas Anka, said to be an APC supporter, in which he claimed that the tribunal judges had been induced with money to write a judgement in favour of the APC.

Lugga argued that in the viral audio, Anka was heard telling his friends how he was contracted by a top APC stalwart in the state with N100 million to also bribe members of the state assembly to commence impeachment moves against Governor Dauda Lawal.

The PDP also called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to launch a full-scale investigation on the allegation levelled against the panels of the governorship and state assembly election petitions tribunal.

The party appealed to the Department of State Services (DSS) to invite Anka for questioning over the weighty allegations, saying they were capable of causing chaos and disorder in the state.

Furthermore, it called on a former governor of the state, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, to as a matter of urgency, clear himself of the allegations levelled against him.

APC Kicks, Calls For Probe

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State has in strong terms dismissed allegations of its involvement in a plan to bribe election petitions tribunal judges in the suit by the ruling PDP.

It also denied claims of an alleged move to mobilise members of the state House of Assembly to impeach the governor as contained in a leaked audio by one Anas Anka.

In a swift reaction made available to journalists in Gusau on Wednesday, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Yusuf Idris, said Anka was never a supporter nor a card-carrying member of the APC in the state.

The APC also called on all the relevant security agencies to uncover those behind the audio clip that went viral where Anka was allegedly explaining that he was directed to give a bribe to the judges of the election petitions tribunal to decide the judgement in favour of the party.

[Channels TV]

On August 30, 2023, the Nigerian Armed Forces acquired TOGAN and BAHA Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Turkish defense companies. This acquisition is part of Nigeria's broader strategy to modernize its defense capabilities, particularly in the areas of surveillance and intelligence. This reinforcement comes as tensions between ECOWAS and the military dictatorships in the Sahel region show no signs of abating.

Togan UAV at IDEF 2019 produced and delivered to Nigeria by STM (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Turkey has become a key player in the global UAV market, with its drones gaining notoriety for their effectiveness in various conflict zones, notably its famous Bayraktar in Ukraine. Nigeria, facing challenges ranging from counter-terrorism to border security, has increasingly turned to Turkey to meet its UAV needs.

Supplied by Turkish defense company STM, the TOGAN UAVs are small, rotary-wing drones designed for tactical-level reconnaissance and surveillance. These UAVs are equipped with a variety of sensors, including cameras and thermal imagers. As part of a $36.5 million project with ASISGUARD and the Nigerian Ministry of Defense, this marks the second international export of the TOGAN system, with STM also in discussions for potential exports to other African nations.

Havelsan, another Turkish defense and informatics company, has also exported its BAHA UAVs to an undisclosed African country, believed to be Nigeria. Like the TOGAN, the BAHA is a small, fixed-wing UAV equipped for tactical-level reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

The acquisition of these UAVs is not an isolated event but part of a larger pattern of military cooperation between Turkey and Nigeria. Last year, ASISGUARD supplied at least 10 armed Songar drones to Nigerian counter-terrorism units. Both nations have also pledged to strengthen their military relations, focusing on areas such as joint training, intelligence sharing, and defense production.

There have also been rumors about the Nigerian Armed Forces purchasing Russian T-90 tanks, as we reported on Army Recognition on August 25, 2023.

Nigeria continues to strengthen its armed forces with multiple deliveries of foreign vehicles, but it is not just a buyer. Nigeria has indeed launched licensed production of Chinese Dong Feng CSK-131 MRAP vehicles. Recent tensions with military regimes in the Sahel, such as Niger, Mali, or Burkina Faso, have clearly accelerated Nigeria's procurement of equipment.

[armyrecognition]

The ousted President of the Republic of Gabon, Ali Bongo, has called on friends and allies all over the world to “make some noise” over the military coup.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports a group of Gabonese military officers on Wednesday said they have overthrown Mr Bongo as the democratically elected president of the country.

The coupists who appeared in Gabon TV also nullified Mr Bongo’s victory in last Saturday’s presidential election.

But Mr Bongo, who appeared in the 50-second video, said he was speaking from detention in his residence.

“I’m just sending a message to all the friends we have all over the world. To make noise. The people here have arrested me and my family,” Mr Bongo appealed.

He lamented that the coupists had denied him access to his wife and son, saying, “I don’t know what’s happening”.

“I’m calling you to make noise, make noise really,” he added.

[DailyNigerian]

Former Premier League striker, Gabby Agbonlahor, has questioned Manchester United’s transfer decisions.

The Red Devils are being linked with Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Tottenham’s Piere-Emile Hojbjerg.

These transfer decisions have left Agbonlahor confused as he believes United should be targeting the best legs.

Erik ten Hag is desperate to bring in at least two players before Saturday.

The Red Devils are in advanced talks to sign Cucurella and Hojbjerg in the remaining days of the transfer window.

The Old Trafford landlords have been able to sign the likes of Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund this summer.

And Gabby has questioned their targets.

“Man Utd should be out for the best!”

“I don’t see them being that team that goes for players Chelsea and Tottenham don’t want.”

[DailyPost]

•Marketers halt petrol loading, blame vandals for disruption

•More filling stations shut as import hiccups hurt supply

Long queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are beginning to resurface at filling stations in Lagos and Ogun states, and in few other locations in South-Western states.

Although The PUNCH gathered that queues were not seen in Abuja and other states in the North, it was learnt that depots in Lagos were gradually running dry of petrol. 

Queues were sighted at many stations, particularly those on the Oshodi-Ojodu Berger Expressway and some sections of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, as vehicles that waited to purchase petrol stretched into the expressway, slowing down movement on the service lane.

North-West filling station had the longest queue, as it dispensed petrol at N568/litre. Others such as Eterna – N568/litre; NNPCL – N568/litre; TotalEnergies – N570/litre; and Mobil – N570/litre had shorter queues.

Conoil, Enyo and Oando at Berger in Lagos, had no product to dispense.

While some of TotalEnergies stations were seen dispensing, a branch of the station located on the Berger axis was locked.

A few others such as Worldoil, Fatgbems and Quest in Ogun State shut their outlets.

The Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Satellite Depot, Akin Akinrinade, told The PUNCH that the depot had not loaded products in the last three weeks.

According to him, even the NNPCL Retail depot is currently operating skeletal dispatching of products.

“From our end, the issue has been with the pipeline vandalism which we raised an alarm over since July. Satellite depot has not loaded any product in the last three weeks, and whenever there is a problem here, it is going to affect Lagos and the whole of South-West.

“Although I don’t know what has been happening in other depots, from what we gathered yesterday, even NNPC Retail has been operating skeletal product dispatching. The NNPC Retail loaded just three to four trucks to Ikoyi on Monday. No product was dispatched to other places. I don’t know about other depots,” he said.

The NNPCL Retail has 21 depots across the country, nine in the North, and 12 in the South. However, The PUNCH had reported in December  how the company abandoned the depots due to pipeline vandalism, and now relied on private depots to dispatch products.

Recently, NNPCL had been making efforts to put the pipelines in order. One of those efforts was the Satellite depots in Lagos which resumed operations last year, but was again vandalised in July.

Managers of the Ejigbo Satellite Depot had raised the alarm over incessant activities of pipeline vandals on System 2B pipeline in front of Good Luck Estate at Idimu, Alimosho Local Council Development Area of Lagos.

A statement released by Akinrinade at that time, said, “IPMAN Satellite Depot are constrained with heavy heart to announce the vandalism of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited pipeline at Idimu in Alimosho LCDA of Lagos State, in front of Good Luck Estate.

“This continuous vandalism is a setback to the effort of IPMAN and NNPCL to ensure uninterrupted supply of petrol to Lagos and the entire South-West region of Nigeria.”

The PUNCH also gathered that some depots owners had been unable to import products due to rising foreign exchange.

Sources close to the matter told The PUNCH that many filling stations had shut down operations as many could not afford to buy products due to high prices at the depots.

“Stations are now cutting down costs because most don’t have enough money to buy products to distribute to their outlets. That is why you see that those with more than one station had to close down some of them,” one of the sources told The PUNCH.

Another source who craved anonymity told The PUNCH that “the economy is tough right now and marketers have been unable to import products. Emadeb had teamed up with some other marketers and brought in about 27 million litres.

“But since then, who else did you hear has brought in the product? We are now back to the era of NNPCL being the sole importer, and would still continue to dictate what the market price would be.”

A top member of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria told one of our correspondents that demand now outweighs supply.

“NNPCL has reduced importation. And the whole idea was for private individuals to also augment what NNPCL brings in. But marketers are not importing. So NNPCL still remains the only importer,” he said.

When contacted to speak on the development, the spokesperson for NNPCL, Garba-Deen Muhammad, said he was speaking with an official of oil firm who had idea about the issue.

He promised to revert and our correspondent kept calling him for update, but got no response to the matter from the oil firm as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, Muhammad had stated in June that the company would cut down its fuel imports programme in August once the Dangote Refinery began to push out refined petroleum products from late July or early August.  NNPCL owns a 20 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery.

“Because of the circumstances that surround our refineries, we cannot allow the country to be grounded. So we have to buy wherever we can get and sell. So if Dangote products are available, why should we not buy from Dangote?

“There is absolutely no reason. And that is the reason why we are interested in the Dangote Refinery. We are co-owners, shouldn’t we do business with our partners rather than do it with other people?”

Corroborating Muhammed, while speaking to journalists after a meeting with oil marketers in Abuja, also in June, the Chief Executive, Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, said NNPCL had cut down on importation.

Ahmed had said, “The market is open already, we have to follow the regulations. So we have rolled out policies that are user-friendly. Some of them (marketers) have already started putting their applications in place. This is because we don’t want to create a gap. NNPCL is slowing down on their importation.”

Since the end of fuel subsidy, the price of petrol had risen from an average of between N180/N200 per litre, to between N614 and N700 per litre. Although it was later debunked by the NNPCL, rumour had it that the price could go as high as N720 per litre due to the rising exchange rate and increase in the cost of crude at the international market.

The National Controller Operations, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, confirmed that oil marketers were not importing because of the price. He, however, said there was no cause for alarm.

“Marketers are not importing because of the price. But marketers can still pick it up from the NNPCL. We know NNPCL would intervene. So no cause for alarm,” he said.

Further checks by The PUNCH revealed many major outlets within Lagos metropolis did not dispense fuel to customers on Tuesday.

It was observed that between Berger and Iyanoworo stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, major outlets like Conoil (two outlets), Total (two outlets), African Petroleum, Oando and Enyo did not dispense fuel to customers.

At Mobil Filling station located adjacent to the Lagos State Secretariat (in-bound Alausa), there was a sizeable queue of motorists waiting in line to buy petrol while other customers lined up with jerry cans and jostled in a bid to get ahead in the queue.

The development sparked fears among motorists who expressed concern that Tuesday’s turn of events could be a prelude to an increase in the pump price of petrol.

A cab driver, Babatunde Onifade, who plies between Berger-Victoria Island, told one of our correspondents that the sudden closure of many filling stations along the axis had triggered panic among commercial transport operators who had a hard time buying fuel on Tuesday.

Some filling stations along Idimi-Egbeda axis were also visited on Tuesday, and it was observed that an outlet belonging to the NNPCL along the axis was not selling.

It was also observed that there was queue at an Oando fuel station on the axis.

A motorist who gave his name as Harry Ugochukwu, said, “NNPC here is not selling and they sold on Sunday. It is only the Oando outlet here that is selling at the normal price and as you can see there is queue here.”

At Dopemu, inward Agege, it was observed that a NIPCO outlet was selling with little or no queue.

Commenting on the development in the South-West, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said though the queues had yet to get to the South-South, North and other regions, the drop in imports might warrant a spread in queues.

“People cannot import because there is NP forex to do that, and this is not good for a liberalised market. That is why we’ve continued to advocate for the rehabilitation of refineries in good time to avoid a spread of such queues to other regions of the country,” he stated.

One of the founding fathers and chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Buba Galadima has described the suspension of the party’s national leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso as a “Nollywood and Hollywood joke”.

Recalls that a faction of the party on Tuesday suspended Kwankwaso, alongside other members over alleged “anti-party activities in various meetings”.

The group claimed that there was “material evidence” showing that the party’s flagbearer for the February 25, presidential poll has been involved in anti-party activities.

But Galadima, who spoke during a program on Channels TV on Tuesday night, said the leaders of the group which announced Kwankwaso’s suspension had earlier been expelled from the NNPP.

Galadima also insisted that the party is still intact and has no crisis as being peddled.

He said, “When I saw it on social media, I thought it was like a Nollywood or Hollywood joke.

“Now let me make a small correction, those that were expelled were Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam and Gabriel Agbor Major.

“All of them who were expelled were called to a disciplinary committee. They were drilled and they accepted their sins and it was on the basis of their acceptance that they were recommended to the Nation Working Committee for expulsion.”

Speaking on the alleged anti-party activities, Galadima explained that “as a politician, we can meet with anybody. He took permission from us.”