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.”

A newborn has been rescued from a pit toilet in Otuocha, Anambra East Local Government Area of the State three days after birth.

According to a report posted on the Facebook page of Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, the incident happened on Sunday.

The mother of the male child, Nwaedoka Chidinma, a 20-year-old girl from Izzi, Ebonyi State, was said to have deliberately carried out the act.

Esther Omesi, a farmer and friend to Chidinma, alerted relevant authorities about the incident.

Omesi said she was staying at Chidinma’s place at the time it happened.

According to her, Chidinma started acting suspiciously on Sunday after she had notified her (Omesi) that she was having stomach upset and then went to the pit to ease herself.

She narrated that Chidimma took time and when she came out, there was dripping of blood which made her call a nurse that inspected her and revealed that the baby was gone.

Omesi said that she thought that Chidinma had a stillbirth, which is why she encouraged her to travel home to her parents and notify them of the development.

Revealing further on how it happened, Omesi said that they heard a baby’s cry on Tuesday morning and quickly used a ladder to rescue the newborn.

Reacting to the incident, the Honourable Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, was shocked when both the mother and child were brought to her office.

Turning to Chidinma, she said: “Why would you, after you have passed through pregnancy, given birth and decided to put the baby in the toilet? Why? Since Sunday? Why are you this wicked?”

The commissioner quickly directed that the newborn should be taken to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital, Amaku, in Awka for treatment and later called for the arrest of the culprit.

Obinabo decried the rate at which young girls now commit crime and stated that the young mother won’t go unpunished.

She further noted that the Governor of Anambra State, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo has zero tolerance for such inhumane and dastardly acts and assured of seeing to the end of the case.

The erstwhile Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has disclosed that he deliberately did not support his party’s candidate in the 2022 Osun State governorship election to avoid confusing voters in the state.

Aregbesola, a two-time governor of Osun, spoke during a radio programme on Tuesday in Ilesha.

According to him, politics of bitterness and boastful exclusion of him and his supporters by the then ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state prevented them from supporting the re-election bid of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

“There is nothing like exclusivity when it comes to politics or elections. All interests matter and are important. When I wanted to run for a second term as governor in 2014, I ensured that even the bigwigs of the opposition party joined us.

“I rallied everybody because we knew how important it was to have a strong and formidable party going into the elections. That was why we were able to achieve success.

“But in a situation when some individuals decide to exclude some people, ostracise them and want to even throw them out of the party, that (defeat) is what you would get. I have no power or control over the decision of where anyone wishes to vote or support in a political contest.

“Politicians or party men and women constitute only 10% of the electorate. The success of any election rests on the level of how people are able to embrace others, irrespective of their convictions or personal aggrandisement to others.”

He added, “They (Oyetola and others) never wanted us, and our existence gave them a constant headache. There was even a video that trended at the time when they said anyone who was not invited to their campaign and comes around would bear the consequences of whatever happens to him/her.

“They did not want me. That was why I stayed away. In order not to create confusion as to who I was supporting or supported in the governorship election, I had to stay away.”

Oyetola, who lost the election and failed to get redress both at the tribunal and Supreme Court, was recently appointed as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy by President Bola Tinubu.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) sold T.bills valued at N406.10 billion across its auctions in July 2023.

This was contained in the FMDQ Markets Monthly Report for July seen by Nairametrics.

The amount represents 0.39% (N1.59 billion) Month-on-month (MoM). An increase in the value of T-bills sold across its auctions in June 2023 (N404.51 billion).

Similarly, the DMO reopened two (2) 10Y, one (1) 15Y and one (1) 30Y FGN Bonds worth N657.84 billion in July 2023.

The report noted that the total sale represented a 182.73% oversubscription of the amount offered, and a 39.03% (N184.68 billion) MoM increase on the amount sold in June 2023 (N473.16 billion) for the same FGN Bond maturities.

FMDQ noted that the CBN did not conduct any public OMO Bills auctions in July 2023.

Corporate bonds:

According to the report, there were no corporate bonds listed on the FMDQ Exchange in July 2023 compared to N17.50 billion worth of corporate bonds listed in June 2023.

• “As a result, the total outstanding value for corporate bonds remained unchanged at N1,757.95 billion in the review month,” it said.

Commercial Papers:

The report stated that the total value of Commercial Papers (CPs) quoted on the FMDQ Exchange in July 2023 was N117.32 billion, representing a MoM increase of 42.85% (N35.19 billion) from the value of CPs quoted in June 2023.

• “Quoted CPs were issued by institutions from various sectors including Financial Services (5), Manufacturing (4), Real Estate (3), Agriculture (2), Chemical Supply & Oil Field Services (2), Commodities Trading (1), Public Sector (1), Telecommunications (1) and Consumer Staples (1).
• As a result, the total outstanding value of CPs increased MoM by 14.10% (N117.32 billion) to N949.26 billion,” it said.

Secondary market turnover:

According to the report, secondary market turnover on the FMDQ Exchange in July 2023 was N19.92 trillion, representing a MoM decrease of 8.37% (1.82 trillion) and a YoY increase of 0.81% (N0.16 trillion) from June 2023 and July 2022 figures, respectively.

It noted that Foreign Exchange (FX), Money Market (MM), and CBN Bills transactions dominated secondary market activity, accounting for 73.98% of the total secondary market turnover in July 2023.

• “Total spot market turnover for all products traded in the secondary market was N18.47 trillion in July 2023, representing a MoM increase of 3.68% (N0.66 trillion) from June 2023 figures. 
• The MoM increase in total spot market turnover was driven by an improvement in turnover across MM and FI transactions which increased MoM by 16.35% (N0.90 trillion) and 12.16% (N0.91 trillion), respectively, despite the MoM decline in FX transactions by 24.34% (N1.16 trillion). 
• The uptick in MM turnover was driven by an increase in Repos/Buybacks, offsetting the MoM decline in Unsecured Placement/Takings transactions. Likewise, the improvement in FI turnover was driven by a MoM increase across all FI products, excluding CBN Special Bills and FGN Bonds which decreased in the review period,” the report noted.

According to the report, Spot FX market turnover was N3.61 trillion ($4.66 billion) in July 2023, representing a MoM decrease of 24.34% (N1.16 trillion) from the turnover recorded in June 2023 (N4.77 trillion).

• “In the FX Market, the US Dollar appreciated against the Naira, with the spot exchange rate ($/₦) increasing by 22.94% ($/N143.60) to close at an average of $/N769.51 in July 2023 from $/N625.90 recorded in June 2023. 
• Further, exchange rate volatility decreased in July 2023 as the Naira traded within an exchange rate range of $/N740.08 – $/N803.90 compared to $/N464.67 – $/N770.38 recorded in June 2023,” the report said.

Fixed Income: The report stated that the (FI) market turnover was N8.43 trillion in July 2023, representing a MoM increase of 12.16% (N0.91 trillion) from the turnover recorded in June 2023 (N7.52 trillion).

• “The MoM increase in the FI market turnover was driven by the 52.55% (N0.94 trillion), 63.75% (N0.98 trillion), and 402.37% (N0.03 trillion) uptick in turnover across T.Bills, OMO Bills, 
• Other Bonds which offset the MoM decrease in CBN Special Bills and FGN Bonds transactions by 57.36% (N1.00 trillion) and 1.24% (N0.03 trillion), respectively,” the report noted.

The Cottagers have agreed to pay £12m up front for the Argentine with a further £3m in add-ons.

However, the 29-year-old is yet to agree to the move despite the chance to double his salary to around £70,000-a-week at Craven Cottage.

Ocampos is reluctant having grown settled in Spain and will soon have the chance to play Champions League football after winning the Europa League in May.

Fulham believe they will ultimately get their man having switched their focus from Callum Hudson-Odoi after they failed to agree a fee with Chelsea.

The Cottagers are also chasing an additional striker and have sounded out Germany international Fullkrug.

The 30-year-old Werder Bremen frontman is one of a host of options being looked at including Flamengo’s Pedro, Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata and Paris Saint-Germain’s Hugo Ekitike.

Marco Silva also wants a midfielder, with Everton’s Alex Iwobi reportedly of interest, and is chasing a further full-back despite the £15m signing of Leicester City’s Timothy Castagne.

AC Milan’s Fode Ballo-Toure, Union Berlin’s Josip Juranovic and Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters are some of the additional defenders being discussed in west London.

[standard]

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has subtly confirmed the exit of Super Falcons’ coach to the just concluded Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Randy Waldrum, from his position as the country’s senior women national team manager.

Yesterday, the NFF charged its technical committee to search for new handlers for the team ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics’ qualifiers. Waldrum and the federation had a frosty relationship on the eve of the World Cup, but the country’s subsequent impressive performance at the championship papered over the feud. However, there were rumours after the championship that the NFF would not renew the American’s contract, which expired with the competition.

Speaking while inaugurating the recently constituted NFF Technical Committee in Abuja, the federation’s president, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, tasked them to constitute fresh technical crews for most of the national teams, and provide direction for them.
 
He said: “The Super Falcons are back from the FIFA World Cup with aplomb, but we must remember that they have 2024 Olympics and 2024 Women AFCON qualifying matches shortly and should start to prepare for those games. The home-based professionals have qualifiers for the CHAN and the male and female U17 and U20 teams have qualification matches of high importance in a few months to come.”
 
Gusau promised that the NFF would support the committee to accomplish its work while emphasising that meetings could be either physical or by video conference.
 
Responding, Chairman of the committee, Sharif Rabiu Inuwa, stated that the committee would discharge its duties with every sense of responsibility and be guided by the vision of the Gusau-led administration to work proactively and energetically to ensure the real growth of the game of football in Nigeria in all its aspects and ramifications.

[Guardian]

The second day of the US Open didn’t turn out to be one of those days when seeds drop like ripe cherries. Indeed the favourites of the bookmakers and the public came up with emphatic wins.

Daniil Medvedev was the first to step onto court, where he stayed no longer than 1 hour and 14 minutes to put away Hungarian Attila Balazs 61 61 60 in the swiftest grand slam match of his career. His next opponent will be Cristopher O’Connell, who won the all-Australian clash against  Max Purcell in four sets. 

Sacha Zverev faced a much tougher challenge in the person of Aleksandar Vukic, one of the hot players of the American summer, finalist in Atlanta. The German played consistently and never relented pressure, earning a three-set win 64 64 64. In the first two sets he only conceded one break point, and broke Vukic once per set. He snatched an early break in the third game of the third set as well, but the Aussie broke back in the eighth game. He also had a chance to move ahead 5-4, but Zverev eventually succeeded in snatching a second break and closed off the match with a comfortable serve hold.

Andrey Rublev won in three sets against French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux, ranked 119. The 21-year old Frenchman set up a valiant fight in the first two sets, serving proficiently, hammering forehands and frequently raiding the net. Rublev kept his bearings though, and after prevailing in a close second set tiebreak, cruised away. 64 76 61 the final score. In the second round he is awaited by yet another French player: veteran Gael Monfils, who defeated Taro Daniel in four sets. That will be some match.

Among the other seeds, Cameron Norrie scored a convincing win, 62 64 62 over the young Russian talent Alexander Shevchenko, conceding and saving only one break point in the whole match.

Though not seeded, after a year which has been hindered by physical issues, Matteo Berrettini, US Open semi-finalist in 2019, played his best tennis to dismiss 29^th seed Ugo Humbert in three sets, 64 64 62. His greater overall power and some excellent returning made the difference, as well as his service, which got him through a few critical moments, such as the eighth game of the first set, when he saved three break points. By steering the gameplay away from Humbert’s most impressive weapon, his leftie two-handed backhand, he retained control of the match. Berrettini too will face another Frenchman in the second round: Arthur Rinderknech, who beat Diego Schwartzman 63 64 62.

We conclude with the feats of tennis greats: Stan Wawrinka, and John Isner, who joined their fellow veterans, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils, in the second round. The Swiss, US Open Champion 2016, just struggled in the first set, which he won in a battled tiebreaker, against Yoshihito Nishioka, and then cruised away to win 76 62 64. John Isner showed he is in no hurry to enjoy retirement and in three sets, 64 63 76, breezed past Argentine Diaz Acosta, currently ranked above him at 94. When rankings do not tell the whole story.

In the second round Long John will be up against Michael Mmoh, the American wild card who set up the greatest upset of the afternoon, knocking out 11^th seed Karen Khachanov, who is still struggling to get back to his best form after injury.

Isner vs Mmoh will be an enthralling generation clash to look forward to.

[ubitennis]