The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has formally confirmed the eventual qualification of Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi from Africa, for the singles event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France.

The confirmation was made in a statement issued on Friday by the ITTF with representation from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

“As the countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games intensifies, ITTF is thrilled to announce significant progress in the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

With less than 50 days to the games, this week’s world ranking update saw eight athletes secure their participation based on the selection of continental quotas allocated by World Ranking.

According to the statement, the Men’s Singles draw welcomes African powerhouse, Quadri Aruna from Nigeria, alongside the Americas’ rising talent Nicolas Burgos from Chile.

The list also had Asia’s Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan and Europe’s Alvaro Robles of Spain, who previously qualified in Mixed Doubles.

The ITTF also said that the Women’s Singles competition would showcase a similar level of global talent with the qualification of Lynda Loghraibi from Algeria (Africa), Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico (Americas) and Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi (Asia).

Also Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco (Europe) can now officially begin their preparations for their Olympic dreams in Paris.”

ITTF stated that the qualification process would reach its penultimate stage with only one more world ranking update scheduled before the final roster for Paris is confirmed.

“Next week’s world rankings will be crucial in determining the final competitors for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Games, 86 men and 86 women are expected to compete in the singles events of the Olympic Games,” ITTF added in the statement.

Meanwhile, ITTF has named three Africans – Akram Ben Attia (Tunisia), Es-Sayed Elrawdy (Egypt) and Ronald Mugwanya (Uganda) among the umpires for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a public warning regarding the risks associated with investing in Davido’s cryptocurrency, $Davido. 

The commission cautioned that the digital asset poses significant financial risks to investors. 

Recently, Nigerian music star Davido launched $Davido, a new cryptocurrency coin, in collaboration with Phantom and Solana.

The coin gained rapid popularity initially, attracting early investors who reportedly made profits.

However, shortly after its launch, $Davido experienced a sharp decline in value, resulting in substantial losses for many investors.

Responding to these developments, the SEC released a statement asserting that $Davido does not fall under its regulatory oversight as an investment product or a recognized asset class.

The commission emphasized that individuals who choose to invest in the meme coin do so at their own risk.

“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria (“SEC”) has been drawn to a meme coin known as “$Davido” allegedly linked to the popular Nigerian singer, David Adedeji Adeleke AKA Davido,” the statement reads.

“Generally, meme coins are cryptocurrencies inspired by memes and internet jokes. They are often envisaged as a fun, light-hearted cryptocurrencies promoted through a social media community and sometimes through celebrity endorsements.

“Meme coins are also NOT intended to serve as a medium of exchange accepted by the public as payment for goods and services, or as digital representation of capital market products such as shares, debentures, units of collective investment schemes, derivatives contracts, commodities or other kinds of financial instruments or investments.

“The general public is HEREBY ADVISED that meme coins lack fundamental value and are purely speculative. The general public is further WARNED that investing in meme coins, including $Davido, is highly risky and should be done with a full understanding of the associated risk.

“Capital Market Operators are by this Notice warned not to associate with instruments that fall outside the SEC’s regulatory purview. Such instruments should not in any manner be distributed or monitored through any capital market mechanism.

“PLEASE NOTE that the Commission does not recognize $Davido as an investment product or investable asset class under its regulatory purview, as such individuals who patronize it, do so at their peril.

“The Commission will continue to monitor developments within the ecosystem and will not relent in deploying its regulatory powers as and when required.”

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has ordered the Kano State Government to pay the sum of N10 million as damages to deposed Emir, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, for violating his fundamental rights.

The court, which assumed jurisdiction to hear Bayero’s rights violation suit, also ordered the Kano State Government to guarantee the deposed emir’s right to movement and personal liberty.

In a ruling on Friday, the presiding judge of the Federal High Court 3, Justice Simon Amobeda, noted that he was duty bound to resolve the issue of jurisdiction of the court to determine the case before delving into the main matter of the case.

According to him, without jurisdiction, any proceeding is nullity.

Justice Amobeda while declaring the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case, insisted that the issue  fell under abuse of fundamental human rights of the applicant, adding that the Constitution had granted the Federal High Court the powers to preside over the matter.

He noted that Bayero was seeking, among others reliefs, payment of N5 billion as damages from the Kano State Government for breaching his fundamental human rights.

The judge also noted that the applicant also asked for the enforcement of his rights to movement and personal liberty.

In his ruling, the judge said, “It is the duty of the court to protect the rights of every citizen but that protection cannot be done in vacuum, a person crying over violation of his fundamental human rights must provide cogent and vital evidence to that effect to which the applicant has successfully provided.”

He noted that in 2019, the then government of Kano State used the Kingmakers to select a new Emir, but surprisingly, on Friday, May 23, 2024, the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, used the social media to propagate that he had deposed the applicant (Bayero) and ordered the Police to arrest him after giving him 48 hours to vacate the palace.

“To this end, I so hold that without any lawful justification, the applicant was threatened, and his fundamental rights to liberty as guaranteed in Section 35(1) of the 1999 Constitution, was breached.
“Similarly, the action of the government which had forced the applicant into a house arrest, preventing him from going about his lawful business, constitutes a flagrant violation of his fundamental rights to freedom of movement as guaranteed under Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution,” the judge added.

The court also ordered that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Respondents – including the Police and the DSS – are either by themselves, their agents, servants, privies or any other persons or authority forthwith restrained from arresting, detaining or harassing Bayero.

Justice Amobeda further ordered that the Government of Kano State should pay the sum of N10 million for breach and likely breach of Bayero’s fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom of movement, as guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution.

The Nigerian federal government is seeking a $500 million loan from the World Bank to fix rural roads, improve access to agricultural products nationwide, and tackle food price hikes.

The Washington-based lender stated that the funds will address the needs of 92 million people in rural areas lacking good road networks.

The Nigerian government made the funding request in the final draft of the Resettlement Policy Framework for the Nigeria Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project Scale-Up, implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The RAAMP-SU project will finance three key components: Improvement of Resilient Rural Access ($387 million), Climate-Resilient Asset Management ($158 million), and Institutional Strengthening and Project Management ($55 million).

The total cost of the project is estimated at $600 million, with the World Bank expected to provide 83.33% of the required funding. This commitment amount is 79% higher than the initial World Bank commitment of $280 million for the parent project.

According to the policy document, participating states will be required to have a fully functional Roads Fund and Roads Agency with appointed boards and staff, and provisions for administrative costs in the state budget.

“Rural access is particularly restricted in areas densely populated by the economically disadvantaged. These factors underscore the imperative to expand and enhance the rural road network, as well as conserve rural road and transport assets.

“While eligibility for state participation under RAAMP required the drafting and placement of Road Fund and Roads Agency bills in the State Houses of Assembly, the new project would require the States to have a fully functional Roads Fund and Roads Agency with appointed boards and staff, and provision for administrative costs made in the state budget. Additionally, RARAs offer an opportunity to foster women’s representation in the transport sector,” the document noted.

The development comes as food inflation continues to rise in Nigeria. In April 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Nigeria’s food inflation rose to 40.53%.

Experts have blamed insecurity, energy costs, and the high cost of transportation for food price hikes in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the total debt stock of Nigeria at the end of 2023 stood at N97.341 trillion, according to the Debt Management Office.

Nigeria’s debt figure included foreign debt, which stood at N38.22 trillion, accounting for 39% of the total debt stocks as of the end of 2023.

The Federal Government has dropped tax evasion charges against two executives of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crimes compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan national and regional manager for Africa, were both released from the charges after Binance appointed a local representative to face court proceedings on its behalf.

The charges were filed in February, with Gambaryan being taken into custody and Anjarwalla escaping Nigeria in March.

The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had accused Binance and its executives of evading taxes on cryptocurrency transactions worth millions of dollars.

FIRS on May 17 amended the charges, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange company failed to collect and remit various categories of taxes, particularly the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income tax (CIT), to the Nigeria’s federation account as provided by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007.

Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, had claimed that Binance made a turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023 alone.

However, Binance maintained that it had done nothing wrong and that the charges were unfounded.

According to a Binance spokesperson, the court’s decision to drop the charges against Gambaryan and Anjarwalla is a vindication of the company’s stance.

“We are pleased that the court has recognized that Tigran Gambaryan is not a decision-maker at Binance and does not need to be held in order for Binance to resolve issues with the Nigerian government,” the spokesperson said. “We await the court’s ruling on this, discharging Tigran from this matter completely.”

Despite the dropped charges, Binance and its executives still face separate money laundering charges in Nigeria.

The company has denied these allegations as well, stating that it has robust anti-money laundering measures in place.

The fedeal government has been critical of Binance, blaming it for exacerbating the country’s currency woes by allowing Nigerians to trade the naira on its platform.

The government claims that this has contributed to chronic dollar shortages and a record low for the naira.

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Olukayode Egbetokun, has announced the suspension of special promotion of certain officers within the police force.

Naija News understands that Egbetokun’s decision comes as a result of concerns that these promotions are jeopardizing the work of officers.

The IGP expressed his frustration with the excessive lobbying for special promotions and stated that any recommendations for such promotions would now be met with disciplinary action.

Moving forward, Egbetokun noted that the police management will handle any cases where special promotions are deemed necessary.

Additionally, the undue soliciting for posting has been banned, with a warning that those found guilty will face legal consequences.

On a positive note, 27 senior police officers have been recently promoted to new ranks and were decorated by the IGP.

This includes one Deputy Inspector-General of Police, 11 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, and 15 Commissioners of Police.

Notable among them is DIG Yayaha Abubakar, a lawyer from Adamawa State, who previously served as the AIG Zone 14.

The newly promoted AIGs also include Mohammad Badeh, a former Commissioner of Police in charge of Safer Highway from Niger State, Ahmed Armani from Katsina State with a master’s degree in law enforcement and experience at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Mohammed Hussain from Jigawa State, who was the Commissioner of Police in charge of Kano State Police Command prior to his promotion.

Two former governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Philip Shaibu and Omoregbe Ogbeide-Ihama, have collapsed their political structures for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the September 21 governorship election in Edo state.

Naija News recalls that Shaibu, the impeached Deputy Governor of the state and Ogbeide-Ihama had contested for the PDP ticket but lost to Asue Ighodalo.

According to Daily Trust, Shaibu and Ogbeide-Ihama made also donated on Friday to the campaign council of the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.

Shaibu donated over 50 Toyota Sienna buses, music trucks, and his campaign secretariat office to the APC’s Okpebholo/DENCO Campaign Organization, while Ogbeide-Ihama, a former two-time member of the House of Representatives, donated a fully equipped campaign office.

Both properties, located in the heart of Benin City, serve as a vital hub for coordinating the APC’s campaign activities and engaging with the electorate.

The Director of the APC New Media Campaign Committee, Osigwe Omo-Ikirodah, confirmed the donations on Friday, stating that the donations would have a greater impact on the political landscape.

According to him, the development marks a pivotal moment in Edo politics, reflecting the growing momentum behind the APC and its agenda for progress and development.

He said, “Shaibu and Ogbeide-Ihama’s support for the APC is likely to galvanize other PDP members to reconsider their positions, potentially leading to increased support for our party.

“As the PDP grapples with these significant contributions to the APC, we are solidifying our position and building unprecedented momentum.”

…As Suspect Confessed Attempting To Sell Company Car For N5m

A suspected gunrunner, Ikechukwu Didi, 54, has confessed to joining a criminal syndicate to raise N6m for a heart operation.

Didi disclosed this in an interview with THE WHISTLER after he was paraded by the FCT Police Command among 14 others, on Thursday, in Abuja.

He was arrested on June 7, by the anti-car theft unit of the FCT police with the unlawful possession of seven pump-action rifles and over 1000 rounds of live cartridges.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ben Igweh said operatives of the command apprehended Didi after a crime syndicate on its watch list, upon arrest, identified him as their supplier of arms and ammunition.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER Didi admitted to the unlawful possession of the weapons which he said were delivered to him by an individual, whom he had identified to the police.

The FCT CP acknowledged the information, noting that police operatives were on a trail of other members of the syndicate, based on the information provided.

However, Didi told THE WHISTLER that he had only been recruited into the criminal group, and it was his first time taking delivery of the weapons. “They just connected me newly,” he said.

He added, “I do not know the people sending the weapon; I only have a name which I have told the police. I also do not know the people I am sending it to and what they are using it for.” he said.

The resident of Dutse Alhaji, a suburb in the FCT said his heart condition pushed him into crime without evaluating the consequences.

“I have been sick and the hospital said they will carry out an operation and it will cost N6m,” he revealed.

When asked about the agreed amount he was to receive if he had delivered the weapon, he said it was not discussed.

He also said that he had yet to raise a dime for his ailment.

He provided documents from the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital which he said he had been visiting following a diagnosis of his heart condition in 2020.

The management of Eclath Human Resources in Jabi, Abuja, where the culprit works, had reported a case of a stolen vehicle to the police, after Udeke was sent to refill the vehicle with fuel.

Weeks after trailing the suspects, the anti-car theft unit of the FCT command tracked Udeke’s phone to Lagos State, and the car was subsequently recovered.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER in an interview, Udeke said he had been chased out by his landlord for his inability to pay his N350,000 rent when he decided to rob the company of its vehicle and sell it for the sum of N5m.

“Before then, I had written to the company asking for assistance,” he said, noting that his request did not yield any positive result.

Interestingly, Udeke had just worked with his company for three months, earning N70,000 when he decided to hatch his plans.

The new father of twins said on the day he ran away with the vehicle, he had received a call that his belongings had been thrown out of his apartment.

Rather than purchase the fuel, he had decided to use the company’s vehicle to take his family to a safe place.

“I decided to sell the vehicle. When I got to Lagos, they were pricing the vehicle N2m and it was not okay for me. So, I decided to take my family to Enugu and also park the car there while I returned to Lagos. It was in Lagos that I was arrested,” he narrated.

When asked how much he intended to sell the vehicle, Udeke said, “I wanted to sell it, like N5m.”

The suspect said it was his first time taking the belongings of others, hence the choice to park the vehicle in his country home. He advised others to be patient and shun all forms of criminal activities.

Meanwhile, Udeke’s vehicle was among four vehicles and one Hilux recovered by the police recently.

According to the FCT Police CP, criminal elements now resort to the use of anti-tracker devices to prevent security operatives from trailing them.

The Command had recovered two of such devices from the suspects paraded on Thursday.

According to them, there is a transborder car theft syndicate specialised in stealing vehicles from Abuja and neighbouring states and selling them to people in Niger Republic.

The CP warned, “I will still warn the criminals that it is not business as usual. We are focused, determined and eager, we have all it takes: intelligence, security and intelligence to get you.

“So, since they have reached the issue of using a jammer to do their act, we will use an anti-jammer to equally trace them.

“I want to appeal to residents of FCT when you see something, you say something, and we will do something.”

SRC: TheWhistler

Nollywood actor cum pastor, Yul Edochie, has resumed his online ministry following a short break.

Yul explained that he took a break to spiritually prepare himself for God’s work, during which time God revealed many things to him.

He emphasized that relying on religion alone for salvation is insufficient and that simply praying is not enough.

Extending an invitation to his followers for a live YouTube and TikTok broadcast, he assured them of an “explosive” session where he would unveil secrets and impart wisdom on protecting oneself from evil forces.

“Religion will not save us. Prayer is not enough. That is why we have thousands of churches springing up every day, yet evil persists. I took a break from my ministry so I could prepare myself spiritually for God’s work. During that time, God took me on a journey and revealed so much to me.

“Don’t miss our live broadcast this Sunday.I will expose many secrets and teach you how you can protect yourself from the evil plans of the devil, which are spreading rapidly. Streaming live on YouTube on Yul Edochie TV and TikTok @yuledochieodogwu. Don’t miss it. It will be explosive,” Yul wrote.

One Temitope Adetanju has been arrested by the operatives of the Ogun State Police Command for inserting a piece of firewood into the private part of a 12-year-old girl.

Adetanju, who happens to be the girl’s guardian, had assaulted her for allegedly stealing biscuits, Milo, and ‘Mr. Fruit’.

According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, the incident happened on Tuesday in the Isewo Obada Oko area of Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

Upon receiving a report about the incident, she said the Divisional Police Officer in the area deployed the division’s juvenile officer to the scene of the incident to arrest the suspect.

“The incident occurred on 11/06/24 at about 1100hrs. The Divisional Police Officer received information that a 12-year-old girl from Isewo Obada Oko was severely beaten and had a piece of firewood inserted into her private part by her guardian, one Temitope Adetanju, a 25-year-old woman residing at the same address.

“On receipt of the distress report, the Divisional Police Officer deployed the Officer in Charge of Juvenile Welfare Center, to apprehend the suspect. Upon her arrest, it was discovered that the victim had stolen items including biscuits worth N200, Milo worth N150, and Mr. Fruit worth N300,” Odutola told Punch on Friday.

The suspect has since confessed to committing the crime, Odutola said, adding that investigation is going on.

“The suspect admitted to committing the crime, and the investigation is ongoing,” the PPRO informed.