The Aguttes auction house announced on Tuesday that Diego Maradona’s Golden Ball trophy, awarded for his outstanding performance as the best player at the 1986 World Cup, will soon be up for auction in France.

This iconic trophy, the first of its kind to be auctioned, is expected to command a significant price tag, with the auction house anticipating bids in the millions when it goes under the hammer on June 6th.

Maradona, who passed away in 2020, clinched the prestigious award after leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico. His remarkable contribution included five goals throughout the tournament, as he captained his country and showcased his brilliance on the field during every minute of play.

The 1986 World Cup remains etched in memory, particularly for Maradona’s unforgettable performance against England in the quarterfinals, where he scored two remarkable goals.

Global cryptocurrency platform Binance has accused top Nigerian government officials of demanding a $150 million bribe in crypto to settle criminal charges filed against the company.

The allegation was made public by Binance Chief Executive Officer, Richard Teng, in a blog post published by the New York Times on Tuesday.

According to the report, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer at Binance, received the unsettling message during a visit to Nigeria in January earlier before his arrest alongside a colleague.

Gambaryan alongside a colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped from lawful custody, are currently trial in Nigeria over alleged money laundering and tax evasion charges.

“On a trip to Nigeria in January, Tigran Gambaryan, a compliance officer for the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, received an unsettling message: The company had 48 hours to make a payment of roughly $150 million in crypto,” the report stated.

Gambaryan, a former U.S. law enforcement agent, interpreted the message as a request for a bribe from officials in President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“Mr. Gambaryan, a former U.S. law enforcement agent, understood the message as a request for a bribe from someone in the Nigerian government, according to five people familiar with the matter and messages reviewed by The New York Times,” the report continued.

“He and a group of his Binance colleagues had just met with Nigerian legislators, who accused the company of tax violations and threatened to arrest its employees.”

The New York Times also revealed that Gambaryan and his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were subsequently arrested and detained on orders of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Anjarwalla managed to escape and has since been traced to Kenya.

Gambaryan has been transferred from a safe house to the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja since April 8. Both he and Binance are now facing charges of tax evasion and money laundering to the tune of $35.4 million.

However, in response to the allegation, Zakari Mijinyawa, spokesman for the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), assured that the Federal Government would follow due process.

In a message to the New York Times newspaper, Mijinyawa emphasised that the government would make its case “on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.”

“We are confident that Nigeria has a good case. Binance equally will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered,” he concluded.

Jose Peseiro, the former head coach of Nigeria’s senior national team, continues to explain his decision to overlook NPFL players, citing their inferiority to foreign-based counterparts.

During his 20-month tenure, no NPFL player earned a spot in competitive matches for the Super Eagles, despite fervent discussions regarding their inclusion.

Peseiro departed after leading the team to a commendable second-place finish in the African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, narrowly losing 1-2 to the host nation in the final.

Reflecting on his time with the Super Eagles, Peseiro emphasized the pressure to select NPFL talents but asserted his commitment to choosing the best players, especially after the team narrowly missed the World Cup.

“I watched many NPFL games, but none showcased the calibre of talent seen in foreign leagues. Quality must prevail over mere representation,” he remarked.

In a related development, former Super Eagles player Moses Kpakor urged Peseiro’s successor, Finidi George, to consider homegrown talents for national team selection.

Kpakor, renowned for his stints with BCC Lions and Abiola Babes, emphasized the importance of nurturing local talent and ensuring fair competition for national team spots.

“As a former NPFL player, I understand the value of giving home-based talents a chance. Finidi should prioritize merit over geography,” Kpakor asserted, advocating for inclusivity in player selection.

Popular Nigerian singer, Simisola Kosoko, popularly known by her stage name as Simi, has finally responded to flirtatious comments about her made by fellow artists Brymo and Samklef.

Speaking with Angela Yee in a recent interview, Simi expressed confusion over the intentions behind the duo’s comments, dismissing them as comedic rather than serious.

Recalls that Brymo sparked controversy last year after admitting that he had demanded sex from Simi before agreeing to collaborate with her for a project while she was unmarried. When Simi rejected his proposition, Brymo declined to work with her.

Similarly, music producer-turned-blogger Samklef recently admitted that he had been in love with Simi during their early days as struggling artists but refrained from pursuing a relationship to avoid mixing business with pleasure.

It can also be recalled that on both occasions, Simi’s husband and singer, Adekunle Gold, had protested against what he viewed as disrespect for his wife from both Brymo and Samklef.

However, responding to the jibes from the duo in the interview, Simi said: “I don’t know what these people [Brymo and Samklef] are going on about. The funny thing is that these are two different people, and I don’t know why they keep talking about me like that. When you even look at what they’re saying, you can’t even pick out anything. I’m still confused.”

She further emphasised that their remarks have no impact on her, highlighting her husband’s supportive role in the scenario.

“I just feel like it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t change anything. My husband is speaking out for me, and he’s fighting for his woman as he would.”

Simi also emphasised her indifference to the Brymo and Samklef’s comments, noting that she has nothing to hide.

“I don’t feel anything about this. It doesn’t impact me. I don’t have anything to hide. If you’re going to post that you asked me out, and so what? Or that I had an ex [laughs]. The whole thing, to me, is more comedy than anything else,” she stated.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Jesutega Onokpasa, has alleged that certain appointees of President Bola Tinubu are plotting to succeed him before the end of his tenure and are seriously wishing that he will not make it to 2027 for their selfish reasons.

He also accused them of responsibility in the current ordeal of former governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello and his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai.

Onokpasa, a lawyer and former member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who lamented the alleged hypocrisy, pull him down syndrome and anti-party activities going on in the governing party, laid curses on those he accused of wishing Tinubu dead.

He said, “If they don’t repent, Asiwaju will attend their funeral.”

He stated this in a video, where he addressed party members and drew their attention to the belief that the ongoing drama around the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) allegations against former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello and the continued attack on former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, were plans mapped out by these individuals to allegedly perfect their plans.

While expressing concern over ill treatments, selective prosecution and hounding meted out on some prominent chieftains of the party since the emergence of Tinubu’s presidency, Onokpasa alleged that the particular appointees he was referring to in Tinubu’s government were behind the ordeals of former Governors Yahaya Bello, Nasir El- Rufai and Abdullahi Ganduje in order to perfect their “satanic” succession plans, while allegedly wishing that the President would no longer be around by 2027.

Referring to a particular appointee of Tinubu whose name he did not mention, the APC chieftain said, “You drive el-Rufai away, you start hounding Ganduje, although there are other things involved, you start attacking Yahaya Bello, what did you do? You don’t have a mandate my friend, you are just an appointee… you think we don’t know what is going on?

“Listen, Asiwaju is a child of God. Asiwaju will rule this country for eight years. There is nothing anybody can do about that. He will rule this first four years, he will perform, Nigerians, again, will vote for him and next time around, we will win a majority of the total votes cast. So, all these satanic plans, plotting that our President will not make it to 2027, you are wasting your time. Get that through your head,” Onokpasa said.

The APC chieftain, who Nigerians know to be a die-hard supporter of Tinubu, bemoaned what he called the attitude of “using and dumping” people who worked for the victory of the president in 2023, while those who were against him and even insulted him, were being given priorities “over authentic supporters and genuine Batists.”

Onokpasa, who was also a member of the APC Presidential Legal Team and Chairman, Tinubu Media Support Group, said, “Of recent concern to me is the case of my younger brother, His Excellency, the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. In this party, we have had our brother, the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai basically chased out of our party despite what he did for us to make us win. Now, it is Yahaya Bello. A few weeks or months ago, it was our National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje that was basically almost being chased from our party.”

On the Bello-EFCC controversy, he said it was for the court to decide, stating, “Nobody is supporting corruption. However, we fight corruption according to law and you will not have a personal indifference with somebody and then you use the instrumentality of office to torment that person. We will not tolerate that in this party. We must not.”

He also lambasted a particular appointee that he portrayed to be high-handed, alleging that the appointee funded an opposition member against the APC candidate, Usman Ododo, during the Kogi State governorship election.

Jose Mourinho would love to manage Manchester United again but the club does not want to reappoint the Portuguese, according to the Manchester Evening News.

It is claimed the 61-year-old has told confidants he would “walk” to Manchester to manage United for a second time, having been sacked by the club in December 2018. 

Mourinho, who was sacked by Roma in January after two-and-a-half years in charge, is reportedly a friend of United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe but the two-time Champions League winner is not expecting an approach from his former club.

Mourinho’s reported interest in the Man Utd job comes after the Red Devils suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday which has left Erik ten Hag’s side eighth in the Premier League table.

Mourinho became Man Utd boss in May 2016 and won the Europa League and League Cup in his two-and-a-half years in the job.

The ex-Chelsea boss has since managed Tottenham and Roma, having won the Europa Conference League with the Italian side in 2022.

The Kano State Police Command has arrested 17 suspected forex hawkers during a raid in the Wappa Bureau De Change area of Fagge local government area on May 7, 2024.

Spokesperson of the Command, SP Abdullahi Kiyawa disclosed this in a statement.

Kiyawa said the operation was carried out in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), with the aim of stabilising the foreign exchange market and eliminate unauthorised operations.

The police raid targeted locations where foreign exchange transactions were taking place, ultimately resulting in the arrest of 29 individuals.

After thorough screening, 12 persons were released over their proven innocence from lack of evidence, while the remaining 17 were taken into custody.

The statement partly reads, “At the end of the operation, a total of twenty-nine (29) people were arrested out of which twelve (12) were screened out for lack of evidence while Seventeen (17) were arrested with the following exhibits recovered; (1) Sum of Sixty-eight Thousand (68,000) CFA, and (2) Thirty (30) Rupees (Indian Currency).

“Further investigation revealed that the seventeen (17) suspects were operating under one Association of unlicensed Bureau De Change and they will be charged to Court for prosecution,” the statement read.

Kiyawa said essence of the operation was to flush out elements that operates illegally in a bid to stabilise the foreign exchange market in the country.

The arrest excludes genuine Bureau de Change operators who carry on their legitimate businesses in their offices, the police spokesman explained.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Gumel commended the combined efforts of the police and DSS operatives for their success in the operation.

He emphasised the importance of upholding the law while maintaining legitimate operations within the financial sector and warned that illegal practices will not be tolerated.

The statement also stated that the suspects will be prosecuted, while encouraging the public to report any suspicious movements or activities to the police.

The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project complied 100 per cent with the Procurement Act.

Umahi made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday by his spokesman, Orji Uchenna Orji while reacting to the accusations made by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Recall that Atiku had accused the Bola Tinubu government of awarding the contract to HiTech construction without competitive bidding but rather due to a personal relationship between the president and chairman of the firm.

The vice president also accused President Tinubu of promoting propaganda and putting his personal interest above that of Nigeria.

Reacting, Umahi stated that the project was awarded based on the EPC+ F procurement process, stressing that the project is an unsolicited bid.

The minister also berated the former vice president for his comments over the landmark project and for linking the award of the coastal highway to nepotism

He added that Atiku’s accusations were, “intrinsically superficial, baseless, self-serving and politically motivated to imprint malice in the minds of unsuspecting members of the public, especially the gullible.

Umahi said Atiku’s claim that Seyi Tinubu, the son of the President has an interest in CDK Integrated Industries Ltd is not tenable as the company that did bid for the project was Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd.

The statement read, “For the avoidance of doubt, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project complied 100 per cent with the provisions of the Procurement Act and was awarded based on the EPC+ F procurement process, that is to say, the project is an unsolicited bid done on EPC+F.

“Under this model of procurement, the investor provides all the designs, part of the financing and construction, while the FGN pays counterpart funds. The bid of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project came through this process.

“The ministry received the bid, worked on it, and sent the same to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). The BPP worked on it in accordance with the stipulations of the Procurement Act and came up with a competitive price slightly lower than the ministry’s price and even lower than the cost of similar projects awarded five years ago, including the Bodo-Bonny project awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. The BPP issued a certificate of “No Objection” on the project to the Federal Ministry of Works as required by the Procurement Act.

“Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works took the certificate of “No Objection” to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and the FEC deliberated on and approved the same. It would be recalled that the FEC had first approved the project model on EPC+F before the process of procurement even started.

“This is a testament that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, section 1, followed due process.

“The claim of the former Vice President that the son of the President of Nigeria has interest in CDK Integrated Industries Ltd is not tenable as the company that did bid for the project was Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd which has a full legal personality, as it were. Again, these claims are nothing but a digression showing absolute frustration of a false accuser who is bereaved of facts to substantiate his claims.”

Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s government for the imposition of the cybersecurity levy on Nigerians.

He said the government was interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

Obi accused the government of coming up with policies that not only impoverish the citizens but also make the country’s economic environment less competitive.

 
According to him, the imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on Nigerians will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.

In a post on his X handle on Wednesday, Obi questioned when the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, has become a revenue collecting centre.

The former Anambra State governor said it was unthinkable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government.

He said: “The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth.

“This does not only amount to multiple taxation on banking transactions, which are already subject to various other taxes including stamp duties but negates the Government’s avowed commitment to reduce the number of taxes and streamline the tax system.

“The imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit hence will further erode whatever is left of their remaining capital, after the impact of the Naira devaluation and high inflation rate.

“It is inconceivable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government. Policies such as this not only impoverish the citizens but make the country’s economic environment less competitive.

“At a time when the government should be reducing taxes to curb inflation, the government is instead introducing new taxes. And when did the office of the NSA become a revenue collecting centre?

“And why should that purely national security office receive returns on a specific tax as stated in the new cybersecurity law?”