French Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint Germain, are in the pole position to sign Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen, in this summer transfer window.
The future of Victor Osimhen has been uncertain since last December following his contract extension with Napoli which comes with an agreement that the Nigeria international is free to leave if a suitor pays his release clause.

Osimhen’s release clause in the contract which will expire on June 30, 2026, is said to be worth around €130 million. The said amount has scared most of his suitors away including Chelsea who initially looked like the favourites to sign him.

Even Arsenal and Manchester United who were reportedly ready for a player and cash swap deal with Napoli are yet to submit any concrete deal for the 25-year-old forward.

A post by transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano on his X page earlier today, July 17, confirmed that PSG and Napoli are in advanced talks over the future of Victor Osimhen.

If the ongoing talks are a success, Osimhen will become a direct replacement for French forward, Kylian Mbappe, who left the Parc des Princes for Real Madrid on free this summer.

The transfer expert wrote: “Paris Saint-Germain are advancing in talks with Victor Osimhen’s camp as their interest is now getting concrete.

“Osimhen is keen on joining PSG and open to the move if they can agree on a deal/fee with Napoli.

“He’d be very high on PSG’s list if one centre striker left.”

Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former NBA player and father of Basketball Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant, has died at the age of 69, La Salle University announced on Tuesday.

Bryant played at the Philadelphia school from 1973-1975 and coached the Explorers from 1993-96 after a career that saw him play from 1975-1983 for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, then-San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets as well as in Europe.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the school said in a statement. “He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”

Bryant, a forward, played in Italy from 1983 to 1991 before closing his playing days with French side Mulhouse in 1991.

For his NBA career, Bryant averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a game.

As a head coach, Joe Bryant went 40-24 over parts of three seasons with the Women’s NBA Los Angeles Sparks. He also coached in Asia on clubs in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Bangkok and Fukuoka.

Kobe Bryant, born while his father was playing for the 76ers, was a five-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medal winner and the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player who spent his entire NBA career from 1996-2016 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lakers legend Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star guard, was killed in a 2020 helicopter crash at age 41.

The Legislative arm of Egor Local Government Area in Edo State has impeached the council’s chairman, Hon. Eghe Ogbemudia, over alleged padding of the council’s supplementary budget and other allegations of corruption.

The impeachment was consequent upon a vote of no confidence against the chairman during a session of the legislative arm of the council on Tuesday.

The impeachment sitting was presided over by the Leader of the House and Councillor representing Ward 3, Godwin Uwadiae Edigin.

Shortly after the legislative house roll call, the Councillor representing Ward 2, Rt. Hon. Stella Ogida, moved a motion for a no-confidence vote against the chairman over allegations of gross misconduct.

“This is the 10th month since our inauguration and we, the Councillors of Egor Legislative Arm do not have our offices. We have also uncovered the padding of the council’s supplementary budget to the tune of ₦1.7 billion. The Chairman did not involve the councillors in the preparation and approval the council’s supplementary budget. After reviewing these actions and many other acts of gross misconduct, I want to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman,” Ogida said.

Seconding the motion, Hon. Ambassador Elliot Inneh, Councillor representing Ward 9, said: “We have tried to reach out to the Honourable Chairman to no avail. Before us today, we have budget proposal amounting to N6.054bn that was passed through this hallowed chambers. To our greatest surprise, we found out that the Chairman in connivance with erstwhile Leader of the House, went behind our back and padded the budget to the tune of N7.896bn.”

The leader called for a voice vote, with the majority of \councillors conceding to the motion.

Five suspected cultists have been arrested at the Kogi State Polytechnic, the school’s management said on Wednesday.

The suspects were nabbed on Tuesday during the ongoing second semester examination for the 2023/2024 academic session.

Disclosing this in a statement, the polytechnic’s spokesman, Uredo Omale, said three students of the institution were also apprehended by the school’s security team, for allegedly peddling hard drugs among other offences.

He identified the suspects as HND II students in the Department of Business Administration, giving their details as Ajayi Oluwaseun Oladipo (Matric No.2022/HND/BUS/275), Isenre Elijah Ayomide (Matric No.2022/HND/BUS/146) and Omonijo Sunday (Matric. No2022/HND/BUS/181).

“The arrested five (5) non-students who are all from Ekiti State but based in Abuja are Otitoju Christopher, Babatope Ayomide, Isaiah Babatunde, Shina Ayodeji, and Makinde Olalekan,” the statement read.

“The arrest of the suspects was a result of proactive measures put in place by the Management of the institution to checkmate infiltration of cultists and other outlawed groups and individuals who were reported to be planning to enter the campus with guns and other dangerous weapons in connivance with some cyber-crime suspects popularly known as yahoo.

“Their intent, it was gathered, was to cause harm to their targets and commotion on the campus during the ongoing second-semester examination.”

See the full statement below:

KOGI POLY SECURITY TEAM APPREHENDS SUSPECTED CULTISTS, DRUG PEDDLERS DURING  ONGOING  SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION

— HANDS OVER SUSPECTS TO THE POLICE

The joint security team of Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja, on Tuesday, 16th July, 2024, arrested three (3) students of the institution and five  (5) others suspected to be members of secret society and hard drug peddlers during the ongoing second-semester examination for 2023/2024 academic session.

The apprehended students who are all of HND II in the Department of Business Administration include:

 

Ajayi Oluwaseun Oladipo (Matric No.2022/HND/BUS/275), Isenre Elijah Ayomide (Matric No.2022/HND/BUS/146) and Omonijo Sunday (Matric. No2022/HND/BUS/181).

The arrested five (5) non-students who are all from Ekiti State but based in Abuja are: Otitoju Christopher, Babatope Ayomide, Isaiah Babatunde, Shina Ayodeji and Makinde Olalekan.

The arrest of the suspects was as a result of proactive measures put in place by the Management of the institution to checkmate infiltration of cultists and other outlawed groups and individuals who were reported to be planning to enter the campus with guns and other dangerous weapons in connivance with some cyber-crime suspects popularly known as yahoo.

Their intent, it was gathered, was to cause harms to their targets and commotion on the campus during the ongoing second-semester examination.

This was in the guise of their end-of-examination graduation “celebration” rituals which the Management had earlier banned due to security concerns.

In the build-up to the ongoing second-semester examination, the Polytechnic Management got intelligence reports that some bad elements suspected to be into cybercrime, cultism and illicit drugs had perfected a plan to import their members from other states and institutions to cause mayhem on the campus.

To prevent the occurrence, Management decided to intensify further security strategies by banning all forms of the end-of-the second-semester examination on the campus in whatever guise.

This decision was duly communicated to the students through a circular issued by the Chief Security Officer, containing the outlawed activities during and after the examination.

The circular was issued after a series of meetings with the Students Union Government (SUG), the National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS) and the Departmental Presidents to sensitise and caution the students to desist from any form of inimical behaviour during the examination for their own good.

The Polytechnic Management also took further steps with meetings and setting up of the Examination Security Management Committee with all Deans, Chief Security Officer (CSO), Students Representatives, the Chief Imam and the Polytechnic Chaplain as members, and mandated to devise security strategies against the planned infiltration by bad elements and ensure orderly conduct of examination.

In addition, the services of the security agencies such as the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), and the Vigilante Group were sought and their personnel were deployed.

One important additional proactive security strategy adopted by the Committee was to prevent students from using their cars and motorcycles beyond the designated car park on the campus during the examination.

Furthermore, all vehicles were thoroughly searched and more plain clothes security operatives were deployed to monitor movement of those that have no business on the campus during the examination.

These security strategies and efforts paid off with the arrest of the three (3) students and their five (5) imported non – students mercenaries .

The Polytechnic Management started observing a dangerous sign on Monday 15th July, 2024 when the Department of Public Administration HND II students wrote their last paper.

The Management got an intelligence report of the infiltration of some notorious  old students of 2018/2019 sets who are suspected to be cultists alongside some imported mercenaries from Edo and Delta states that came that day to cause mayhem using the style of motorcade, spraying of naira notes while seating on their vehicles on the highway.

In the process, there were gunshots from the direction of “Always Petrol station” adjacent the Polytechnic main gate where the imported mercenaries were allegedly camped since the campus was not comfortable for them because of the security measures put in place.

To prevent a repeat of the Monday incident, more security strategies were  deployed ahead of Tuesday 16th July, 2024, when the HND II students from the Department of Accountancy, Library and Information Sciences as well as the Business Administration were scheduled to write their final papers.

It was the security arrangement and tip-off that led to the arrest of the three (3)  students and their hired mercenaries who claimed to hail from Ekiti State, but based in Abuja.

The suspects were intercepted at the main entrance of the Polytechnic gate while on their motorcade. The driver of the second car, however, jumped out of the vehicle and escaped.

Some suspected hard drugs wrapped in a polythene bag, papers cut to sizes supposedly for wrapping of drugs and one beret cap with a symbol suspected to be that of a cult group were seen in the car and in possession of the occupants of the two (2) intercepted cars.

In all, the items recovered from the apprehended suspects include  two cars (2); a light green coloured Mercedes Benz Saloon with Reg. Number:  EKITI STATE “MUE – 598 – AE” and a black coloured Toyota Lexus Saloon with Reg. Number from: EBONYI STATE “SKA – 78 – AE”,different types of drugs, remnant of some naira notes amounting to N14000 naira, beret cap with a symbol suspected to be that of a cult and an MP3 player  were handed over to the Nigeria Police at the ‘B’ Division in Lokoja.

Prior to the coming on board of the current leadership of the institution under Professor Salisu Ogbo Usman, the Polytechnic was notorious for cult parades at the end of every session, and with cult groups demonstrating their might through gun shots and killing of marked targets to the extent that the past Management, Lecturers and other staff used to abandon the campus for fear of their lives as cultists operated unchallenged during such period.

Within such past  period, a Lecturer was stabbed and killed on the campus of the Polytechnic.

All those social vices and unacceptable conduct have stopped in Kogi State Polytechnic in the last four (4) years that the current Rector came on board.

The Rector and his Management team constantly adopted a proactive approach in tackling security challenges effectively.

Evidently, the notorious elements that were hitherto operating like demigods on the campus have been chased away.

The Rector commended the efforts of the Examination Security Management Committee, the Joint Security team and the Intelligence Team for a job well-done through teamwork  for nipping the dangerous intent in the bud.

The Rector also used the opportunity to admonish the ND II students to be vigilant of any bad elements that may infilterate into their group and report same to the Management through the Security Unit.

The Rector further advised parents and guardians to caution their children and wards by paying close attention to their behaviours and material acquisition without known sources of income, the type of companies they keep as well as their movement against involvement in criminal activities as those who are caught within the spheres of the Polytechnic with untoward characters would not be spared.

He also warned non-students who are interested in coming to the campus for cult and other related social vices to keep off or face the full wrath of the law.

Uredo Omale

Director, Public Relations and Protocol.

Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.

The planned arraignment of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State on alleged N82 billion fraud charges took a dangerous dimension on Wednesday when two senior advocates engaged in a war of words during the proceedings.

The two lawyers are Abdulwahab Mohammed, standing for Bello, SAN, and Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, standing for the federal government.

Trouble started when Mohammed announced his appearance for the former governor and left out his colleague, Adeola Adedipe, SAN.

However, the federal government counsel opposed the exclusion on the grounds that Adedipe should be included in the proceedings until discharged by the court.

Adedipe interrupted the argument of the federal government lawyer, insisting that he was not prepared to be part of the proceedings.

At this stage, Mohammed interjected and announced that Adedipe had filed a notice of withdrawal from the proceedings.

As Justice Emeka Nwite was about to deliver a ruling on the contentious appearance matter, Bello’s lawyer stood up and requested to be allowed to stay outside the proceedings if the court proceeded with the ruling.

Fuming with anger, Mohammed openly called Pinheiro, SAN, a rough lawyer who takes delight in misleading the court.

His attempt to make further abusive remarks about the federal government lawyer was aborted, but Mohammed refused to apologise, insisting that he would leave the court should the judge go ahead with the ruling.

When tempers rose beyond control, Justice Emeka Nwite, out of anger, abruptly brought the proceedings to an end by walking straight into his chamber.

At the time of this report, tension was still high in the courtroom.

Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu has said that his husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has deep love for Nigerians despite the economic hardship the citizens are experiencing.

The first lady made this known when she paid the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu a courtesy visit, according to a statement on Tuesday by her Media Aide, Busola Kukoyi.

She assured that President Tinubu would do well to address the challenges facing the country.

“I assure you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will do well for this country.

“He loves Nigeria, he loves Nigerians and will do the best for them”.

On his part, Oba Akiolu urged Nigerians to be patient with Tinubu’s administration.

“All that I am saying and appealing is that we should pray for Nigeria and the president. We should be patient. Everything good needs prayers,” he said.

This comes as Nigerians grapple with high headline and food inflation which stood at 34.19 percent and 40.87 respectively.

Consequently, the purchasing power of Nigerians has continued to wane as hunger bites harder.

DAILY POST reports that Nigerians have planned a nationwide protest starting from August 1, 2024.

The police in Kogi has confirmed the arrest and detention of a police officer, Insp Aminu Mohammed, for alleged robbery and car theft.

The spokesman, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.

”Mohammed, a crime officer with the “C” Division at 200 Unit, Lokoja, is cooling his heels at the A Division of the command.

“Already, the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Bethrand Onuoha, has ordered investigation into the involvement of the inspector in the crimes labelled against him,” Ovye-Aya said.

A reliable source told NAN that Muhammed was in police net for robberies around his duty station in Lokoja metropolis.

“The stolen car was found in the workshop of the policeman’s panel beater, Arome Moses, who was already working on changing the car colour at Ochadamu village.

“Those who know the vehicle and were aware of the robbery incident that occurred in the owner’s house on June 14 quickly raised an alarm upon sighting the car.

“An alarm was raised, and the panel beater was arrested by policemen of the Quick Response Unit (QRU) attached to the Police Area Command, Idah.

“On interrogation, the panel beater spilled the beans, and the officer was invited and apprehended.

“The car plate number had already been changed to an Abuja number just as a car dealer’s receipt was backdated to 2020 and presented by the officer as evidence that he bought it,” the source said. (NAN)

Thousands of students at the University of Ibadan have protested against a hike in school fees and other issues.

As early as 8 a.m., the visibly angry students moved in large numbers to all the entrances of the institution and blocked them.

Both academic and non-academic staff were locked outside the gates.

After blocking all the entrances, they moved from one faculty to another to ensure that academic activities were totally paralysed.

The students who warned sternly that there should be no video recording of the protest explained that the school management has not been fair to them.

Some of them who spoke with Vanguard said three issues compelled them to troop out.

A male student said, “We are protesting against injustice and insensitivity of the state school authorities to our plight.”

“You can imagine the authorities saying they will be shedding power henceforth, which means there are days we will be in darkness. How do they expect us to study?”.

“Secondly, they have hiked school fees astronomically to an unimaginable proportion. Do they want us to abandon our studies? Our parents are saying there is no money. Even feeding is difficult and we are still trying to wriggle out of this they are bringing hike in tuition fees. We cannot take this any longer. Enough is enough”.

“The third issue is the victimization of some of our colleagues who protested last time. The police have arrested them and up to now, they are still being detained for saying no to injustice. They are hurting us and they don’t want us to complain.”

Three female students who are in science said the situation is worse for them as they have to pay through their noses.

One of them said when she gained admission, she paid around N78,000 but now she is asked to pay over N300,000; some are paying N200,000.

The event disrupted the early take-off of a programme scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Department of Economics, CBN Hall.

The students went to the premises and shut all the gates, while a few staff members who managed to trek from the gates scampered for safety.

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has revealed why corruption continues to thrive in Nigeria.

Ganduje, who spoke yesterday at a high-level meeting with national executives of political parties and other stakeholders in Abuja, organised by The Kukah Centre (TKC), said corruption thrives in the country because of its weak institutions.

The former Governor of Kano State said until this circle is broken and the institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and political parties, are made strong again; corruption will continue in the country.

Ganduje further attributed political corruption to dishonest poor Nigerians and others.

Ganduje emphasized that pointing fingers at politicians and public officeholders would not resolve the problem of weak institutions in Nigeria.

The APC chieftain, who is embroiled in a series of corruption cases in Kano, said, “The major problem we have in Nigeria is that of weak institutions because we are just going on an atrocious circle. Unless we break that circle and make our institutions strong, we are just blaming the politicians. Political parties are also weak, and because of that weakness, corruption thrives.

“Let us not be blaming the politicians, officeholders, those who win elections. Yes, we blame them but let us look at the security system, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that oversees the election.

“These institutions man the polling booths. So tell me, can you win an election free? Even the poor man is not honest. If we are to go into details of what happens practically, you will see voters saying they cannot vote until they are paid.’’

All Is A Work In Progress – Bishop Kukah Says

On his part, the founder of The Kukah Centre (TKC), Bishop Mathew Kukah, who led a panel discussion, advocated for the importance of reflecting on past errors and using them as a foundation to strengthen institutions and democracy in Nigeria via various methods.

He said, “Whether it is the judiciary or bureaucracy, all is a work in progress, and the most important thing is for us to learn the mistakes of the past and then develop the mechanism for ensuring that things don’t continue to repeat themselves.

“So, if you ask who built institutions? Institutions are supposed to be a mirror reflecting the aspirations, the fears, the hopes and the anxieties of an entire people. That means that for the police to become an institution and for the bureaucracy to become an institution, Nigerians must collectively and individually learn to say no to things going contrary to the principles of that institution.

“So, I think it is everybody’s business really for Nigeria to have stronger institutions.’’

Bishop Kukah commended the European Union for strengthening democracy in Nigeria, especially in developing the Political Party Management Toolkit (PPMT).

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, dismissed a lawsuit that sought the removal of Arabic inscriptions from naira notes.

Justice Yellin Bogoro ruled against the suit filed by Lagos-based lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, who argued that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) used Arabic inscriptions in bad faith.

Omirhobo filed the suit in 2020, arguing that the presence of Arabic inscriptions on naira notes depicted Nigeria as an Islamic state, which contradicted the country’s constitutional status as a secular state.

Omirhobo, who said he could not understand the Arabic inscriptions, had asked the court to direct the CBN to replace them with English or one of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages: Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo.

He contended that the Arabic inscriptions violated sections 10 and 55 of the Nigerian Constitution, which established Nigeria as a secular state.

He asked the court to restrain the CBN from “further approving, printing and issuing naira notes with Arabic inscriptions, bearing in mind that Nigeria is a secular state.”

In response, the CBN filed a counter-affidavit, asserting that the Arabic (Ajami) inscriptions on the naira notes did not carry any religious significance or suggest any alignment with Arabian culture.

The CBN clarified that these inscriptions, dating back to the colonial era, were retained to assist those without Western education, particularly in regions where Arabic script was widely understood.

“The inscriptions on the country’s currencies do not and at no time have they threatened the secular statehood of the nation nor have they violated the Constitution of Nigeria, as every design and inscription was finalised with the approval of the relevant government bodies,” the apex bank said.

The CBN explained that the “Ajami inscriptions” on the naira notes dated back to the colonial era “and they do not imply that Arabic is an official language in Nigeria.”

The CBN explained that the naira notes have featured Ajami inscriptions since 1973 when the currency’s name changed from pounds to naira. The bank emphasized that removing these inscriptions would incur significant costs for taxpayers and the Federal Government.

The apex bank said, “The naira notes retained the inscriptions with Ajami since 1973 when the name of the Nigerian currency was changed to naira from pounds.

“The Ajami was inscribed on the country’s currency by the colonialists to aid those without Western education in certain parts of the country, who, back then, constituted a larger part of the populace.

“The Ajami is not a symbol or mark of Islam but an inscription to aid the populace uneducated in Western education in ease of trade.”

In his judgment, Justice Bogoro acknowledged Omirhobo’s legal standing to file the suit but determined that he failed to prove the CBN acted in bad faith by including Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes. Consequently, the court dismissed the suit.

Although the suit was dismissed, Omirhobo noted that the judge advised the CBN to consider removing Arabic inscriptions from the ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 notes, given that they have already been removed from the ₦5, ₦10, ₦50, and ₦100 notes.

The judge highlighted that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country where no religion should be deemed superior.

Omirhobo has also filed a similar suit against the Nigerian Army, seeking the removal of Arabic inscriptions from its logo. The Army, like the CBN, has opposed the suit and requested its dismissal.