Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has told the Chairman of the ousted Committee of the Rivers APC, Tony Okocha, that former Minister, Chibuike Amaechi will not have a hand in sacking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

Recall that Okocha was recently quoted as saying that, “There is an intention to throw up Amaechi’s man and then he (Amaechi) becomes the APC leader and then uses the party to fight Mr President in 2027.”

Reacting through a statement made available to the media on Sunday, Eze cautioned Okocha to refrain from using Amaechi to cash out from his paymasters and their allies who feel threatened at the mere mention of the name and have been working surreptitiously to make him a subject of lampoon through smear campaigns and defamatory insinuations.

Eze reminded Okocha that “the cascade of administrative ineptitude, policy summersaults and multi-layer corruption that has fanned the embers of hyper-unemployment, insecurity, food price hike and more form a veritable mountain of weapons with which Nigerians are armed to fight and oust Tinubu from office in 2027.”

The APC Chief said “it is even foolish for a mere mortal like Okocha to be talking about 2027, three years away from today, when no one is sure of the next minute of his life; like the Bible said in James 4:14 ….”

Furthermore, Eze urged Okocha and his irks to consult Tinubu and those who formed APC to ascertain who truly is the Leader of APC in Rivers and South South, noting that at the formation of APC, Tinubu was made the National Leader of APC, while Amaechi emerged South South leader and despite the Buhari’s entrance as President, Tinubu clinked to his position as national leader.

He admonished Okocha and those allegedly sponsoring him to “be concerned about the fact that the country once known as Africa’s giant has collapsed in all facets under the nose of Tinubu, and channel energy towards fashioning out solutions, if they have any, to the gamut of problems they have created impeding Nigeria’s progress.”

Eze accused Okocha of mobilizing a paid-protest in support of Tinubu which gulped over fifty million Naira without any effect, after his ouster by the court in order to remain in the good book of his paymasters and continually curry their cheers.

Former Super Eagles of Nigeria tactician Samson Siasia has expressed his interest in returning to the national team days after regaining his right to work in the football sector.

Samson Siasia, who was banned from football for five years due to match-fixing, is now eligible to resume his coaching career and he has his eyes the vacant Super Eagles job.

Currently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has not yet appointed a new head coach for the Super Eagles following the exit of coach Finidi George, who is now in charge of Rivers United.

In a recent interview on Kennis 104.1FM’s Sports Salsa, Samson Siasia hinted that he is open to managing the Nigerian national team again.

When asked about the possibility of returning to the Super Eagles, Siasia said: “I am not a messiah, however, we need to sit down and identify our priorities.

“We will see how things unfold.”

Recall that Siasia, 57, succeeded Swedish coach Lars Lagerback in November 2010 as Super Eagles coach but was relieved of his duties in October 2011 after failing to qualify the team for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He later had a brief stint with the team in 2016 following the resignation of Sunday Oliseh.

Siasia’s potential return to the Super Eagles might see him serve as an assistant coach to Augustine Eguavoen who is likely to be an Interim coach of the team for their 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda in September 2024.

Napoli have received a €65 million offer for Victor Osimhen from Al Ahli.

The Saudi Arabian club are the first to officially send in an offer for Osimhen.

The Super Eagles striker is expected to leave the Serie A club and was again dropped for Sunday’s league clash with Bologna at home.

Posting on X football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, said: “Al Ahli have submitted an initial bid to Napoli for Victor Osimhen for package in excess of €65m.

“Napoli are prepared to let him go but no agreement between Nigerian striker and Al Ahli so far.

“Deal still far on player side; Osimhen will consider options + not open to loan.”

Harry Kane played a pivotal role in Bayern Munich’s 3-2 comeback victory over Wolfsburg on Sunday, marking a successful Bundesliga debut for new manager Vincent Kompany.

Bayern initially took the lead in the 19th minute with a goal from Jamal Musiala, but Wolfsburg quickly turned the tide with two goals from Lovro Majer early in the second half.


Despite Bayern’s shaky defense, Kane helped rally the team. In the 65th minute, Kane’s header forced Wolfsburg’s Jakub Kaminski into scoring an own goal, leveling the match.

The English striker then assisted Serge Gnabry’s decisive 82nd-minute goal, securing the win for Bayern.

Kane, starting his first match since the Euro 2024 final, played a key role in the opener by setting up Sacha Boey, whose pass found Musiala for an easy tap-in.

Musiala now boasts six goals in eight games against Wolfsburg, making them his favorite opponent.

Wolfsburg responded strongly after halftime. A foul by Boey on Tiago Tomas led to a penalty, which Majer converted to equalize.

Moments later, Majer scored again, giving Wolfsburg the lead after capitalizing on a defensive error by Kim Min-jae.

Kane’s influence was felt again as his header, deflected off Kaminski, tied the game at 2-2. He later assisted Gnabry for the winning goal, ensuring Bayern’s victory.

Wolfsburg, Bundesliga champions in 2009, have not beaten Bayern since 2015, extending their winless streak against the Munich giants to 21 matches.

Noni Madueke was the standout player as Chelsea secured a commanding 6-2 victory over Wolves, marking Enzo Maresca’s first Premier League win as Chelsea’s manager.

After suffering a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in his Premier League debut last weekend, Maresca saw his team respond in spectacular fashion.

The former Leicester City manager, who took over from Mauricio Pochettino in the off-season, guided Chelsea to their first league victory following a UEFA Conference League play-off win against Servette on Thursday, setting the stage for a goal-filled performance at Molineux.

Chelsea wasted no time, taking the lead just 98 seconds into the match. A Cole Palmer inswinging corner was accidentally flicked on by Matheus Cunha, leaving Nicolas Jackson free to head in from close range at the back post.

Wolves equalized in the 27th minute when Matheus Cunha, who had tormented Chelsea last season with a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge, scored again.

The Brazilian took advantage of Moises Caicedo’s mistake, after Caicedo lost possession, allowing Rayan Ait-Nouri to break forward and set up Cunha for a powerful shot past Robert Sanchez.

Chelsea regained their advantage just before halftime when Cole Palmer took advantage of a flick-on from Nicolas Jackson, expertly lobbing Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa to make it 2-1.

However, Wolves leveled the score again just before the break. Chelsea failed to clear Ait-Nouri’s free-kick, allowing Toti to head the ball across goal to Jorgen Strand Larsen, who tapped it in from close range.

In the second half, Chelsea took control of the match. In the 49th minute, Palmer assisted Madueke, whose shot deflected off Ait-Nouri and found the net, putting Chelsea ahead 3-2.

Madueke scored his second goal just nine minutes later, calmly finishing through Sa’s legs after another run from Palmer.

Madueke completed his hat-trick with a similar finish, once again set up by Palmer, effectively silencing the Wolves fans.

Joao Felix, who made his debut after a permanent move from Atletico Madrid, came off the bench to round off the victory in the 80th minute. The Portuguese forward fired a shot into the top corner after being assisted by former Wolves player Pedro Neto.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has lambasted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the rise in human rights abuses in the country.

Atiku stated this in a release signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, lamenting that citizens were being arrested in a Gestapo manner without the knowledge of their relatives.

He said Tinubu has turned against the people by allowing the Department of State Services, DSS, the Police and even the military to abuse the rights of citizens without any consequences.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate in the last general election said the most affected since Tinubu took office have been journalists whose only crime is reporting the news and exposing government indiscretion.

He argued that the Cyber Crime Prevention Act 2015 has a tool for abducting Nigerian citizens.

“The dangerous trend of enforced disappearances has become a national embarrassment for a country which claims to be practising democracy. On May 1, 2024, Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism went missing and was presumed abducted by kidnappers until he was later discovered to be in police custody on the orders of IGP Kayode Egbetokun.

“Ojukwu’s crime was that he exposed the corruption of a government official who currently serves in Tinubu’s administration. On July 23, the DSS arrested one Aliyu Sanusi in Sama Road of Sokoto, the state capital for printing and distributing materials ahead of the #EndBadGovernanceProtest. Even the arrest and release of the former BBC Pidgin Editor and current West Africa Regional Editor of the Conversation, Adejuwon Soyinka, clearly shows a pattern, whose objective is to intimidate journalists for speaking the truth to this government.

“Now, the police have arrested Bristol Tamunobiefiri, who owns the PIDOM Nigeria blog on X, formerly Twitter. After detaining him for over two weeks, he was granted an administrative bail, which would be impossible to meet. This is despite the fact that the Appeal Court, in the case of EFCC V. Emem Uboh (2022) LPEIR – 57968 (CA) held that administrative bail is illegal. Bristol should, therefore, be arraigned in court immediately or released.”

Atiku urged Tinubu to take cases of human rights abuses seriously or Nigeria would remain at risk of being slammed with sanctions by foreign nations.

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has informed potential suitors that he wants to be placed on £500,000 weekly wages, Soccernet.ng reports.

Osimhen’s transfer saga has continued to rage on, with the Nigeria striker still in Napoli’s books despite numerous links with some of the top clubs in Europe.

The Nigerian has drawn interest from clubs like Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and Al Hilal, but it has been all talks.

This summer, the teams interested in Osimhen appear to have been streamlined to just three, with PSG, Arsenal, and Chelsea in the mix.

Still, the issue has dragged on throughout the summer. Three weeks ago, strong reports emerged that the Nigerian striker had agreed on personal terms with PSG, but the French champions failed to cut a deal with Napoli, who are asking for over £120 million.

Those talks have since cooled off, and it now appears like Arsenal and Chelsea are in the driving seat. Still, none of them have made headway, and it could be due to Osimhen’s massive wage demands.

According to a report from SunSport on Saturday, Osimhen is asking for £500,000 per week, which Arsenal and Chelsea consider astronomical.

£500,000 per week for Osimhen would see him displace Kevin De Bruyne, who is the highest-paid Premier League player with a £400,000-weekly pay.

If the deal goes through, it would also make Osimhen the highest paid player in the history of the English Premier League. With just five days until the end of the transfer market, Osimhen and his camp have to find a solution so he can start playing top level football again.

The federal government has approved the dismissal of workers in the public and private sectors with fake degree certificates obtained from Benin and Togo Republics.

The minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, who disclosed this during a press conference to celebrate his one year in office in Abuja on Friday, said the measures were approved during a recent federal executive council meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

He said the decision is part of the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee set up by the federal government to investigate an undercover report published by DAILY NIGERIAN in December.

The report exposed how how degree certificates from Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, ESGT, Cotonou, Benin Republic, were obtained by a DAILY NIGERIAN undercover reporter, Umar Audu, in less than two months.

He also used the certificate to participate in the National Youth Service Scheme, NYSC, despite having participated in the scheme legitimately almost five years earlier.
Mr Mamman, however, said most of the institutions attended by Nigerian students from the two countries are not licensed to offer degree programs.

The minister said, “One of the things we did in the course of the year was — remember when information broke out about some of our students going to neighbouring countries —some not even going at all — to obtain certificates.

“The ministry set up a committee to look into that; the committee came up with a detailed review; that review was sent to the federal executive council about a month ago, which approved some of the recommendations from the ministry.

“Now the recommendations will be implemented along with other ministries and agencies affected, including NYSC, Immigration.

“Because we have to take some major decisions here, some staff who are affected faced disciplinary measures, and that the whole unit went through some kind of review.

“But by and large, we can’t have in our midst people who procure fake certificates and to compete with our students who graduated from our universities and polytechnics through their sweat, some spent four, five, six, or more years going out to compete with people who procure certificates right here without going anywhere, for a lot of them.

“So what the FEC now approves is that, through the data, that NYSC has, about 21,684 students that are parading fake certificates from Benin Republic, obtained between 2019 to 2023.

“Togo is about 1,105. How did that happen? They simply attend schools, which are not recognised in those countries.

“Remember, this point is extremely important. The non-recognition itself is in those countries. They are not institutions recognised to offer degree programs in those countries.

“Instead, some of our parents, take their wards to these institutions, and of course there is no way we would recognise qualifications which are not recognised in those countries.

“In the case of Togo, we have three universities that are officially approved and licensed to offer degrees, and in Benin, there are about five of them.

“So anyone who didn’t attend these universities is parading a fake certificate.
“And from 2017, anybody who attended a university solely run in English is wasting his time because it’s not an approved university. That is their policy.

“But a lot of our countrymen went there—some didn’t go anyway; remember, these numbers are just what we have, a lot of them didn’t even bother to go to NYSC.

“The number may be more Some who attempted to but couldn’t succeed in the screening process disappeared into thin air.
“So in the final analysis, what the federal government approved is that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, will issue a circular to all employers, whether public or private, to fish out anybody with a certificate from these institutions—that circular probably would have been out by now.
“And the Head of Service, has also been mandated to fish out from the public service anybody who is parading certificate from these institutions.

“So this is the decision of the federal government on this matter”.

As the 2027 presidential election approaches, President Bola Tinubu has reportedly initiated efforts to win back the support of northern politicians who have expressed dissatisfaction with his administration.

A northerner politician who spoke with Punch on condition of anonymity disclosed that Vice President, Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje have been tasked with reaching out to aggrieved northern stakeholders.

This move comes after several northern political figures voiced concerns about the Tinubu administration’s perceived neglect of northern interests.

Key issues raised by northern politicians include alleged marginalization in federal appointments and governance.

These concerns have led to significant discontent, with some northern leaders openly expressing regret for supporting Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.

The source said, “Some political bigwigs were interested in certain positions but were not given them, and they have resorted to working against Asiwaju’s return, which is not good. But that does not bring any fear to Asiwaju’s camp. To be a little more open, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, and I are all from the North.

“We are reaching out to the aggrieved stakeholders, and we are also accessible. We are critical stakeholders who hold ground for Asiwaju in the North. We will reach out to everyone; it is a collective effort.”

Recall that last week, the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, had also lent his voice to the agitation for a northern leader in 2027, vowing to jettison his presidential ambition if former President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to contest.

According to him, the former president has the requisite experience to revamp the economy and would do a good job if given a second mandate to manage the country.

But a former Minister of Communication and prominent APC chieftain, Adebayo Shittu, said Nigerians should be wary of such moves.

He said, “If you are calling for a change in government, you still have to wait until the current one run its term. Now, you are even calling on Jonathan to come back. He, just like others, is free to return and contest election in 2027. But certainly, there won’t be any election before then and there cannot be any change of government. If Jonathan has done very well, Nigerians won’t have voted him out after spending about six years in office. Tell me, if the PDP had done very well, would the people have voted them out? Nigerians only voted them out after their term expired.”

A former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central between 2015 and 2019, Senator Shehu Sani, warned against the desperation of some northern elites to return to power.

He said, “If President Tinubu succeeds in addressing the security situation, education, and poverty in Northern Nigeria, no northern elite will stop him from being re-elected in 2027.

“The desperation to return to power in 2027 by some northern political elites is not in the interest of the North but is driven by personal reasons, as some of them have been schemed out. So, they often turn to a sectional agenda when their own personal interests are affected.”

Speaking with Punch, a former Minister of State for Works and National Coordinator of South-West Agenda for Asiwaju, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, said Tinubu had “sufficient loyalists on his side to confront any opposition coming from any angle.”

“I believe that by the time we approach 2027, Nigerians will know that the president will win his second term as president,” he added.