Author: straightnewsng.com

Fifa has approved a revised 24-team Club World Cup starting in 2021 despite top European clubs saying they would boycott the tournament. The new competition is expected to include eight teams from Europe. It will run every four years and take place from June to July in the slot currently used for the World Cup warm-up event, the Confederations Cup. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he was “extremely happy” after the Fifa Council backed his plan on Friday. “Now the world will see a real Club World Cup where fans will see the best teams in the world compete to…

Following the collapse of a three-storey building on Lagos Island, killing 20 persons and injuring dozens, the Lagos State Government, Friday, demolished six out of 80 defective buildings meant for demolition this month. This marked the beginning of defective buildings on Lagos Island as directed by the state Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode. Already, the government has issued a 15-day ultimatum to occupants of the marked buildings to quit or risk losing their belongings in the demolition exercise. So far, officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, began demolition of distressed buildings on Friday beginning with a three-storey building…

Four English teams will find out their potential route to the final of the Champions League when the quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place on Friday at 11:00 GMT. Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham could face each other in the knockout stages. Arsenal and Chelsea are in the Europa League quarter-final draw at 12:00 GMT. It is the first time in 48 years that England has had six quarter-finalists in major European competitions. The other four teams in the Champions League draw are Spanish champions Barcelona, Dutch four-time winners Ajax, Italian champions Juventus and Portuguese champions Porto. It…

The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Thursday, charged incoming 9th National Assembly to review the Electoral Law to assist the commission in working on post-2019 elections and road map to 2023. Prof. Yakubu, who spoke at the presentation of Certificate of Return to elected National Assembly members in Abuja, said: “As a process governed by law, the success of elections in Nigeria depend, to a large extent, on the electoral legal framework and most importantly in ensuring adherence to the law. “I want to assure you that we will continue to work with the National…

The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, and the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, have agreed to commence enforcement of the National Identification Number, NIN, on the new 10-year validity e-passport. President Muhammadu Buhari, had on January 15, 2019, while unveiling the newly enhanced e-passport with a 10-year validity, directed that the NIN, which is issued by the NIMC, be inserted as additional data in the new passports. The Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, Muhammad Babandede, said the federal government has no plans of going back on the April 29 date for the integration of the National Identity Number, NIN, on the…

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has said its parliament was committed towards resolving the recurring crisis between herdsmen and farmer’s within the region. It also described the problem of youth unemployment in the sub-region as a disease, which must be stamped out. Secretary-General of ECOWAS Parliament, John Azumah, who stated this Thursday in an interview with journalists at the end of the Extra Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament held in Dakar, Senegal, said the parliament as representatives of the people was burdened by the issues herdsmen and farmer’s clashes and other reports of communal violence within…

About 1.9 million Nigerians are living with HIV according to results of the 2018 National HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey, NAIIS, conducted by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, the Federal Ministry of Health, UNAIDS and other international partners. This is even as a new national HIV prevalence of 1.4 percent has been confirmed among Nigerian adults aged 15–49 years. Previous estimates had indicated that over 3 million Nigerians were living with HIV and that the country had a national HIV prevalence of 2.8 percent. Welcoming the news Thursday in Abuja that there are fewer people living…

The Federal Government has inaugurated the inter-ministerial Presidential Inauguration Committee to coordinate activities leading to the inauguration of the President on May 29. Inaugurating the committee yesterday in Abuja, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, recalled that about four years ago, the Buhari Aadministration came on board with the promise of Change built on economy, security and anti-corruption. According to him, the government has since 2015 committed itself to working hard to achieve sustainable economic growth, as well as a secure and corruption free nation. He said: “Preparatory to the inauguration of the new administration, the…

Ahead of the inauguration of the 9th Senate, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, APC, Niger North, has allayed fears of Nigerians on possible leadership crisis in the 9th Senate as it was in the 8th. Speaking with journalists shortly after collecting his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as senator- elect yesterday, Sabi Abdullahi said the required lessons to be learned from the leadership squabbles of the 8th Senate had been learned, and would not repeat itself again. “I was a key player in the leadership configuration of the…

Senator-elect for Kwara Central in the 9th Senate, Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, yesterday boasted that his performance in the Senate within the next four years would surpass that put up by Senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki, in the last eight years. Dr. Saraki currently represents Kwara Central in the 8th Senate and was defeated by Oloriegbe in the February 23 National Assembly election. Oloriegbe, who spoke yesterday in Abuja after collecting his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said Saraki, despite attaining the position of Senate presidency in his sojourn in the Senate, has not set…