Author: straightnewsng.com

World No.1 Novak Djokovic sent a message loud and clear on Saturday: he is back in top form. Djokovic reached his third Mutua Madrid Open final by beating fifth seed Dominic Thiem 7-6(2), 7-6(4). The Serbian, who is into his first final since triumphing at the Australian Open, ended the recent Barcelona champion’s eight-match winning streak, eliminating the Austrian after a physical baseline battle that lasted two hours and 22 minutes. “I played the best match of the clay-court season so far, for me, against arguably the best tennis player in the world on this surface, so far [this season],”…

Trouble is brewing for the Emir of Kano as the state government has rolled out grand plans to whittle down his control of the emirate. The once-jealous but revered emirate is denigrated and boiling at the same time. The occupant of the throne appears to be agitated. Yet, the governor rocking the boat is adamant on the curious development. The main sin of the reigning Emir of Kano, HRH Sanusi II hangs over his alleged meddling in the concluded governorship election and his call for free and fair elections in the state. After the general elections, Kano State Governor Abdullahi…

The African National Congress, led by union leader-turned-business magnate Cyril Ramaphosa, has retained a slim majority of seats in South Africa’s parliament, giving Ramaphosa a weak mandate for a full five-year term as president. Wednesday’s election, 25 years after the ANC led South Africa out of apartheid and into democracy for all its citizens, was seen as a referendum on the party. The previous president, Jacob Zuma, became embroiled in numerous corruption scandals while the economy lagged and unemployment and inequality deepened, clouding the legacy of the party’s liberation struggle. Zuma resigned in February 2018, and Ramaphosa was elected president…

A 15-year-old boy who scored the highest in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME has been barred by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has been from gaining admission into the University of Lagos, UNILAG. The boy who hails from Abia State scored 347 marks considered the highest to emerge the best candidate in the eyes of the board. Similarly, a 16-year-old boy from Abia State came second by scoring 346 marks just as a 17-year-old from Osun State trailed behind with 345, considered by the board as the third best result in the 2019 UTME. The JAMB Registrar,…

As Akwa United made a stop-over at Omoku, they snatched a 1-0 win from Go Round FC to extend their lead at the top of table in Group B of Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). With the scoreline still goalless, Aniefiok Godspower was called upon to replace the team Mfon Udoh – the league’s top scorer. In the match day 18, Akwa United grabbed vital three points to comfortably sit on the group with 34 points. That substitution would prove important as the towering forward headed home the winner in additional time, leaving the home team’s goalie and defenders in…

After several postponements, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has finally released the long-awaited 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The Board Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who announced the results in Abuja on Saturday, said about 1,792,719 candidates sat for the examination, while results of 34,120 candidates have been withheld for examination malpractice. Oloyede stated that 15,145 results were withheld for further clarification. He, therefore, advised candidates to use the phone number used for registration and text it to 55019 to get their results instantly. He said this would ensure that fraudsters who are bent at exploiting candidates do not…

The Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) has recovered N1.36 billion and 10.29 million dollars belonging to Nigerian Export and Import (NEXIM) Bank. Head, Media and Communications of the Panel, Ms Lucie-Ann Laha, who stated this in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said that the funds were recovered from Heritage Bank. Laha said that the dollar component of the recovered funds was part of refund of money illegally placed in fixed deposit by previous management of NEXIM Bank at Heritage Bank. “Upon maturity of the fixed deposit term, however, Heritage Bank failed to return…

The Federal High Court in Lagos, Friday, vacated the bench warrants issued against four officials of Akwa Ibom State government for allegedly refusing to appear before the court. The officials which include Nsikan Nkan, the state’s Commissioner for Finance; Mfon Udomah, the Accountant-General of the state; Uwemedimo Nwoko, the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and Margaret Ukpe were all said to be at large by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Their names were listed by the EFCC in the N1.4 billion alleged money laundering charge it brought against Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), the President of the Nigerian…

 Manchester City legend, Yaya Toure, is hanging his boots and exploring a move into coaching and management, the Ivorian’s agent, Dimitri Seluk, has revealed. The midfielder and CAF Award winner, who is retiring at 35, moved to Greece following his release by Manchester City last summer after winning three Premier League titles- FA Cup and two League Cups. The former Ivory Coast international, who also represented the likes of Barcelona  and Monaco at the peak of his career, is set to explore a move into coaching and management. The final outings of his distinguished career came during a second spell…

The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Friday, upheld that the ruling be deferred on respective applications till final addresses. The tribunal upheld the prayer of S. I. Ameh, SAN, Lead Counsel to Senator Akpabio at the resumed pre-hearing suit brought before it by Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the declaration of Engr. Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a winner in the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial election. Counsels to Engr. Ekpenyong and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kanu Agabi, SAN, and Solomon Umoh, SAN, respectively, had argued that the ruling should not…