Trendbrio.com

News and Entertainment Update

Live
Sports
Ref Watch: Why Liverpool’s Disallowed Goal Against Man City Wasn’t a Clear and Obvious Error – Dermot Gallagher Explains 01
02
News
NAHCON Cuts 2026 Hajj Fares, Sets December 5 Payment Deadline
03
Soccer
Sports
Atalanta Sack Head Coach Ivan Juric After Poor Serie A Start
04
Politics
Abdulmumin Jibrin Leaves NNPP, Returns To APC And Backs Tinubu
05
News
EFCC Declares Timipre Sylva Wanted Over Alleged $14.8 Million Fraud

Tag: Nigeria

Nigeria Police detain Sowore

Fola Badmus04 mins

A presidential candidate of African Action Congress and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has been detained by the Police Authority in Abuja following a viral video of policemen he posted on social media few weeks ago. Sowore was taking into custody following his refusal to agree to bail conditions offfered him by the Police. Sowore disclosed this shortly before his incarceration. “It is a wrap! “The Nigeria Police Force is holding me in custody until further notice, following my refusal to accept their illegal bail condition,” he wrote on his X handle formerly Twitter. Earlier in the day, Sowore had informed that the Police assigned to his case demanded for a level 16 civil servant and that he should surrender his international passport to perfect his bail condition. “The PoliceNG team assigned to my case has informed me that the DIG of FID, Dasuki Galandachi, has reevaluated my bail conditions, necessitating the production of a level 16 civil servant and the surrender of my international passport, a condition I have declined outright. “I refuse to participate in any arrangement that undermines my personal integrity. “Below is also the response of my lawyer, Femi Falana SAN to the ridiculous request of the Nigeria Police.” ‘Dear Hon DIG, ‘Thanks for reducing the bail condition of Mr. Omoyele Sowore to a surety of level 16. ‘However, I wish to point out that such bail condition has been declared illegal by the Court of Appeal in the case of Dasuki V. Director-General, S.S.S. [2020]10 NWLR PT.1731 PG. 136-143 where Adah JCA (now JSC) held as follows: ‘Let me quickly say that of concern it is to us that as a court we must be ready and sensitive enough not to allow or do anything that will run foul of the law. ‘The issue of involving civil servants or Public Officers in the Public Service of the Federation and the State in bail of people accused of criminal offences has never been the practice in Nigeria or any part of the civilized world. It was an oversight on our part to allow it in. ‘Our Civil and Public Service Rules do not have any room for it. Expecting a Level 16 Servant to own property worth N100,000,000, will be running counter to the Public Service Rules and by extension the war against corruption. ‘It is in this respect that I will act ex debito justitiae to ensure that the aspect of involving serving Public Servant below the status of Level 16 Officer in either the state or Public Service of the Federation or any of its agencies be removed and I so order.’

Read More

Osimhen accused of punching journalist outside nightclub

Fola Badmus03 mins

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen finds himself at the center of a controversy that has nothing to do with his goal-scoring prowess. Turkish media, particularly Posta, reported that the forward allegedly assaulted a journalist outside an Istanbul nightclub on Friday night. The incident reportedly occurred as Osimhen was leaving the venue with friends. Apparently irritated by the reporter’s presence, the striker’s reaction may have put him in a precarious situation. Tolga Bozduman, the journalist in question, described the scene: “I was filming Osimhen as he exited, accompanied by three colleagues. When the camera flashes stopped, he became furious. He rushed towards me, shouting, and attempted to grab my camera. When I refused to let go, he punched me. It still hurts. Then he started swearing and said, ‘Destroy the photos, I’ll give you money.’ I refused, and he threatened me, saying, ‘I’ll destroy you.’” As of now, there have been no official statements regarding the incident, neither from Galatasaray nor from the player himself. This isn’t the first time Osimhen has been involved in such a situation. Last August, when he was still with Napoli under Antonio Conte’s management, a similar episode occurred involving a fan filming him outside a venue. This alleged altercation comes at a time when Osimhen has been making headlines for his performances on the pitch. The striker has been a key figure in Galatasaray’s attacking lineup this season, contributing over 20 goals across all competitions. However, this off-field incident could potentially overshadow his sporting achievements and raise questions about his behavior and professionalism.

Read More

SERAP drags FG, Telecos to court over tariff hike

Fola Badmus011 mins

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the government of President Bola Tinubu over “the arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, and unreasonable 50 percent telecom tariff hike by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).” Joined in the suit as Defendant is the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The NCC had recently approved a 50 percent hike in telecom tariffs. By the increase, the average price of calls will rise to N16.5 per minute from N11; the cost of 1GB of data will rise to N431.25 from N287.5/GB; and SMS prices to N6 from N4. In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/111/2025 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether the unilateral decision by the NCC to authorise telcos to hike telecom tariffs by 50 percent is not arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, unreasonable and inconsistent with citizens’ freedom of expression and access to information.” SERAP is asking the court for “a declaration that the unilateral decision by the NCC to authorise telcos to hike telecom tariff by 50 percent is arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable and inconsistent and incompatible with citizens’ freedom of expression and access to information, and therefore unconstitutional and unlawful.” SERAP is seeking “an order of interim injunction restraining the NCC, its officers, agents, privies, assigns, or any other person or persons acting on its instructions from further implementing, enforcing and doing any act to give effect to the decision of the NCC authorizing telecom tariff hike by 50 percent.” In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “The legal and constitutional provisions as well as international standards on freedom of expression and access to information constitute the repository of legality. The requirements of legality constrain the exercise of statutory powers by the NCC to authorise any increase in telecom tariffs.” The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, read in part: “The demands of legality impose clear duties of fairness and reasonableness on the NCC in the exercise of its powers to authorize the telecom tariff hike by 50 percent, which is the subject-matter of this suit. “The NCC is required under the legal provisions on consumers’ rights and constitutional and international standards on freedom of expression and access to information to base its decision on reasonable interpretations of its enabling statutes and guidelines and other relevant legal frameworks, and to follow due process. “The exercise of the statutory powers of the NCC in approving the telecom tariff hike is a grave violation of the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. “These legal and constitutional provisions and international human rights standards recognize that every individual has the right to an equal opportunity to receive, seek and impart information through any communication medium without discrimination. “The constitutional and democratic anomalies complained of by SERAP is more apparent when the said unilateral decision of the NCC approving a 50 percent increase in telecommunication tariffs is juxtaposed with the apparent procedural breaches of the condition-precedent for any approval of increase. “The NCC is the statutory agency charged with the responsibility of promoting and implementing the national communications or telecommunications policy in Nigeria. “The latest patently unconstitutional and unlawful increase in telecommunication tariffs is coming on the heels of a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which shows that some 133 million Nigerians are poor. “The NBS report also shows that over half of the population of Nigeria are multi-dimensionally poor and cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy. “The increase in telecommunication tariffs is a fundamental breach of due process of law, as the purported approval by the NCC failed to meet the high threshold of consultation with key stakeholders, especially the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which is the primary consumer protection agency in Nigeria. “The increase in telecommunication tariffs is coming at a time when Nigerians are deeply burdened by the cost of living crisis. The cost of living crisis has resulted in low quality of life, unemployment and deaths, as many socially and economically vulnerable people scramble for free food in public and religious gatherings. “The present-day economic realities in Nigeria include chronic poverty amongst a high percentage of citizens and the growing inability of several state governments to pay salary and pensions of workers, especially as the country still suffers from the removal of fuel subsidy, electricity tariff hike and inflated cost of food in the market.” SERAP is therefore asking the court for the following reliefs: A DECLARATION that the unilateral decision of the NCC approving the increase of telecommunications tariff by 50 percent is arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable, and a deliberate attempt to stifle the constitutional and international human rights of citizens to freely express themselves and share information, and breach of sections 104 and 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 [as amended] and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. AN ORDER setting aside the unilateral decision of the NCC approving the increase of telecommunications tariff by 50 percent contained in a press statement published by the NCC on 20th January 2025 for being arbitrary, unfair, extortive, unreasonable, unconstitutional and a breach of the provisions of Sections 104 and 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 [as amended], Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. AN ORDER restraining the NCC, its agents, assigns, privies and…

Read More

35th AFCON: Super Eagles may draw Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa

Fola Badmus05 mins

The Draw Ceremony for the 35th Africa Cup of Nations finals will take place at the Mohamed V National Theatre in Rabat, Casablanca on Monday evening. Three-time African champions Nigeria have been placed in Pot 1, alongside seven-time winners Egypt, three-time champions and Cup holders Cote d’Ivoire, two-time winners Algeria, hosts and 1976 champions Morocco and 2021 winners Senegal. The Nigerian side may however be drawn in same group with other top African football countries which include; Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa and Mali. Super Eagles’ Head Coach Éric Sékou Chelle and Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, alongside the Chairman of NFF Technical and Development Committee, Alhaji Sharif Rabiu Inuwa will attend the colourful ceremony in the heart of Morocco’s administrative capital. The final tournament that begins on 21st December and ends on 18th January is unique in some ways, including being the first ever to start in a particular year and run into another year. Morocco will play host to Africa again since hosting the 1988 tournament that was won by Cameroon. The North African country was handed the hosting right for the 2015 finals, but ducked at the eleventh hour in the midst of the ebola scare across some nations in the continent. Since then, the country has hosted a plethora of football championships, including the African Nations Championship in 2018 (which she won), the Women Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 (in which she finished as runner-up) and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2023. Morocco will also co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup finals alongside neighbours Spain and Portugal. Nigeria’s Super Eagles hold the record for the most medals from the 68-year-old championship: 16 in 20 previous participations. They are three-time winners (1980, 1994, 2013), finished as runners-up on five occasions (1984, 1988, 1990, 2000 and 2023), and took the bronze eight times (1976, 1978, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2019). The Eagles lost out in the quarter-finals in 2008 and were eliminated in the second round in 2021. Only in their debut in 1963, and as Cup holders in 1982, have the Eagles failed to proceed beyond the tournament group phase. While Nigeria will be taking part in her 21st tournament (same as DR Congo and Algeria), Botswana and Comoros will be taking part in only their second respective championships. Egypt will be appearing in their 27th tournament; Cote d’Ivoire 26th and; Cameroon and Tunisia 22nd. Hosts Morocco are appearing in their 20th finals and 2012 champions Zambia in their 19th. 2021 winners Senegal are appearing in their 18th final tournament. Nigeria have also played a total of 104 matches at the final tournament, 4th overall behind Egypt (111), Cote d’Ivoire (106) and Ghana (105). While Cameroonian Rigobert Song (who coached the Indomitable Lions at the last finals in Cote d’Ivoire), Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan, Ghanaian Andrew Ayew and Tunisian Youssef Msakni have played in eight tournaments each, Ayew and Song have played the most matches – 36 each. Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o (currently President of FECAFOOT) has scored the most goals in the final tournament – 18 in the 29 matches he played across eight tournaments. Nigeria’s Rashidi Yekini (of blessed memory) scored 13 goals across four final tournaments between 1988 and 1994. Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire Pot 2: Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, South Africa, DR Congo, Burkina Faso Pot 3: Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Benin Republic Pot 4: Mozambique, Comoros, Tanzania, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Botswana

Read More

COAS pledges to elevate training standards for Nigerian Army personnel

Fola Badmus02 mins

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has committed to advancing the training of officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to new heights, aiming to enhance professionalism across the force. Lieutenant General Oluyede made the pledge during his visit to the Depot Nigerian Army in Zaria on Monday, 20 January 2025, where he addressed personnel at the prestigious military institution. In his address, the COAS emphasized the critical importance of robust training at this pivotal time for Nigeria’s national security. He noted that enhanced training will strengthen military operations and security efforts by equipping personnel with the necessary skills and professionalism to carry out their duties effectively. Oluyede reaffirmed his commitment to creating an environment that fosters excellence in training and assured personnel of his full support in ensuring they have the resources to perform at their best. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining high standards of professionalism and expressed his determination to prioritize personnel welfare and well-being. During the briefing, the Commandant of the Depot Nigerian Army, Major General Mohammed Abdullahi, highlighted the institution’s recent centenary celebration, marking a century of producing skilled manpower for the Nigerian Army. He also shared key achievements and challenges faced by the institution, expressing gratitude to the COAS for his steadfast support.

Read More

Shettima arrives Davos for 2025 World Economic Forum meeting

Fola Badmus03 mins

Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Davos, Switzerland, where he is representing Nigeria at the 2025 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The World Economic Forum meeting brings together global leaders, business executives, and development partners to address pressing global and national economic challenges and identify strategies for sustainable growth. During his time in Davos, Vice President Shettima will participate in bilateral meetings and discussions aimed at advancing the nation’s economic opportunities and addressing global risks. A notable event on the Vice President’s schedule is a workshop titled “Roadmap to Co-create Investment Opportunities for Africa’s Frontier Markets”, organized by the African Development Bank in collaboration with the WEF. This session will focus on driving capital flows into Africa to support inclusive development and resilience across the continent. One of the major highlights of the Vice President’s engagements is the launch of the Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) Roadmap for Africa, a collaborative effort between the AfDB and other partners. The initiative aims to foster public-private partnerships and attract investments into Africa’s emerging markets. In addition, the Vice President will co-chair a forum on “Turning Digital Trade into a Catalyst for Growth in Africa” at the Pischa Congress Centre. The forum will provide insights into leveraging the private sector to accelerate the implementation of the @AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, a framework adopted by African Union leaders in January 2024. Vice President Shettima is also scheduled to attend the Annual Meeting 2025 Crystal Awards dinner for heads of state, government officials, and international organizations at Kurpark Village, Eiger. Another key engagement is his participation as a panelist in a session titled “Global Risks 2025”, which will take place at the Aspen 2 Congress Centre. This dialogue will explore critical geopolitical, technological, and environmental risks shaping the global landscape. Accompanying the Vice President to Davos are senior government officials, including the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Aisha Rimi. The Vice President is expected to return to Abuja after concluding his engagements in Davos.

Read More

Polytechnic senior staff begin strike Wednesday

Fola Badmus04 mins

Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, SSANIP is set to embark on a three-day warning strike from Wednesday, January 22, over what it calls marginalisation of non-teaching staff members and denial of their deserved career progression. In a letter dated January 14, 2025, and addressed to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the union’s secretary Nura Gaya said the warning strike has become imperative to emphasise the union’s position concerning the ongoing plot by certain stakeholders to unjustly deprive Non-Teaching Staff of Polytechnics and Similar Institutions of their rightful progression to the peak of their careers under consolidsted technical education distinct salary structure, CONTEDISS 15 and in the ongoing redrafting of the Polytechnic Schemes of Service. The letter further said, “SSANIP has consistently championed the cause of equity and justice within the polytechnic system and has repeatedly called for the implementation of career progression policies that accommodate both Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff, noting that regrettably, previous engagements with relevant authorities have yielded little to no tangible results, adding that the current machinations against Non-Teaching Staff represents a direct affront to these efforts. In a similar development, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP has rejected what it calls plans to change the bill on the establishment of National Commission for polytechnic education to Nigerian commission for technical education. ASUP, in a statement signed by its president Shammah Kpanja says currently, the regulation of technical and vocational education is within the purview of the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE,established since 1977, and serves as an umbrella for all Nigerian polytechnics and monotechnics, representing the tertiary education institutions under its regulation. ASUP noted that the recent efforts of the National Assembly to establish a National Polytechnics Commission through a bill in the House of Representatives is commendable, as it comes after several failed legislative efforts on the same subject in the past. However, the union says it is surprising that as the bill awaits final reading in the House of Representatives, plans have emerged to establish a commission for technicaleducation. ASUP said the name change move is a distraction and it remains committed to the unbundling of the current mixture of over 700 institutions under the NBTE and the extraction of tertiary institutions from the mix to a dedicated commission for effective regulation. ASUP used the statement to call on Federal Ministry of Education to maintain a consistent position on the issue, noting that polytechnics need to have its own commission like the universities and the colleges of education, instead of remaining mixed up with vocational and technical education institutions and centres.

Read More

NFF concretize plans for CAF B-License Coaching Course

Fola Badmus03 mins

The Nigeria Football Federation has set in motion concrete plans to organize a four-month CAF B-License Coaching Course that is designed to enhance the capacity of Nigerian coaches and prepare them for current and future challenges. The programme is for both men and women coaches. NFF Technical Director, Coach Augustine Eguavoen told thenff.com that the course is part of NFF’s strategic effort to build the capacity of coaches across the country, and will be done in modules. To be eligible to participate in the course that will run between 7th April and 25th August 2025, a candidate must be an active coach, possess a CAF C-License certificate that has been put to use in the past two years, must be able to read and write in the English language, have basic computer skills and a laptop, have a valid G-mail account, and must submit a medical certificate that proves he/she is physically and mentally fit to undertake the course. “We are targeting a maximum number of 25 participants. Applicants will be provided with a CAF CMS registration link upon successful completion of the pre-course assessment, and will pay the sum of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) on or before 31st March 2025,” Eguavoen added. It can be recalled that last year, the NFF organized a CAF C-License programme exclusively for women – the first-ever – which drew 30 women coaches from across the country, including a good number of former Nigeria international players. The three-module course took place between July and September 2024.

Read More