PL news : Paul Pogba admits snubbing Real Madrid to make £89m Man Utd move

Pogba admits that Real Madrid made him an offer prior to his £89 million move to Manchester United, but he has no regrets about rejecting them.

The France international midfielder was one of the most sought-after talents in world football after spending four productive years in Italy with Juventus.

With the door opened to a big-money move, La Liga giants Real spotted an opportunity to the make the 24-year-old their latest ‘Galactico’.

Pogba, though, had his heart set on a return to Old Trafford, having emerged through United’s academy system, and insists it was an easy decision to favour Manchester over Madrid.

He told the Beyond the Pitch podcast on his summer transfer saga of 2016: "To be honest, Real Madrid came to me and I was thinking to go there, and I was thinking to go to Manchester United too.

"But I always felt it in my heart. My heart told me to come back here, I don't know why, I didn't know what was going to happen.

“But I did it, and I don't regret. I never regret my choice."

Pogba had made just seven appearances for United prior to leaving the club at the end of his contract in 2012.

He left with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm, but returned under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.

Criticism was levelled at him at times during the 2016-17 campaign, with a world record transfer fee considered to have weighed heavy on his shoulders.

Pogba was, however, to be a leading figure for the Red Devils as they secured Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League triumphs.

He was then able to raise his game again at the start of 2017-18, with the arrival of Nemanja Matic to fill a holding role at Old Trafford offering him greater freedom to dictate play.

An untimely hamstring problem did sideline him for 12 games, while a red card at Arsenal means he is currently serving a suspension, but United have looked much sharper with him back in their ranks and are understandably delighted that they were able to pip Real Madrid to his signature. - Goals

Man bags 6 years imprisonment over incest

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Lugbe, Abuja on Tuesday sentenced one Friday Elijah to 6 years imprisonment for incest with his 13-year-old daughter.

Elijah, a 35-year-old indigene of Cross River State, also inflicted physical injury on her with a 7-UP bottle after the girl exposed him to his relatives.

He was arrested in July 2015 by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) after he had carnal knowledge of her.

The offences which are punishable under sections 2 (1) and 25 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 were committed in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

A statement signed and issued to journalists in Abuja by NAPTIP’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Josiah Emerole, said “On arraignment, Friday Elijah pleaded not guilty to the two count charges of incest and inflicting physical injury to a person. The case therefore, went through full trial.”

On Wednesday, 8th November, 2017, the presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Angela. Otaluka found him guilty of the counts in Charge No. CR/103/16 and deferred the sentence to Tuesday 12th December 2017.

However, on resumption of sitting this Tuesday, Hon. Justice Otaluka sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment for incest and inflicting physical injury on his daughter.

After listening to the testimonies of the Defendant’s wife and his cousin as to his character, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 310 and 311 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and the plea of allocotus (Leniency) from the Defence Counsel, he was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment without an option of fine for Count 1 (Inflicting Physical Injury on a Person) and 4 years Imprisonment without an option of fine for Count 2 (Incest). Both sentences are to run concurrently.

Reacting to the judgment, the Director-General, Dame Julie Okah-Donli commended the presiding Judge for courage.

She stated that violence against persons was old fashioned and that those who still get involved in such an act must be dealt with in accordance with the law. 

Shocking !!! 50-year-old Man killed wife for starving him

One man from Maigoge Village in Marita local government area has confessed to have killed his wife because she was starving him of food.

The suspect,  Tanko Bamaiyi said out of anger of being starved after five days without food,  he killed his wife with a cutlass while they were arguing.

According to him , “My wife  was fond of not giving me food in time and when I complain she will abuse me .She never gave me food each time I demand for it “

“She even asked  my ten year old daughter to abuse me because am asking for food and when I want to correct the girl she will abuse me.”

Tanko was arrested by the Police when the people in the community reported the death of the wife,  Auta Tanko when she died after a heated argument between the couple.

The Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Peter Sunday who confirmed the arrest, said that the Suspect used cutlass to kill his  wife for failing to give him food adding that the suspect threw the cutlass with which he used to kill her into a nearby river in his area.

 

He said that the suspect had confessed to the crime and the case has been charged to court .

Confessing to the crime,  the suspect advised other men that are quick to anger to control themselves to avoid commuting such gruesome crime out of anger.

“I am sorry,  extremely  sorry for what happened, it is the act of devil and I pray my in-laws will find a place in their hearts to forgive me. I regretted all my actions.

Symbol of corruption !!! Appeal court orders continuation of Saraki’s CCT trial

A court of appeal sitting in Abuja has ordered 

Senate President Bukola Saraki to face three charges at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson, the presiding judge, gave the order on Tuesday.

She struck out 15 of the 18 count charges filed against Saraki but said Nigeria’s number three citizen has to return to the CCT for the remaining charges.

In a 70-page unanimous judgment, Akomolafe-Wilson held that there was no evidence to substantiate the 15 out of the 18 counts as valid charges.

The judge however held that on counts 4,5 and 6 bothering on the purchase of house 17 A and B at McDonald Street, Ikoyi Lagos by the senate president, the prosecution was able to establish a prima facie case against Saraki.

The appellate court held that the prosecution established that there were discrepancies in the claims on the asset declaration forms as to how the two houses in Ikoyi were acquired.

The court concluded that credible evidence was led by the prosecution on counts 4,5,6 to warrant the defendant to be called upon to defend himself on how he acquired the properties disclosed in the three counts.

Akomolafe-Wilson said from the totality of the evidence adduced at the tribunal, it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that the 15 counts knocked off were based on hearsay evidence that have no probate value.

The court held that the information supplied in the report used to prepare the charge by the federal government against Saraki did not link Saraki directly with the charges as required by law.

The appellate court held that the federal government erroneously came to the conclusion that the onus to prove the 15 charges was on Saraki whereas it is an established fact that the party that alleges must be the one to prove beyond reasonable doubt.

The court faulted the federal government on the claim that Saraki collected salaries and emoluments from Kwara state government after he had left office as the executive governor of the state adding that it was a big surprise that no single witness was invited from Kwara State to prove the allegation.

On June 14, the CCT acquitted Saraki of the 18 charges of false asset declaration and other related offences preferred against him.

Danladi Umar, chairman of the tribunal, had held that with its four witnesses and 48 documentary exhibits tendered, the prosecution failed to establish a strong case against Saraki.

Umar added that the evidence adduced by the prosecution, led by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), was “so unreliable that no reasonable tribunal could convict” anyone based on it.

He also said the evidence of the first prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas, an operative of the EFCC, was unreliable.

Dissatisfied, the federal government headed to the court and filed an appeal against Umar’s ruling.

The charges instituted against Saraki before the CCT related to the alleged breaches of the code of conduct for public officers, acts which were said to be punishable under the Constitution and the CCB/CCT Act.

He allegedly committed the breaches by making false declaration of his assets while being the governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2007 for his first term and between 2007 and 2011 for his second term as governor and from 2011 to 2015 as a senator.

He was also said to have failed to declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau on assumption of office as governor of Kwara State in 2003, his leasehold interest in the property at 42 Remi Fani-Kayode Street, Ikeja, Lagos.

The prosecution also alleged that while being a public officer, the ex-governor operated bank accounts outside Nigeria and failed to declare the foreign accounts to the CCB while being governor and a senator during the period. - The Cable

Pictured : Benefits cheat who defrauded 19 councils of £244,000 for luxury holidays jailed

A benefits cheat who funded a “lavish” lifestyle of holidays and designer handbags with a £244,000 fraud on 19 councils has been jailed for four years. 

Tania Amisi, 27, spun a web of lies for six years to dupe local authorities into paying her housing and council benefits for homes she did not live in.

The single mother of three was exposed in BBC programme Britain On The Fiddle in March, which looked at her luxury lifestyle and revealed she had £25,000 of designer handbags at two homes in Chelsea Harbour.

She admitted three charges of fraud in January 2015 but fled and was convicted in her absence of 17 further offences. Southwark crown court heard that Amisi was arrested in Paris in July and sent back to the UK.

Jailing her yesterday, Judge Michael Grieve QC said: “This was not a case of a person in dire financial straits submitting to temptation and making fraudulent claims to get by.

"You committed these offences to fund your very affluent lifestyle on holidays, restaurants and designer handbags… there’s very little evidence you have shown any remorse before you went to ground in Paris.”

The court heard Amisi had used the scam to receive £244,000 between 2008 and 2014, but a further £65,000 in benefits claims were rejected.

Amisi admitted three counts of fraud by false representation and an offence of skipping bail. She was also found guilty of a further 17 charges of fraud. - Evening Standard

Face of scammer !!! N2bn Scam: Court Grants Oronsaye Leave to Travel

Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja has granted a former Head of Service, HoS of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, who is standing trial for a N2 billion pension fraud, the permission to travel to India for medical leave and to return for the continuation of his trial in January 2018.

Oronsaye is standing trial along with Osarenkhoe Afe, managing director, Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, and both are alleged to be complicit in several contract awards during his tenure as HoS.

Ade Okeaya-Inneh, SAN, lead counsel for Oronsaye at the proceeding of December 12, 2017, moved the motion dated November 11, 2017, and filed on the same day, applying that he be granted the said permission.

In granting the application, the trial judge ruled that: “The DCI litigation of the Federal High Court, shall release the international passport of the defendant through his counsel, and he is permitted to travel to India from now till on or before January 31, 2018, and return his passport to the DCI pending the determination of the criminal charge.”

Earlier in the course of proceeding, Justice Kolawole upheld the objection of Oluwole Aladedoye, counsel for Afe, challenging the admissibility of a document which the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, sought to tender at the last sitting of December 5, 2017.

The document, which included the audit report of the Office of the HoS, made by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, was in response to the request of the investigative team probing the pension fraud in the HoS office. The prosecution had sought to tender the document, which came with a cover letter dated June 25, 2016, and signed by the Auditor General of the Federation. 

Aladedoye in raising an objection to the admissibility of the evidence to be tendered, cited Section 83 of the Evidence Act, noting that while he did not object to the admissibility of the letter which was signed, he “objected to the admissibility of the accompanying document as it has no author, and was not signed by anyone”.

Invariably, the trial judge admitted the cover letter as Exhibit 3, but marked the accompanying audit report as ‘Rejected Exhibit A’.

A set of evidence, which included bank documents from Zenith Bank, relating to the financial transactions linked to Innovative Solutions Limited, Kate Chinwe Obikwe, Ibrahim Abdulkareem, and Uptrack Communications, which were deemed complicit in the pension fraud, were also objected to.

The defense argued that the documents dated January 13, 2011, and June 13, 2016, did not meet the requirements of the Evidence Act, as it relates to bankers note. 

The prosecution had sought to tender the documents through its witness, Roukayya Ibrahim, an EFCC operative. Subsequently, the prosecution withdrew the documents.

Meanwhile, the trial judge has adjourned the case to February 20, 21 and 22, 2018. - EFCC

PL : Wenger confirms Arsenal are in contract negotiations

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that  Mesut Ozil has entered contract negotiations with the club over a possible new contract.

The attacking midfielder’s deal runs out at the end of the current season and he has thus far, he had shown no real commitment to putting pen to paper on a new contract.

Manchester United are hoping to jump in and take on Ozil on a free transfer in the summer if the German doesn’t sign a new deal with the Gunners.

Wenger spoke about the German, saying:

“Negotiations are always going on with everybody. Our door is always open. For the rest, I can not tell you much more.”

Oil can start formal negotiations with any foreign club in January so Arsenal will be hoping that he puts pen to paper on a deal before then.

The Arsenal boss has always put on record that he and the club are very keen to keep the World-Cup winger.

Vultures reunited !!! Atiku supported Saraki to be Senate President – Dogara reveals

Speaker of the house of representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has revealed that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar backed Bukola Saraki’s ambition to be Senate President in 2015.

Saraki’s bid was met with serious opposition from the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), apparently including President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dogara himself was not supported to be Speaker by the APC’s hierarchy, but he went on to defeat the favoured Femi Gbajabiamila in a tight contest.

Atiku, Dogara and Saraki all decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014.

In his biography, ‘A Reed Made Flint’, authored by Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu, Dogara provided more insight into how Buhari became president in May 2015.

“There was this particular time we were meeting with our leader in the North-East, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar at his residence. Our governor (Mohammed Abubakar) had come into town and some of our stakeholders in APC Bauchi had gone to see Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Somehow, Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) and one other person walked into that meeting and he did not waste time in pushing his Gbajabiamila agenda forward.

“He spoke passionately about the role he had played in APC, the way he had built bridges between the South-West and the North and he appealed to my brothers and sisters who were there, all the political leaders and stake holders of APC from my state to prevail on me to stop this race and support his candidate Femi Gbajabiamila to become Speaker. After he had spoken, he left.

“If I don’t say this to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s credit I will not be fair to him. It will amount to travesty. At the time when most leaders in the APC were not showing sympathy to our cause, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came out as one solid voice in support of both the candidature of the now Senate President (Bukola Saraki) and my humble self.

“He said the North-East must have a position and it was his duty as a leader from the North-East to support that goal. And more so, because of the religious demography of Nigeria there was the need to have a Northern minority Christian in government as that would help to smoothen religious engagement and relationship in the North and put paid to the insinuation that APC was just a Muslim party,” Dogara told the author. - Daily Post

Nigerians have only 24 hours to stop devastating NGO bill, Amnesty warns

If Nigerians fail to rise up against the proposed law to regulate activities of civil society organisations (CSOs), the effects will be devastating, Amnesty International has warned.

Amnesty said the bill is capable of “shrinking the freedom of Nigerians”.
Despite the opposition the bill has faced, the house of representatives announced on Monday that it would push through with a public hearing, having passed second reading.

The public hearing on the bill is slated for December 13 and 14.
Amnesty on Tuesday said the Nigerian government and people in power are currently “trying to rush this bill through, in order to quickly silence us”.

It said: “The Nigerian government has just announced a public vote on a designed bill to take away the freedoms of Nigerian people. And if don’t act now and vote against it before the 14th of December, when the public hearing finishes, it could be too late.
“The bill will have devastating effects on Nigerians which is why they are trying to pass it as quickly as possible, before too many people take action to stop it.

“The so-called ‘NGO’ bill will keep Nigerians from freely sharing their opinions, holding open discussion forums or organizing people to protest.”
Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, and senator Shehu Sani are some of the high-profile proponents of the bill.

Bala Jubril, sponsor of the bill and deputy leader of the house, in September said there was no going back on the proposed legislation.
He had said: “Its passage will regulate registration, funding and use of foreign consultants by certain aid donors and organizations providing humanitarian services in the country.”

The bill, which has seven chapters and 58 clauses, states that “funds pledged by donors (to NGOs) must be disclosed before implementation of project, including mode of disbursement and condition attached to the funding by donor,” among other highlights.
Shortly after the bill came to life, Odinkalu had released a video explaining its consequences and impact on religious bodies, humanitarian agencies and also the traditional esusu system. - Cable Nigeria

I aborted several pregnancies while dating – Woman tells court

A hotelier, Oluwafemi Ajadi, has asked an Agege Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 16-year-old marriage to his wife, Chinwe, over infidelity and alleged threat to life.

The 35-year-old woman, however, amid tears, urged the court not to grant the petitioner’s application on the grounds that she had aborted several pregnancies for him before their union was legalised.

The husband who is a native of Ibadan in Oyo State, told the court that he was no longer interested in the marriage.

The petitioner, a resident of No. 26, Bamgboye St., Mushin, Lagos, described his wife as arrogant and a trouble maker.

He told the court, “My wife is a party freak; I warned her to desist from moving around with bad friends but she did not heed my warning. She also likes frolicking with different men.

“She is not caring and lacks respect for the institution of marriage. Please, separate us, I can no longer live with her.”

The woman, a native of Imo State, told the court that her husband was a drunk and wife beater.

“My husband usually drinks to stupor and misbehaves and this usually leads to serious misunderstanding between us.

“l have aborted on several occasions for him before legalising the marriage and have wasted the better part of my life.

“In spite of my husband’s attitude toward me, l still love him and do not want the marriage dissolved.”

The petitioner urged the court not to waste its time in appealing to him, saying he was committed to the dissolution of the union.

“I wasted several millions of naira on the respondent through in-vitro fertilisation treatment, but she lost the pregnancy due to her stubbornness and nonchalant attitude,’’ he said.
The court’s President, Mrs. Ibironke Elabor, advised the estranged couple to keep the peace and adjourned the suit till December 14. - Daily Post