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Governor Mimiko's deputy defects to APC

‎These deputies ain’t loyal at all.lol. 
‎Alhaji Alli Olanusi, Deputy to Governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo State has dumped the PDP for APC‎. This news is coming few days after Rivers State Governor, Rotimi  Amaechi’s deputy, Engineer Tele Ikuru defected to PDP. Scores 1-1

"Obasanjo can return to prison after GEJ wins." Fayose

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti is just one “unstoppable” politician. The target of his vitriolic attack this time around is ex President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He has reacted to the statement the elder statesman made few days back that he had uncovered another plot by the Presidency to hand over to the military if it loses the polls.
Speaking ‎through his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, ‎Fayose said Nigerians need to ask if Obasanjo is the one staging the coup.

At his age, one would expect that the former President should stop peddling rumours, as this may cause confusion in the polity.

“Being a former military leader and also a retired general, whatever Obasanjo says will carry weight and some people will believe that. Or is it that General Obasanjo has some ‘boys’ touting the idea of a coup?
“May be he is the person planning one. But whatever the case is, coup making and plotting are no longer in vogue in the world. Anybody thinking along such a line will be swimming against the tide and the consequences are there.
“After he said he has quit politics and publicly tore his Peoples Democratic Party membership card, peace has returned to the PDP. Obasanjo should wait till after the elections when his candidate will be trounced and see how jubilant Nigerians will celebrate the victory for the continuation of democracy.
“After the impending victory of President Jonathan, Obasanjo can leave the country or return to prison in protest. The former President should also do away with the primitive idea that anything or anybody not coming from him is not good.‎
“I advise the former President not to be part of any act that could land him in trouble. He was imprisoned during the Abacha era and a word is enough for the wise.”
 

Photos: Henry Thierry dresses up like a school teacher to surprise student.

‎Imagine a celebrity showing up at your school unexpectedly just to ask after you. Emma Morgan, a student at the Pen-Y-Dre high school’s joy knew no bounds  when Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry turned up at her school to give her an award.
The sports pundit donned a wig and big glasses, dressed up like a school teacher and entered Emma’s classroom. 
Judging by these pictures, the unsuspecting students identified him almost immediately he stepped in. His visit was aired on Sky Sports News.

Messi named the highest paid footballer in the world. See top 10.

Different football media outlets, different lists. A month ago, goal.com named Portuguese striker, Cristiano Ronaldo the wealthiest player in the world. Argentine attacker, Messi has emerged the richest player on another football rich list.

France Football magazine‎ who compiled the rich list stated that Lionel Messi raked in almost £1million a week last year in wages and sponsorship deals. They added that  his endorsement deals with adidas, FIFA 15 and Turkish Airlines, saw his income rise to £47.8m in 2014.
Coming right behind the Barcelona star is his rival, Cristiano Ronaldo with an income of £39.7m. Occupying the 3rd spot on the list is Messi’s teammate, Neymar with £26.8m.
TOP EARNING PLAYERS
1. Lionel Messi £47.8m
2. Cristiano Ronaldo £39.7m
3. Neymar £26.8m
4. Thiago Silva £20.2m
5. Robin van Persie £18.8m
6. Gareth Bale £17.5m
7. Wayne Rooney £16.5m
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic £15.8m
9. Sergio Aguero £15.6m
10. Robert Lewandowski £14.8m

Photo: Vincent Enyeama honoured with a special plaque on his 100th appearance.

Super Eagles skipper, Vincent Enyeama was honoured with a special plaque as he made his 100th international appearance today. 
The plaque was presented by Governor Godswill Akapabio of Akwa Ibom state at the Uyo International stadium. Sadly, Nigeria was beaten 1-0 by Uganda in the friendly match.
He thanked Nigerians for their overwhelming support through the years.
“Thank you to Nigerians, all who’s supported me all this years. Thank you for today.” He said.‎
And on the loss, the Lille goalie admitted that “It is a great disappointment for me but that is part of life.”

Enyeama becomes the second Nigerian player after Joseph Yobo to reach 100 caps for his country.
Photo Credit: Colin Udoh‎

Court adjourns Buhari's disqualification suit

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress party, General Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters can now heave a sigh of relief.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the eligibility suit challenging the eligibility of the one-time President in the March 28 presidential election.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja this morning postponed the suit to April 22, 2015. The suit filed on January 26, 2015 by a lawyer, Chukwunweike Okafor, asked the court to declare Buhari ineligible to contest the presidential election slated for Saturday over his alleged failure to submit his school certificates along with his Form CF001 to INEC.

Cristiano Ronaldo may be probed for his goal celebration in El Clasico.

Real Madrid talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration after netting an equaliser at the 31st minute at the Nou Camp on Sunday has landed him into trouble. Now, that’s pretty weird!
The “calma calma” (calm down) celebration Ronaldo, has been deemed a provocative gesture by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP); the governing body of principal football leagues in Spain.
“We have to be careful with provocative gestures by a player when he scores a goal or with any other provocation or conduct that could incite violence among spectators. It must be sanctioned, from a fine up to a suspension. We will look into it.” LFP president, Javier Tebas said.

Angel Di Maria on Barcelona's radar

Barcelona FC are reportedly looking to replace their outgoing midfield ace, Xavi Hernandez with Argentine international, Angel di Maria. According to sources, the Manchester United midfielder is far from happy with his current situation in Old Trafford and he’s seeking an exit.
The 27 year-old winger who left Real Madrid for the English team in the summer of 2014 at a record of £75 million, featured in 21 of Manchester United’s 30 Premier League matches so far is also on french club, Paris Saint Germain’s radar.
Although Barcelona are currently banned from signing any player since 2016, the club is confident of signing him come January.

Opinion: The Morning After March 28 | By: Tolu Ogunlesi

March 28. On this day in history, Flavius Valens became, in 364 AD, co-emperor of the Roman Empire, and the British Parliament passed; in 1979, a single-vote of no confidence on the government of James Callaghan, paving the way for the elections that ushered in the Age of Margaret Thatcher.
On this day in 2015, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a President. The morning of the next day, in the incumbent President’s home in Otueke, a sleepy community in the creeks of the Niger Delta, near where oil was first discovered in Nigeria in 1956, the alarm goes off, but the President is already awake.
He’s been up since the earliest-rising fishermen set off on the oil-slicked waters in search of the day’s catch. Next to him the First Lady is still fast asleep.
Today the President will know whether his return to the capital, Abuja, will be a triumphant entry, or something mournful and subdued, similar to the way his predecessor returned in the early hours of February 23, 2010.
Deep down in him he knows he won’t be too pained, at least not as much as his wife, and his kinsmen. He’s had an unbelievably fortunate run, going from a mid-level civil servant to President of the richest and most populous black nation on earth in a little over a decade.
Six hundred and fifty kilometres to the north, in Kaduna, the presidential challenger is keeping vigil. Behind his oval-frame glasses his eyes are devoid of sleep, as they were during the party’s presidential primary in Lagos last December.

He sits on a couch in his modestly-furnished living room, surrounded by friends and well-wishers who all address him as Mr. President. Even the littlest children, when they awaken, will run rings around him squealing ‘Sai-Bwawee’.

In that same Kaduna, the Vice-Presidential alarm goes off. The Architect-turned-politician reaches out to silence it. He’s reluctant to rise to meet the beckoning day. He’s never won an election in his ward, and today might not be different.
People say the former President, the farmer who has ruled Nigeria twice, also had a habit of not winning elections in his ward. Hardly comforting, if you asked the Vice President. 
There’s no basis for comparison, considering that one man’s mild embarrassment is another’s obituary. The Vice President has often thought of relocating his ward to a part of town where victory is likelier.
In the Kaduna State Government House, the incumbent Governor is up early. He summons his secretary to bring the iPad, and to open his challenger’s Twitter account. His challenger is a Social Media Overlord (SMO), with close to half a million followers on Twitter, a man who more than makes up for what he lacks in verticality and horizontality with a penchant for ruffling every feather in sight.
The Governor wants to see what the Ruffler has been saying on Twitter. Nothing, it turns out. The last time he tweeted was nine hours ago. The Governor doesn’t know whether to be worried or not. Is the Ruffler’s silence a good or bad sign? He doesn’t know.

This is the first real election both of them will be contesting – the Governor came to this office by way of succeeding his deceased boss; the Ruffler, until now, had shown little interest in elective office, and seemed destined to live
out his life as a technocrat and troublemaker.

In Lagos, the Vice Presidential candidate of the opposition is at his desk, the silence of dawn broken by diesel generators that ought to belong to hellfire, considering the amount of heat they generate. 
His head is bowed in prayer, his arms resting on an open Devotional Bible. In a few hours it will be time for church, and he will be preaching of the goodness of God. For as long as he can he will try to keep his mind away from the ballots. It’s not by power nor by might, saith the Lord.
Back in Abuja – deserted by politicians, who have all gone to their towns and villages to fight do-or-die political battles – the Chairman of the Electoral Commission is going into his second or third sleep-free night.
Yesterday’s elections, and the ones holding on April 11, will be the last set of elections he’ll be conducting before his term of office expires in June. They will permanently define his legacy. He knew, when taking this job, in 2010, that it would mostly be a thankless task. 
But he had no idea just how difficult it would be; how intimidating the temptation to throw in the towel would be. In one sense you’re just like the president, at the mercy of your advisers and subordinates, and expected to make all-wise and all-knowing decisions based on limited information you have no way of verifying.
Far away in Abeokuta, there’s a young man who’s still in bed. All he can think of is this: that were it not for the elections, this would be his first full day as a married man.
 Sometime at the end of December, his family met with his fiancée’s family, and settled for the 28th of March as ‘the day the Lord has made.’ They would have chosen February 14, Valentine’s Day, but it was not an option because presidential elections had already been fixed for that day.
 Someone had suggested that they leave out the whole of February, because of the elections. And so they had chosen March 28. And printed invitation cards. The cards had caused a fight between him and his fiancée, because he felt they had spent more money on it than they could afford.
And then the postponement happened, somewhat out of the blues. He still remembers that night, February 7, when the Electoral Commission chairman confirmed the postponement, and announced the new dates: March 28, April 11. 
He remembers wondering if he heard the new dates correctly. He will never forget the way something inside him seemed to drop to the bottom of his stomach.
He remembers the incoming call from his fiancée, and failing to answer it. The days that followed were a blur, family meetings to reschedule the date, frequent and random outbursts of crying from his wife-to-be. 
Now they’ve postponed the wedding till June, because no one is sure what even May might look like. So he has another three months to live as a Bachelor – all because of an unserious country and its politics.
Across the country much of the predicted violence has yet failed to materialise. But it’s still too early to rejoice, considering what happened when the results of the last presidential elections emerged. 
Unlike that election — with its 10 million vote gap between the winner and the runner-up — this one promises an alarmingly narrow margin; perhaps the first presidential election in Nigeria’s history that an incumbent will be going into without a solid assurance of victory.
In the last one week everyone and their grandmother has published projections, throwing up the idea of ‘Buhari’s States’, ‘Jonathan’s States’, and ‘Battleground States’. There are the ones that bear the indelible mark of consensus – everyone knows the 12 northernmost states will be taken by Buhari, and that all the southeastern states and all the Niger delta states will be taken by Jonathan.
 No one is sure of Adamawa and Gombe and Niger; where they will swing, and by what margins. Or whether Ekiti will go the way of Osun, or Ondo?
By evening today we will have a clear view of where Nigeria is headed, for the next four years. All eyes will be on Kaduna. And not just for the battle between the Governor and the Ruffler.
 In the violence that followed the 2011 presidential elections, close to a thousand persons were killed. More than eight hundred of those people died in Kaduna State; eighty percent of that number in southern Kaduna.
It will be a tense Sunday; the most tense of the fifty-two this year, no doubt. Where will the victory parties break out? And where will the machetes and Kalashnikovs show their unforgiving faces; their unstoppable resolve to sow sorrow, tears and blood?

Credit: Premiumtimesng.com

Plane crash in France leaves over 140 passengers dead.

An Airbus A320 plane travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf with over 140 passengers has crashed in southern French Alps, police and aviation officials report.
The debris of the plane which belonged to Germanwings; an affiliate of German airline Lufthansa has been found. French President said no survivors are expected in the plane crash.
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