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Ghana’s Plot To Destabilise Eagles With COVID-19 Uncovered

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Eagles change travel, hotel plans, depart for Kumasi today

An alleged off-field tactic by Ghana officials to destabilize the Super Eagles ahead of their crucial first leg final qualifier for the Qatar 2022 World Cup in Kumasi has been leaked.

Ghana hosted the first leg of the qualifiers at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi on Friday, with the reverse fixture in Abuja four days later.

Our correspondent learned that the Ghanaians were afraid that they might not stand a chance against the star-studded Nigerian side and have instead deployed other means to see how they could win the first leg by a high scoreline, to turn the return leg in Abuja to a mere formality.

Our source, who is close to the Ghanaian football authorities, said Black Stars officials have been working on the plan, which includes rejecting the COVID-19 certificates of the biggest stars of the Nigerian team and running their tests, which according to him, they plan to use to psychologically demoralize the Nigerians.

“I was told two weeks ago of a plot by the Ghanaians to make sure they defeat Nigeria in the first leg by a wide margin. My Ghanaian contact told me to tell the NFF to instruct their team that they shouldn’t eat anything at the hotel, including drinking and bathing water.”

On the COVID-19 issue, our source added, “This afternoon, they called me again. Now, I learned they’ve hatched another plot to destabilize or disqualify the Eagles star players. What they want to do is they will claim that the (COVID-19) certificates presented by our key players are not tenable, that they will have to conduct their tests. Even if they later clear the players, the players would have been discouraged, because it would come late.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles have adjusted their travel plans and will not jet out to Kumasi on Thursday (today). They were earlier scheduled to fly out from Abuja on Wednesday.

It was also learned that officials of the three-time African champions have made new arrangements for their accommodation in the neighboring West African country after they were earlier scheduled to lodge at the 3-Star Noda Hotel.

The squad will now lodge at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi, the NFF made the hotel change known in a statement on Wednesday.

Also, the President of, the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, says the federation is doing everything legal and acceptable for Nigeria to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

Pinnick made this known during a meeting with some members of the NFF Executive Committee at the federation’s secretariat on Wednesday.

“Of course, we are not the ones going into the field,” Pinnick said.

“But the arrangements we put in place will, to a large extent, determine the spirit with which the players will enter the pitch. All our arrangements must be flawless and without sloppiness. It is a FIFA World Cup ticket at stake, so we must give it our all.

“Whatever efforts we have been making to ensure seamless movement to and fro, as well as accommodation of our contingent at major matches, must be doubled for the match in Kumasi.

“Nigerians don’t want to hear any story; they only want to see the World Cup ticket.”

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BREAKING: Court Finds Natasha Guilty Of Contempt, Fines Her N5 million

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday convicted the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for contempt over a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering judgment in the suit filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging her suspension, began with the contempt application submitted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, in his application, argued that the senator’s social media post breached an earlier court order that restrained all parties from speaking to the press or posting on social media about the matter.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel contended that the post was unrelated to the court’s order on her suspension but was about a separate matter involving sexual harassment claims against the third respondent (Akpabio).

However, Justice Nyako ruled that after reviewing the post and the application before her filed by the third respondent, she was convinced it was connected to the suspension case before the court and therefore declared the plaintiff guilty of contempt.

The judge directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish an apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days. She also imposed a fine of N5 million.

 

More to come…

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BREAKING: Court Orders Senate To Recall Suspended Natasha Akpoti

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A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate exceeded its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her to be immediately recalled to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, described the suspension period as “excessive” and lacking a solid legal basis.

The court stated that both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the Senate relied on, do not specify a maximum suspension length. Therefore, their application in this situation was considered overreaching.

The judge noted that since the National Assembly is only mandated to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for about the same length of time effectively silences an entire constituency, calling it unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court agreed with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a different issue, ruling that his decision to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary—because she was not in her designated seat—did not violate her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary should not interfere in what he described as an “internal affair” of the legislature, saying fundamental rights and representation fall squarely within the court’s jurisdiction.

In a separate twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating an earlier court directive that barred both parties from making public comments about the ongoing legal proceedings.

The fine amounts to millions of naira.

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COALITION: We’ll Register New Party As Backup To ADC — El-Rufai

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A leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and an important figure in the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, stated that a new political party would be registered as a backup for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai explained that the new party would serve as an alternative option to guard against potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition had chosen the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai noted that there is a possibility the APC could spark a crisis within the ADC by turning old members against the new leadership.

He revealed this during an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor stated.

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