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EPL: Either Sesko, Pedro, Gyökeres will score most goals this season – Ally McCoist

TheNigerian — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:17:15 +0000

Rangers legend, Ally McCoist, has predicted who will score more goals this season between Viktor Gyökeres, Benjamin Sesko and Joao Pedro.

The 2025-26 football season will kick off fully this weekend.
Footall followers across the globe would be looking at the trio with very high expectations.

Pedro joined Chelsea before the Club World Cup before Gyökeres’ move to Arsenal from Sporting CP last month. Sesko moved to Old Trafford last week.
Gyökeres was the most prolific of the three last season finishing as the top scorer across Europe with 54 goals.
Former Scotland international McCoist was asked to make his pick of who scores the most goal this season between the two players.

He said the two attackers would score for their respective clubs but picked Gyökeres to score the most goals given his impressive stint at Sporting.
“I think they will all score goals, but I’ll actually go with Gyokeres. I saw enough of him,” he said.
“I know there are question marks, of course there are question marks, there are question marks with all signings.

“The one thing I would say, I think is that he will probably get more chances in that Arsenal team than certainly Sesko will at United and potentially Joao Pedro might at Chelsea.
“I just think he will get more chances at Arsenal, and for that reason, I think he will get the most goals out of the three of them.”
Sesko and Gyökeres could be facing each sooner than expected if they are both part of the line-ups for Arsenal clash with Manchester United in the Premier League opener on Sunday.

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PDP crisis: Samuel Anyanwu is our Secretary – Atiku’s ally, Sowunmi

TheNigerian — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 09:12:18 +0000

Segun Sowunmi, a former spokesman of the ex-Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday insisted that Samuel Anyanwu is the Secretary of the party.

Sowunmi disclosed this while reaffirming the judgment of the Supreme Court over the embattled position of PDP’s National Secretary.

Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye have been at loggerheads over who occupies the position of the PDP’s National Secretary.

However, the Supreme Court had affirmed Anyanwu as the party’s secretary.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show, Sowunmi said: “By the decision of the Supreme Court today, Anyanwu is the National Secretary. If the NWC considers the judgment now that they have been given powers that it’s an internal affair, then when we get to that bridge, we will cross it.

“I think that for the sanity of the nation, especially for the integrity of the party, it’s totally wrong that one member of the NWC will jump the gun and not wait for the orders before taking the position, however right he may think his position is.

“You can do the right thing in the wrong way, and in this instance, he’s wrong.

“The court said the appeal succeeds and the reliefs sought by Anyanwu are granted. If he is celebrating that relief, it’s correct to do so.

“The court then gave us another window by saying that ‘parties were under a lot of constraints to take decisions in the best interest of matters before us.’

“In my opinion, without taking over the duties of the Governors’ Forum, the BoT, and the NWC, and in understanding that judgment, Samuel Anyanwu is the Secretary of the party.”

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ICPC Drags El-Rufai’s Ally Jimi Lawal, 3 Others To Court Over Alleged Fraud

TheNigerian — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 18:30:48 +0000

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a five-count charges against Jimi Lawal, a former aide to for two-time governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, accusing him of corruption and money laundering.

The case, with charge number FCH/KD/16c/2025, was filed by Dr. Osuobeni Ekpi Akponimishingha, the Assistant Chief Legal Officer of ICPC, on January 15, 2025, at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.

Lawal, who served as Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor to former Governor el-Rufai, was dragged before the court alongside Umar Waziri, Yusuf Inuwa, and Solar Life Nigeria Limited.

ICPC, which is the complainant, alleged that, sometime in 2018, Lawal “indirectly took control of the sum of N10,000,000 from the Kaduna State Accountant General Operational Account 0211139802 via the Guaranty Trust Bank Automated System (GAPS) and paid it into the Guaranty Trust Bank Account 0130133086 of Solar Life Nigeria Limited, an account for which he was the sole signatory.”

The ICPC further stated that Lawal ought to have known that the funds were part of the proceeds of corruption, adding that, by doing so, he allegedly committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

In count two of the charges, Lawal was accused of indirectly taking control of N47,840,000 from the Kaduna State Ministry of Finance through GTB Account 0130133086 in July 2018.

Additionally, the ICPC alleged that in September 2018, while serving as a public officer in Kaduna State as Senior Special Adviser/Counsellor to the then Governor el-Rufai, Lawal took control of N7,320,562 from the Kaduna State Internally Generated Revenue Account. The funds were said to have been domiciled in United Bank for Africa (UBA) Account 10200067882 and later transferred to the Guaranty Trust Bank Account 0130133086 of Solar Life Nigeria Limited, an account for which he was the sole signatory.

The ICPC emphasised that Lawal ought to have known the funds were proceeds of an unlawful act of corruption, which contravenes Section 18(2)(d) and is punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

In another count, the ICPC alleged that in October 2024, Jimi Lawal made false statements to Messrs. Wellington Nkemadu and Gudi Johnson Daniel during their investigative duties. According to the complainant, Jimi Lawal claimed that the total sum of N64,800,562—received in three tranches of N10,000,000, N47,840,000, and N7,320,562 from the Kaduna State Government through the Guaranty Trust Bank Account of Solar Life Nigeria Limited—was paid to Bariatu Yusuf Mohammed and Aisha Dikko as estacodes.

The ICPC asserted that Lawal knew the statement was false and, in doing so, committed an offence under Section 25(1)(a) and punishable under Section 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

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Rivers crisis: Okocha denies secret meeting with Fubara’s ally

TheNigerian — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 13:18:20 +0000

The factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has denied reports circulating on social media claiming that he has defected from the camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, to align with Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The rumors began circulating on Saturday after a photo appeared online showing Okocha seated alongside the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Chijioke Ihunwo.

The ongoing political crisis in Rivers State has caused a division among political figures, cutting across party lines.

While some have aligned with Fubara, others remain loyal to Wike.

A small group of politicians has chosen to stay indifferent amid the impasse.

The circulating image led to speculation that Okocha, during his purported meeting with Ihunwo, expressed intentions to join Governor Fubara’s camp.

However, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Media, Vincent Gbosi, Okocha dismissed the claims, describing them as “cheap and infantile propaganda sponsored by political neophytes and promoted by their clueless followers on social media”.

He further stated that the image in question was manipulated, urging the public to disregard the rumors.

The statement reads, “The purveyors of the allegation “cooked up a story with a photoshopped picture of Sir (Chief) Tony C. Okocha, DSSRS, JP, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, who also doubles as the Rivers State Representative in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“In their state of hallucination and confusion, these clueless fellows who are obviously bereft of ideas stated that Sir (Chief) Tony C. Okocha paid “a courtesy visit to Hon. Chijioke Ihunwo, the Executive Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA.

“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have bothered dignifying the fake and misleading piece of trash with a response but for the sake of the unsuspecting reading members of the public, especially the gullible ones.

“In the light of the above, we wish to clearly state that the said publication being circulated on social media is not only false, and a fake news from the pit of hell, it is also defamatory, and a failed attempt to bring the hard earned reputation and good image of Sir (Chief) Tony C. Okocha, DSSRS, JP, the Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, and the Rivers State Representative in the NDDC to disrepute. It is dead on arrival.

“It is clueless, unthinkable, unimaginable, inconceivable, and demeaning for anyone in his/her right senses to come up with the concoction that Sir (Chief) Tony C Okocha, DSSRS, JP, will pay “a courtesy visit to Hon. Chijioke Ihunwo, a well known political neophyte for any reason whatsoever.

“Sir (Chief) Tony C. Okocha is a man of character, and with his pedigree and towering credentials, it is understandable for toddlers like Chijioke Ihunwo and his likes to want to gain cheap attention by mentioning his name in their wishful thinking.

“The general public is therefore advised to disregard this complete misinformation as it is not true. It is totally false as it never happened, and will never happen.”

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