Ayeiroyin

The Real Madrid and Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award on Thursday after a great finish in both last season’s Champions League and Euro 2016 with Portugal.the striker received the accolade for the second time in his career after finishing ahead of Real team-mate Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. “I’m obviously delighted to receive this award, it’s been an incredible season. But these two other players deserve it as well,” said Ronaldo, who also won the prize in 2013-14 Cristiano struck the winning spot-kick as Madrid set new record of 11th European Cup title, beating their city rivals Atletico on penalties in May, and also took his country to Euro 2016 victory land. The veteran scorer, scored three goals en route to the final of the tournament to equal France’s Michel Platini’s record of nine goals in the European Championship finals.

The banking industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday barred nine banks from all for  eign exchange transactions for failing to remit the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC’s) $2.125 billion to the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) domiciled in the apex bank. The banks, whose suspension would remain in force until they return all the funds to the TSA, are two tier-one banks and seven tier-two lenders. One of the banks, which also held some of these funds however, was said to  have escaped the banking watchdog’s hammer, as the lender, which had funds with the CBN, was able to remit its share of the funds through currency swap. These funds in question, which are over $5 bil lion in the banking industry before it was reduced to $2.125 billion in May, are NNPC’s share from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). The nine bank Chief Executive Officers were said to have been summoned to a meeting in Abuja yesterday with the CBN Govern...

The League Management Company chairman Shehu Dikko, hint that former Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, will join the four-time Nigeria League champions, Kano Pillars. the 36years defender played over a 101 times for Nigeria’s national team. As an ambassador of the LMC, he was contracted to star in the country’s top flight to further boost the followership of the domestic league. Mr. Dikko told journalists in Lagos that Pillars beat other contenders to the signing of Yobo and that all the necessary formalities should be concluded in time for the former Everton defender to star in the Pyramid Boys next home game against Sunshine Stars. Akwa United, Wikki Tourists and even big spenders, FC Ifeanyi Ubah, were all understood to be jostling to have Yobo play for them. “For now, that is being worked out, but we’re looking at the next (home) game,” Dikko said when asked when the loose ends will be tied for the Yobo’s Pillars move. Yobo aside playing for Everton has also starred for top...

The Minister of Power, Babatunde Raji Fashola, said that the President Muhamadu Buhari administration remains focused in on promises made to Nigerians. Fashola spoke at the commissioning of 1.2MW solar-powered project located at the Water Board facility in the lower Usuma Dam, Bwari in Abuja. According to the minister, the first part of the promise kept is premised on the 2016 Budget which is passed, that is, all un-completed projects, especially those that impact  meaningfully on the lives of the people are completed. “I am glad to say that this water works will wholly be powered by renewable energy, it is going to be devoid of fossils fuel, this will in turn guarantee good health and good livelihood”. “The project is in line with our administration’s road map to power sufficiency which begins with incremental power, with  this  we have performed the first step, while others like stable power and then uninterrupted power would follow in that sequence. “With these...

The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) on Tuesday accuse the former Diamond Bank Plc branch manager,Mr Chinedu Oguike, at Federal Court in Lagos for allegation of N24million fraud. The manager was charged with three counts of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence and advanced fee fraud. The defendant, who managed the bank’s Oyingbo, Ebutte-Metta, Lagos branch, was accused of obtaining the money from Ufomba Nnabugwu after promising to deliver a property in the Ijegun Egba area of Lagos to him. The Police prosecutor, Effiong Asuquo, said Oguike committed the alleged offence in 2014, adding that it contravenes Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006. Oguike was also accused of preparing phony loan facility documents for himself. He was said to have used the name of Edwin Ezeakachukwu and the Ijegun Egba property as collateral, to the victim’s detriment. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge. Defence counsel, John Itodo, applied fo...

Islamic jihadist group on Monday claimed liabilities for the suicide bombing that killed more than 30 Syrian rebel fighters in a blast near the Turkish border. IS, in a statement published on Twitter and the messaging service Telegram, said a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt among rebels “getting ready to fight the Islamic State”. The blast on Sunday night struck the Atme border crossing between Turkey and the northern Syrian province of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Monitoring group said the anti-regime fighters were travelling by bus to Turkey then back into Syria towards the rebel bastion of Azaz, in Aleppo province. The attack killed 32 rebels as they were entering Turkey, the Britain-based Observatory said, updating an earlier toll on Sunday evening of 15. Its head Rami Abdel Rahman said the toll could rise further as other fighters remained critically wounded. IS’s statement said the attack left “nearly 50” rebels dead, charging t...

Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday stopped the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party from going ahead with its plan to conduct the national convention of the party slated for Thursday. Justice Okon Abang ruled during the proceedings that lasted eight hours, that the interim order would subsist till the motion filed by the Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction seeking an interlocutory injunction against the convention is heard and determined. The judge fix Tuesday for the hearing of the Sherif faction’s motion for interlocutory injunction. Judge made the order after joining Makarfi and six other members of his caretaker committee as parties to the substantive suit which was filed last month by the Sheriff and members of his faction. The judge had on July 28 heard Markafi-led faction’s application to join the suit as a defendant and fixed Monday for ruling. The judge overruled Sheriff’s faction’s opposition to the application and ordered that Markafi and the rest of the ap...