Premier League Games To Return On June 17

Following Thursday's meeting regarding 'Project Restart', a date has now been agreed for England's top flight to get back underway.

The Premier League season will resume on June 17 with Manchester City's meeting with Arsenal one of the first matches to be played.

Aston Villa's home clash with Sheffield United is another that will mark the return of the English top flight, with both those matches the two games in hand that were left unplayed prior to the coronavirus pandemic halting football.

A full fixture list will then be played on the weekend of June 19 to 21, with the agreement coming after Premier League clubs met on Thursday to continue discussions over 'Project Restart'.

The Premier League are hoping to have the 2019-20 campaign wrapped up by August 2, with the FA Cup final then scheduled to take place a week later on the weekend of August 8-9.

Rohr thanks NFF for new deal, promises to make Eagles super again

Super Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, has thanked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for giving him a new two and a half year contract to continue coaching the senior national team.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick confirmed on Wednesday via his twitter handle @PinnickAmaju that the Federation has agreed formally to hand Rohr a new contract, adding it has confidence in the abilities of the German.

“I’m happy to announce that the @thenff and Coach Gernot Rohr have concluded all contractual discussions and he will stay on as Coach of the Super Eagles. We have always had confidence in his abilities and we are confident that the national team can only go higher from here,” Pinnick said.

Rohr confirmed his new contract at the weekend in a mail he sent to some NFF board members thanking them for facilitating the deal.He wrote: “I am happy to confirm that we have come to an agreement to continue my work as head coach of the Super Eagles for the next two years and a half.

“I want to say thank you to the Nigeria Football Federation, led by President Amaju Pinnick, the board and of course the General Secretary for their confidence in me to continue in this job.

“It is not common to have a country with the same national coach for what will be six years and this will be made possible because of the support of the federation, the government of Nigeria and our team.

“We have a big project in front of us. We have the quality and with the continued cooperation of everyone concerned, including the fans and good people of Nigeria, I believe we will have a good result that will spell great development for football in Nigeria in the future.”

Yet according to Pinnick, the coach has been given a target to lift the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroun as well as qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Gunmen kidnap NTA News manager

The Assistant Manager News and Current Affairs of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Channel 6 Aba, Mrs. Chinyere Okoye has been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen.

The incident took place on Wednesday night at Obikabia road off Ogbor Hill, in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state as she was heading back from work.

Details shortly…

Adesina: I’m still AfDB’s president

AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has not stepped down from office.

Adesina, in a statement, said “the bank’s institutional framework is solid and efficient, adding that he stands by it”.

The statement reads: “In recent weeks and over the last few days especially, I have been overwhelmed by the tremendous support received from around the world. I have absolute confidence in the integrity of the Bank that I lead and its governance systems, rules and procedures.

“In spite of unprecedented attempts by some to tarnish my reputation and prejudice the Bank’s governance procedures, I maintain my innocence with regard to trumped up allegations that unjustly seek to impugn my honour and integrity, as well as the reputation of the African Development Bank.

“I sincerely appreciate the support of the Bank’s shareholders.

“At this time, I remain confident that ultimately and as one collective, the Bank will emerge stronger than before and continue to support Africa’s development drive. I draw great inspiration from my heroes, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan, whose lives have shown that through pain we grow. As Martin Luther King Jnr. once said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

“I am confident that fair, transparent and just processes that respect the rules, procedures and governance systems of the Bank, and the rule of law, will ultimately prove that I have not violated the Code of Ethics of this extraordinary institution.

“I will therefore continue to work with each and every one of our shareholders to ensure that the African Development Bank maintains its hard earned global reputation; and that our credible and well-functioning institutional and governance systems are reinforced, as we collectively press on to fulfill the mission of our founder to accelerate and transform Africa’s development.”

The bank’s Board of Governors cleared him of the allegations after its ethics committee looked into the matter.

Sources indicated that the news first carried by Bloomberg to the effect that the AfDB President had stepped aside for so-called “independent investigation” was false. “The Bank’s Board of Governors has not conceded to America’s demands, the source stated, adding that to do so would be to concede to the implied position that the bank’s internal structures are compromised. “The full course of the Bank’s internal framework was resorted to with the United States in tow, and the Whistleblowers’ allegations against Adesina were declared to be spurious. “Now, the three American officials involved in this show of shame have resorted to thuggery and fake news as their medium for besmearing an otherwise respected institution”.

(The Nation)

Presidential Power Initiative: Buhari directs Finance ministry, BPE to conclude plans with Siemens

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Finance, and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to conclude the engagement with Siemens AG to commence the pre-engineering & concessionary financing aspects of the Presidential Power Initiative.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is a power infrastructure upgrade and modernization Programme agreed to by the Nigerian Government and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German Government.

Under the PPI, The Nigerian Government will on behalf of the other shareholders in the Electricity Distribution Cos. invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters, transmission lines, etc.

All DisCos have, directly, and through the BPE, been diligently carried along over the last 15 months to understand in detail the challenges in the electricity systems.

All items to be purchased were provided by the DisCos and Transmission Company of Nigeria and they will be vetted by a professional Project Management Office.

The funding for the PPI will be secured under concessionary terms (up to 3-year moratorium and 12-year repayment at concessionary interest rates) through the German Euler Hermes cover, which The Nigerian Government will on-lend as a convertible loan to the other shareholders in the DisCos.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of funding for the first part of Phase 1 of the PPI, to kick-off the pre-engineering and concession financing workstreams.

To ensure fairness and transparency of the intervention, the President has also directed that The Nigerian Government engage the International Finance Corporation (‘IFC’) to assist in developing the commercial structure of the intervention under this Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), as well as in undertaking an independent company valuation of the DisCos.

The President has also directed that to ensure value for money and preserve the integrity & transparency of the procurement process under the Govt-to-Govt framework, Siemens AG shall be solely responsible for nominating its EPC partners to perform all onshore works; NO middlemen.

“Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes… Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a Govt-to-Govt framework. No middlemen will be involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians.” — President Muhammadu Buhari

The PPI journey started on August 31, 2018, when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Nigeria and met with President Buhari.

Chancellor brought along with her a business delegation that included the Global CEO of Siemens. Nigeria and Germany agreed to explore cooperation in a number of areas, including Power.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI): 

a. Will deliver improved power supply nationwide, with attendant results in job creation, investor confidence, cost and ease of doing business and economic growth.

b. Will provide training & capacity building for thousands of young Nigerians (non-graduates, students & graduates)

c. Will create economic opportunities for Nigerian engineering companies that will serve as local vendors for the provision of manpower and equipment.

d. Will stimulate/encourage inflow of additional investment into the power sector. 

The ultimate goal of the Nigerian PPI is to modernize and increase the Nigerian electricity grid capacity from about 5 GW currently to 25 GW, over three phases.

200 Zamfara, Katsina bandits killed in air strikes — DHQ

Over 200 bandits have been killed by the army between Zamfara and Katsina states in multiple air strikes.

The strike was conducted at Ibrahim Mai’Bai ’s Camp in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State and Kurmin Kura in Zurmi of Zamfara State between 22 and 23 , May this year.

Confirming the incident the Coordinator , Defence Media Operations Maj . Gen . John Enenche, said the air strikes were executed after a series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions.

The two locations , according to Ehenche were being used as hideouts for some notorious bandit leaders whilst also serving as collection points for rustled cattle.

Accordingly , Air Component, employing Nigerian Air Force ground attack aircraft and helicopter gunships, engaged the two locations in multiple passes, destroying the makeshift structures in the camps as well as killing the bandit leaders and their fighters.

“ Human Intelligence (HUMINT ) sources later confirmed that close to 200 armed bandits were killed in the air strikes at the target locations ” He added.

Commenting on the issue , the Chief of the Air Staff , Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar , commended the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji for their professionalism and directed them to remain resolute towards eradicating all armed bandits.

Air Marshall Sadique said this would lead to achieving directives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of restoring normalcy in the North West and North Central Zones of the Country.

(Punch)