Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, says only Paris Saint-Germain has the financial strength to move Victor Osimhen away from the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this summer, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The striker has been linked with a move away from Napoli this summer, after spearheading their first title success in 33 years last season.

But De Laurentiis earlier in the week announced that the Nigerian would be staying put at Napoli unless a ‘more than indecent proposal’ is offered for the 24-year-old.

According to several reports, Napoli values Osimhen at €150m and no club is currently willing to meet that asking price.

De Laurentiis has set his valuation of the striker even higher and claims that only PSG has the financial strength to sign the player, ruling out other suitors like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid, who have all been linked with the forward.

“The only club that could afford Victor Osimhen is Paris Saint-Germain,” De Laurentiis told Mediaset.

“If (PSG president) Nasser Al Khelaifi wants to send in a bid around €200m we wait and see what happens. I personally think that Victor will stay here.”

Credit to:Punchng.com

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives, requesting the approval of N500 billion to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

Essentially, the president is seeking the amendment of the 2022 supplementary appropriation act to accommodate the funds.

Speaker of the House, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas read the letter of the president’s request at Wednesday’s plenary.

Titled “Request for the amendment of the 2022 appropriation act”, the letter reads in part: “I write to request the approval of the House of Representatives an amendment of the 2022 appropriation act in accordance with the law.

“The request has become necessary in other to source funds to provide necessary palliatives to cushion the effect of the recent removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria.

“The sum of N500 billion only has been extracted from the 2022 appropriation act of N819.536 for the provision of palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. I expect that the House will speedily consider the request”.

Abbas however added that the House will consider the President’s request at plenary on Thursday.

Credit to: Vanguardngr.com

FREETOWN, July 1 (Reuters) – The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party has won 60% of the seats in a parliamentary election, the election commission said on Saturday, as the main opposition party demanded a rerun of the vote that also saw President Julius Maada Bio win a second term.

The SLPP won 81 seats while the opposition All People’s Congress won 54, according to the results read by the commission’s chairman Mohamed Kenewui Konneh.

The results showed the ruling party made significant gains in the bellwether diamond-rich district of Kono, winning seven of the 10 seats where they had none previously. They also made gains in the opposition heartland of the north and west, especially in the capital Freetown.

But the APC, which earlier said it had decided to reject the results of the June 24 general election, citing “glaring irregularities”, retained control of the important mayorship of Freetown with 51.3% of the vote.

The APC also said it would refuse to participate in any form of governance as a result of the alleged election irregularities.

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Tuesday, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to set a high standard of neutrality in the November 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.

This was as they expressed worry over the rising insecurity in some states of the federation.

In a communique issued at the end of a four-hour inaugural meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum, under the leadership of the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, the governors called on the Federal Government to rise up to its responsibility of making the country safer for Nigerians.

The communique read, “The meeting notes the deteriorating security situation in the country, especially the wanton destruction of lives and property in Plateau and Zamfara states, among other states.

“The meeting, consequently, advised the Federal Government and security agencies to rise to the situation and bring the situation under control.”

On the upcoming off-season govenorship elections, the communiqué said, “The meeting advised the Independent National Electoral Commission,  the security agencies, and the Federal Government to be neutral in the conduct of the off-season elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states.

“The meeting resolved to work together and unite the forum, whose aim is to provide a platform for peer review of issues, policies, programmes and achievements (legacy projects) of member governors across the PDP states.

“In the interim, the Forum would cooperate with the Federal Government on issues concerning the welfare of Nigerians and good governance while striving to maintain the independence and autonomy of the Forum through offering constructive criticisms where necessary.”

Fielding questions from journalists shortly after the meeting, Governor Bala Mohammed said the issue of the substantive National Chairman of the PDP was an internal affair, noting that the Governors’ Forum was only a part of the leadership structure of the party that would decide the emergence of a new chairman.

“The chairmanship issue is one the party will address. We, the PDP governors, discussed the state of the party but the issue of the substantive chairman is a party affair. I can also tell you that the reconciliation of aggrieved party members is ongoing. There is no cause for alarm,” he stated.

On the absence of the Rivers State Governor, Similayi Fubara, Bala said an apology was sent to the forum, adding that there was no need for anyone to read negative meaning into his absence.

“He sent an apology and that is all. You can see that 12 out of the 13 PDP governors attended the meeting. This goes to show that we are very united as a group,” he added.

Meanwhile, The PUNCH gathered that governors agreed to work individually and collectively to make the PDP stronger in their respective states.

A credible source, who was at the meeting, told our correspondent that the governors agreed to work amicably with their state chapters to guard against the springing up of factions as witnessed in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.

“The need to have robust state chapters was discussed. The governors believe that the lack of unity in some states worked against the PDP, both in the presidential and governorship elections in 2023. They, therefore, emphasised the need to project the party above individual interests.

“Another issue discussed was the need to support the party’s candidates in the three states where governorship elections are due in November,” he said.

Credit to: punchng.com

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Sunday said coups will no longer be allowed in the West African region under his leadership as chairperson of the sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS.

“We will not allow coup after coup in the West African sub-region. We will take this up seriously with the African Union, European Union, America and Britain,” he said in his acceptance speech adding that “we will take it up, it is a challenge.”

Between August 2020 and now, five coups have occurred in three West African countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea with attempts in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau foiled.

Nigeria’s neighbour to the North, Chad, had an unconstitutional change of government led by Lieutenant General Mahamat Idriss Déby after his father’s death in 2021.

Mr Tinubu noted that although democracy is very tough to manage, it is the best form of government and countries of the region should ascribe to it.

He takes over from the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Embalo, who finished his tenure at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government on Sunday in Bissau, the capital city of Guinea-Bissau.

The summit is the first international engagement of President Tinubu on the African continent since his swearing-in on 29 May.

Credit to:Standard.gm

At least 15 new Nigerian professors and doctors have been deployed to the University of The Gambia on a two-year voluntary service.

The senior academics were deployed by the Nigerian Government as part of its Technical Aid Corp (TAC) programme to assist African and Caribbean countries with professionals in various fields to meet their manpower needs.

Under the arrangement, the Nigerian government will be responsible for the payment of monthly upkeep of the volunteer lecturers while the Gambia government caters for their accommodation, utilities and local transportation.

Mohammed Manu, the Nigerian High Commissioner to The Gambia, explained that the UTG has been the main beneficiary of the TAC scheme but other areas such as the judiciary and health sector also equally benefited. He said over 500 volunteers have been deployed since the start of the TAC.  He revealed that the scheme has been a major part of Nigeria’s foreign policy to enhance the capacity of the African continent to achieve competence in various fields.

Manu said the 15 lecturers have come to replace the 14 volunteers that have just returned to Nigeria.

He encouraged them to behave well and think of themselves as ambassadors of Nigeria during their stay, adding that they must stay away from any negative activity.

Prof. Herbert Robinson, the Vice Chancellor of the University of The Gambia, expressed delight at receiving yet another batch of lecturers from Nigeria.

He thanked the Nigeria High Commission for the new volunteers and praised the work of the last batch.  The Vice Chancellor said relationship between The Gambia and Nigeria has been very long, and is a history of development cooperation between two very friendly countries. The 15 lecturers have since been distributed to their various departments of specialty.

Credit to:Olimatou Coker: Standard.gm

‘We felt like we’d been on 180 in a fan assisted oven’, said England’s third-highest try scorer of all time

Around 800 runners took part in the 10th Sierra Leone marathon at the weekend, organised by UK charity Street Child, which helps children globally get back into education.

Dubbed the “craziest and most worthwhile marathon” in the world, the arduous race started in the early hours of Sunday in the northern town of Makeni.

For the first time nine cyclists aged 24 to around 60 – many of them “hobby cyclists” – undertook a 70km bike ride alongside the marathon, half-marathon, and other running events.

Among them was former World Cup and grand slam rugby star Greenwood.

The mercury rose to 30C, as the race took cyclists along dirt tracks, through jungle and rural villages, beneath the fierce African sun.

“It felt like being cooked,” Greenwood told the Standard from Sierra Leone. “We felt like we’d been on 180 in a fan assisted oven from about 11.30am.

“The last 10k was really tough, getting hot. But the group kept each other going.

“As someone who’s reasonably fit…the first three or four hours were ‘let’s stop and take photos, isn’t it amazing?’ The last two hours it was ‘how far? how long?’”

But he said the group “felt safe all the time” as they were accompanied by local escorts, as well as a medic and and a mechanic. They finished the 70km route in just under six hours.

Greenwood was accompanied on ride by several colleagues from AI firm Afiniti, where he is Chief Customer Officer, and described the experience as “bonding” and deeply satisfying.

Earlier in the week, he and the other athletes visited a school and small businesses in Sierra Leone that are helped by Street Child.

“They are working to try and maintain what so many of us take for granted – a child’s right to education,” Greenwood, who has 55 international caps and is England’s third-highest try scorer of all time, said of the charity.

“They are working with local communities to make educational establishments independent ecosystems of education.

“I get to go home now and see my kids. They’re at school and they’ve got a roof over their head and they’re well-fed, and they don’t have to walk seven miles to school and back in 35C heat.

“To see the work that Street Child are doing just in this location is one that just, makes you want to be like ‘how can I help?’”

Greenwood, who lives near Maidenhead, has worked as a presenter for Sky Sports and a sports journalist for The Telegraph since retiring from rugby in 2006.

He has previously led fundraising expeditions to summit Kilimanjaro and walked to the North Pole urged anyone keen for a fundraising challenge to consider taking part in the Sierra Leone events.

For more information about Street Child and how to sign up for next year’s marathon or bike ride, visit www.street-child.org.