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Enugu State, Hosts 20th edition of Chief of Naval Staff and 12th edition of Naval Officers Wives Association Soccer tournaments

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The Combined opening ceremony of the 20th edition of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and 12th edition of Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA) Soccer Tournaments took place on Sunday 7 April 2024 at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu State. The CNS was represented by the Fleet Commander Central Fleet Rear, Admiral NC Ekwom.

These tournaments have continued to contribute significantly to youth development nationwide. Notably, the tournaments are hosted in different Nigerian cities annually & involve youth soccer teams from the entire country.

This year, 19 youth soccer teams from different states including; Abia, Abuja, Anambra, Ebonyi, Benue, Enugu, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Osun, Imo, Nasarawa, Rivers, & Kaduna are participating. It promises to be exciting.

The week-long 20th edition of the Chief Of the Naval Staff U-14 boys and NOWA U-17 girls football tournaments formally came to a close on Saturday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu, South East Nigeria. The closing ceremony was well attended by dignitaries from different walks of life.The special guest of honor, the Chief Of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla was represented by Navy Secretary Rear Admiral Patrick Nwatu while the chief of Air Staff was represented by Air Officer Commanding ground training command Air vice Marshal UK Abdullahi As well as Commissioner for Youths and Sports Barrister Lloyd Ekweremadu who represented the Enugu State Governor Peter Mba, amongst others.

The final matches and the closing ceremony were colorful and remarkable.The event lived up to expectations as football enthusiasts could not hide their excitement. The day was marked by tension as players and coaches were desperate to win the coveted trophies. After a serious battle, the Kogi boys team got a consolation.They defeated their Rivers State counterparts 1-0 to win the third place match.

The NOWA girls final match was full of intrigues as highly rated Ebonyi team disappointed their teaming supporters losing 4-0 to their Imo state counterparts thereby giving them the opportunity to lift the NOWA trophy for the first time. Host Enugu boys came stronger and didn’t take things for granted.With the spiritual backing of their proprietor Reverend Father Mbaka, the 10-man Adoration Boys demolished their Abia opponents 5-0.The encounter was quite entertaining and the fans were on their toes throughout the match.

Abia team got a rude shock because despite putting in their best, they couldn’t survive the firepower of a team that had incomplete players. It was celebration galore for the host after winning the male trophy and other individual awards.Nwodo Nicholas of Enugu won the best male goalkeeper of the tournament while Wisdom Boniface won the highest goal scorer and the most valuable player award with 6 goals. Imo’s Okpara Jacklin was the best female goalkeeper of the tournament.

There were other numerous awards that added colour to the Occasion. In all the Youth Sports Federation Of Nigeria YSFON is full of appreciation for the players and officials for contributing to the success of the tournaments. The Nigerian Navy also congratulated the Youths for their discipline and urged them to be focused and hard working to ensure a formidable future for the country.

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2027: Hurdles Before The Coalition, By Emeka Monye

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The 2027 presidential election in Nigeria is shaping up to be a crucial contest between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a potential coalition of opposition parties. Several hurdles need to be overcome for the opposition coalition to succeed.

The political class is already preparing for this quadrennial event, holding consultations, meetings, negotiations, among other contending factors.

The ruling party, The All Progressive Congress, appears to be the most beautiful bride at the moment as members of other opposition parties have been courting the party, in a gale of defections, in what many political pundits and analysts described as a political tsunami.

While the APC seems to be enjoying the foray of defections by other party members into their fold, the main opposition party, The Peoples Democractic Party, PDP, appears to have lost its steam in the run of play.

The once dominant party is plagued by a series of internal crises which many political analysts believe will be the party’s undoings.

The once largest political party in Africa and oldest in Nigeria since it was created in 1998 by some elder statesmen, is now a shadow of itself, living in past glory and trying to win its way back to national prominence.

Already, some past and present leaders of the party have been consulting, negotiating, discussing, even though they have agreed yet, all in a bit to wrestle power from the stronghold of the Bola Tinubu-Led APC at the centre.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Former Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General elections, Peter Obi, former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, among other bigwigs, are believed to be in talks with one another of how to build a possible coalition to edge the ruling APC in the power game.

Although, no concrete decision has been reached by the major actors, their negotiations and their inability to reach a consensus remain critical factors that might endanger the birth of a viable coalition.

Factors like who will step down for who as the realignment begins, remains a major issue, taking into consideration their individual experiences, exposures, skills, knowledge, capacities and egos.

Except this issue is resolved in the run up to the 2027 presidential polls, it will be a mirage for them to unseat the Tinubu-Led government.

While the running party is busy strategizing ahead of the 2027 presidential polls, the other parties are still grappling with their internal crisis.

Some analysts believe that Atiku’s past experience as Vice President under the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo, might give him an edge, while others think Peter Obi’s popularity in the South could bring a geographical balance to the ticket.

For them to form a strong force against the APC, then, they must find common platform and agree on a candidate, which might be challenging given their different ideologies and interest.

Other factors which some political analysts have highlighted that may pose as a stumbling block agents the coalition is the timing. The time between and 2027 is quite a short time for the coalition to gather and make the desired impact.

This of course, is no brainer. Any merger of alliance must be arranged within a reasonable timeframe to be effective. Also, the coalition will have to convince the Nigerian voting public of its purpose and demonstrate a clear vision for the country’s future, particularly in the area of addressing the economic misfortunes of majority of the people. Another hurdle that would be staring the coalition in the face remains the issue of power rotation.

While the south believe it’s that turn to complete their second term in 2027, the north on the other hand argue that they have been short-changed in the governance structure of the country – in terms of number of years – since the return of democracy in 1999.

Out of the total 26 years, the north has ruled for 11 years, with the south 15 years. The issue remains a key factor that would affect the coalition to birth.

The coalition, must as a matter of urgency, decency decide on this unwritten agreement about rotating power between the North and the South, potentially present a southern for one term to allow the South to complete its own two terms for the office of the president.

In conclusion, the coalition, if it really wants to win power in 2027, must make a compelling case for itself, highlighting its unique strengths and vision, rather than just criticizing the incumbent.

It needs to differentiate itself and show Nigerians that it has a better alternative.

Emeka Monye Is A Journalist And Works With ARISE NEWS.

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Mauritania’s Tah succeeds Adesina as 9th AfDB President

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

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Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina prepares to bow out.

The Bank announced his election on its website on Thursday.

Adesina’s 10-year tenure will end this year and Tah is expected to assume office on September 1, 2025.

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Board comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.

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JUST IN: Appeal Court Affirms Okphebholo as Edo Governor

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‎‎The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Monday Okphebholo as duly elected in the September 21, 2024 Edo Governorship polls, as it affirms the decision of the Tribunal which on April 2 dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking merit. ‎‎

A three-man panel of the Appeal court, presided over by Justice Mohamed Danjuma, restated the position of the Tribunal which held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.‎‎

The panel held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. ‎‎

The Appellate Court agrees with the Tribunal that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) Machines which the appellants tendered were merely ‘dumped’ as they weren’t demonstrated to prove overvoting.

‎‎This the Court held after it earlier expunged the 133 BVAS machines admitted in evidence at the Tribunal stage of the Governorship tussle. ‎‎

Ighodalo and the PDP were further faulted by the Appellate Court for failing to tender the voter register to prove overvoting.

The Court further adds that BVAS extract doesn’t constitute items with which to prove overvoting. ‎‎It says the documents tendered by the PDP at the Tribunal did not, on their own, prove overvoting, non-holding or cancellation of elections at the polling units.

‎‎To further puncture the case of the PDP, the panel says the 19 witnesses called by the appellants during the Tribunal hearing didn’t help their case.

It says the majority of them did not witness what they spoke about. Moreso, it adds they were insufficient to prove irregularities in polling stations at over 4,000 locations.

‎‎Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, against Asue Ighodalo of the PDP who garnered 247,274 votes.

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