Author: TheScrutinyNG

Russian football star, Aleksei Bugayev, has been killed in Ukraine after signing up to war to escape drugs conviction. Bugayev, who was part of the Russia team that featured at Euro 2004, playing two games before later retiring from football in 2010, was killed on the frontline while fighting in the Ukraine conflict Bugayev, who has died aged 43, made a name for himself as a footballer as he featured for Moscow clubs Torpedo and Lokomotiv and later Krasnodar while also picking up seven caps for the Russian national team. He was part of the Russia team that featured at…

Pep Guardiola has insisted that Manchester City have “no chance” of winning the Premier League title despite the “relief” of a long-awaited win against Leicester City on Sunday. City snapped a five-game winless streak in all competitions with a nervy 2-0 victory at the King Power Stadium, where the relegation-threatened hosts had more possession and chances. “It is not enjoyable right now, it is just relief,” Guardiola told Sky Sports after the game. “We have done incredible things for many years. It is not the best.” While the result has lifted City back up to fifth in the Premier League,…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (Warri Refinery) with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, has commenced operations. This development comes shortly after the Port Harcourt Refinery began its 60,000-barrel-per-day operations. The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, revealed the news during an inspection tour of the facility on Monday. VANGUARD reports that Kyari was joined by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, among other officials. In a video shared by Channels TV, Kyari provided insights into the…

Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and former governor of Kano State, has said he had no pact with either former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, for the presidency. Speaking to the BBC in the Hausa language on Monday, Kwankwaso clarified that he has not been in contact with either Atiku or Obi, emphasising that he has chosen to observe a principle of neutrality until the end of the year. This, he said, is to allow the current federal and…

The presidency has demanded that Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State retract his “inflammatory” statement on the Tax Reform Bill. Speaking in a social media post on Monday, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare said Mohammed’s statement, “We’ll show Tinubu our true colour,” does not reflect the stance of the north. Dare added that the statement also goes against the constructive dialogue needed between states and the Federal Government. His post comes after Mohammed’s statement from Wednesday, December 25, 2024, during a Christmas homage by the Christian community at the Government House in Bauchi. While…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed the challenges facing Nigeria on both the leaders and the followers. Despite the difficulties facing the country, Obasanjo urged Nigerians to remain hopeful and not lose faith as the new year begins. During an appearance on the Arise TV Morning Show on Monday, Obasanjo expressed confidence that Nigeria will soon assume its rightful position among nations, emphasising that he remains a steadfast optimist about the country’s future. He said, “We wish all Nigerians a happy and prosperous new year, and I will say to Nigerians, We’re going through hardship, but they should never lose…

A Federal High Court in Abuja has okayed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s application to freeze 24 bank accounts domiciled in different banks over allegations bordering on terrorism financing. Justice Emeka Nwite, who granted the application after the EFCC’s lawyer, Martha Babatunde, moved an ex parte motion to the effect, gave the commission the go-ahead to freeze the accounts for 90 days pending the conclusion of the investigation. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the motion ex parte, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1897/V/2024, was filed by Ekele Iheanacho. Iheanacho sought an order freezing the bank accounts stated in the…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a ex-Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, yesterday, slammed one of President Tinubu’s sons, Seyi, for reviewing a guard of honour mounted by a group of young men in Nigerian military uniforms. The two were reacting to a viral video of President Tinubu’s son reviewing a military-like guard of honour by youths in Ogun State. While the former Vice President demanded a thorough investigation into the incident, labelling it a gross violation of military tradition, George described the act as unprecedented and inappropriate. Atiku, in a statement by his Media Adviser,…

The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) under the office of the National Security Adviser at a recently concluded Multi-Agency Kidnap Fusion Cell (MAAKFC) launched in Abuja said Nigerians will feel safer in 2025. The national security adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu said the federal government has in a short while of less than two years, achieved 80 percent successes in the fight against kidnapping in the country despite report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that Nigerians paid ransom of over N2.2trn in the year 2024. According to the report, 2.2m Nigerians were kidnapped while 614,937 were killed in the…

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has signed the N750 billion 2025 Abia State budget into law, with praises for the members of the state House of Assembly for giving the bill an accelerated hearing and passage. Speaking after appending his signature, Otti said the budget would give his government the impetus to continue to deliver on its promises to Abians. “This budget that was passed is a budget that will give us the impetus to continue to fire on all cylinders to ensure that our people are living a good life. “I want to thank specially, the House members…