Headlines
African Stars File Out as AFCON 2019 Kicks Off
Stars of African football are billed to step out from today as the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations starts on Friday (today) with a record 24 teams slugging it out for the most coveted trophy in African football.
Seven-time champions and hosts Egypt are billed to set the ball rolling with a tricky fixture against Zimbabwe at the Cairo International Stadium.
The Pharaohs will be hoping to go one step further than they did at the 2017 edition of the competition in Gabon, where a late Vincent Aboubacar’s goal denied them a record 8th trophy.
Reacting to their opening game of the competition, Egypt’s head coach, Javier Aguirre, said their opening match is extremely crucial.
He said, “We have reached a very good form since we started preparing, and we have no problems either physically or technically. It’s a very important game as it’s the opening and we know the responsibility for us, yet we feel no pressure.
“We respect Zimbabwe and know them well. We will do our best come Friday (today). We are just thinking of the Zimbabwe game now and will take one game at a time.”
However, captain of the Pharaohs, Ahmed Elmohamady, said the team were in top shape to win another title.
“We are ready for the first game and our morale is very high. We play at home and promise our supporters that we will emerge champions. Our treble between 2006 and 2010 gave us great confidence and we were unlucky not to win two years ago. Being at home will push us more.”
In their pre-match press conference head coach of Zimbabwe’s national team, Sunday Chidzambwa, insists that his players are prepared for the task ahead.
“We prepared well and we believe we will do well. We are playing in a very difficult group and we also had the same in the qualifiers.
“Facing Egypt is not going to be easy because they play at home and they won the title seven times. But we are one of the best 24 teams in Africa and we will do our best.”
Group B
In Group B three-time African champions Super Eagles will be staging a return to the big stage after missing out on the 2015 and 2017 editions.
The Eagles last won the AFCON in 2013 in South Africa, beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final to lift the trophy.
On paper, the Eagles have one of the easiest groups as they are billed to face Burundi, Guinea and Madagascar. Most pundits see the Eagles as one of the favourites to lift the trophy despite coach Gernot Rohr calling for caution.
Group C
West African football powerhouse Senegal are one of the six countries to have got to the AFCON final without winning it, a trend this talented set of Teranga Lions stars will be hoping to change in Egypt.
Led by in-form Liverpool forward, Sadio Mane, and other stars, the Lions, one of the favourites to win the AFCON, will face Tanzania in their opening game of the competition.
Also hoping to make their presence felt at the tournament will be Algeria. Past winners of the tournament, Algeria have Manchester City’s forward Riyad Mahrez.
The Desert Foxes will be hoping to give Senegal a run for their money in Group C.
Group D
Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Namibia make up Group D, which is regarded as the group of death.
Ivory Coast won the 2015 edition of the competition and will be hoping to go all the way once again.
The star-studded Ivorian team will face 1996 champions South Africa in their opening game of the campaign and a favourable result will help them hold their own as one of the favourites to win the 2018 edition of the competition.
Group E
Tunisia, Mali and Angola are the favourites to make it out of this group. Although these teams might not be considered as favourites to win the competition, they will certainly pose some problems for the other heavyweights.
Group F
Defending champions Cameroon are one of the favourites in this group alongside Ghana.
The five-time African champions will have a lot to do to claim a back-to-back AFCON win in Egypt.
The Punch
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
