Headlines
Cristiano Ronaldo, Teammates Arrive Lagos on Pre-Season Tour
Cristiano Ronaldo and his team, Al Nassr, have arrived in Lagos as they continue their preseason training.
They had been in Lisbon, Portugal, but have now moved to Lagos to keep preparing for the new season in the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo came with some of his teammates, including new player João Félix. The team shared pictures on social media, saying: “Lisbon chapter closed, Lagos chapter loading.” This message showed that they were done in Lisbon and ready for their next stop.
Earlier in the preseason, Al Nassr played a match against French club Toulouse and won 2-1. Ronaldo scored one of the goals. Now, the team is focusing on their next match, which will be against their rivals, Al Ittihad, in the Super Cup.
Al Nassr has added more star players like Sadio Mané and João Félix to strengthen the team. The club posted photos of their arrival in Lagos, and fans are excited to see these top footballers in their city.
During one of the training sessions, people noticed Ronaldo wearing a bib with the number 9 instead of his famous number 7. In some of his Instagram photos, he was seen in orange and yellow training bibs with “9” on them.
In another football update, Bruno Fernandes, the captain of Manchester United, criticized his team after their 2-2 draw with Everton in the Premier League Summer Series. He was unhappy with the way the team performed, even though they won the tournament.
Manchester United had their worst season last year, finishing 15th in the league. Fernandes said he had a chance to leave for another club, but decided to stay because he was promised improvements.
Even though the team had wins over West Ham and Bournemouth in preseason, Fernandes said they repeated old mistakes against Everton. He was honest about it, saying, “It’s improving, but it’s not where we want it to be. It’s a game of football; there’s always passion there. Whatever happens, happens. There was nothing spicy there; it’s normal; it is part of the game.”
He added that the U.S. tour helped the players connect more, but said, “We looked a bit lazy today and we need to change that.”
Fernandez also had a message for the club’s management. He said they need to sign more good players to create competition and help the team grow. “I don’t want to have a dig at anyone, but I think the club is doing the best they can in terms of all the financial situations they talk about,” he explained.
He continued: “I don’t know about it; I’m not involved in that. But obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here. We needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more and to have more to do to get into the starting line-up. I think that’s what the club and the manager are trying to do and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.”
New players such as Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha played well in the game against Everton. The club is now trying to sign Benjamin Sesko, but they are also facing competition from another club backed by big money.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
Oyebanji secured a landslide victory, polling 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, who garnered 40,543 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Dare Bejide, came a distant third with 12,872 votes.
The election, held across all 16 local government areas of the state, was overshadowed by reports of irregularities and widespread allegations of vote buying, drawing strong condemnation from observers.
The official results were announced on Sunday morning by the Chief Returning Officer, Professor Adenike Oladiji, who declared Oyebanji duly elected after meeting the constitutional requirements.
In her declaration, Professor Oladiji stated: “I, Professor Adenike Oladiji, hereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Ekiti State Governorship Election held on June 20, 2026, and that the election was conducted in compliance with the provisions of the law. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
Source: Reuters
Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has alleged that there may be attempts to prevent key opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, from appearing on the ballot for the 2027 general elections.
Oseni’s remark followed a Federal High Court judgment ordering the de-registration of some political parties.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples’ Party (APP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Action Alliance Party (AAP) over alleged constitutional breaches.
The judgment arose from a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional and statutory electoral performance requirements necessary for continued recognition as political parties.
Justice Lifu subsequently barred INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting nominations from them or permitting them to participate in activities related to the 2027 general elections.
The ruling, if upheld, could affect the political ambitions of several politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the ADC presidential flag-bearer, and Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
But speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Oseni described the court ruling as a “test” of public reaction, warning that more actions could follow ahead of the next general election.
According to him, opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, should be cautious, claiming that efforts could be made to stop major figures from participating in the election.
Oseni argued that the judgment was part of a broader process aimed at shaping the political landscape ahead of 2027.
He maintained that the ruling came despite some of the affected parties having recorded electoral victories in recent elections.
He warned that Nigerians must remain vigilant to safeguard the country’s democracy, stressing the need for judicial reforms alongside efforts to tackle insecurity.
Oseni said: “NDC, ADC should be careful because there will be attempt, and this is me predicting now, to ensure that Obi, Atiku and other big contenders are not on the ballot.
“This that you saw yesterday is just a test. This is not the real place where the whole thing is going. This is me predicting now.
“You know before you have a show you test the microphone. They want to see the reactions of Nigerians. More is still coming.
“You can see how they carry a judgement when ADC won two House of Representatives seats in Kogi, one Kogi House of Assembly seat, APP one chairmanship seat in Jigawa, Zenith Labour party won several seats in Abia, but they still went ahead and issued judgement for deregistration after the Court of Appeal, a higher court, said it should stay on that.
“If we want to deal with this judicial rascality, can I tell you something? The judge that gave this judgment, nothing will happen to him. Nothing on this earth. They are just coming.
“And who is leading this group? Gbajabiamila. Have you forgotten what Gbajabiamila said on Hon Ajibade’s birthday? So they are just coming. This one is just a test. The next one they will do is the NDC.
“With the way they’re going, if Nigerians don’t shine their eyes when they will finally have this election, you will not have the major contenders in the ballot. This thing they have just done is to test reactions from Nigerians.
“I saw this thing coming. You know we are going into an election in which Atiku Abubakar is the only major candidate from the North. It’s not like the last one you have Kwankwaso that can split the Kano votes. And you have Peter Obi and general consensus that a lot of people are in abject penury, insecurity is raging hard.
“This is the beginning of many things. They are just testing the microphone. It’s engineered. More is coming. Nigerians, it is you that will save your democracy. Judicial reforms have become so important as insecurity in Nigeria.”
