Headlines
Switzerland’s Billionaire Wyss Ready to Buy Chelsea
Hansjorg Wyss, one of Switzerland’s richest men, said Wednesday he had been offered the chance to buy Chelsea, with the European football champions’ Russian owner Roman Abramovich under growing scrutiny.
Wyss, 86, who founded the medical device manufacturing firm Synthes, told the Swiss newspaper Blick that he and three others had been sounded out on Tuesday.
But Wyss wants Abramovich to lower his asking price for the English Premier League side.
Abramovich revealed Saturday that he plans to place his ownership of the Blues into the “stewardship and care” of the Chelsea Foundation’s trustees.
Abramovich has not been named on a growing British sanctions list targeting Russian banks, businesses and pro-Kremlin tycoons in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been pressed on why Abramovich has not been cited, given his familiarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Abramovich is among Putin’s closest advisers and friends,” Wyss told Blick.
“Like all the other oligarchs, he is panicked. Abramovich is currently trying to sell all his villas in England. He also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. Along with three other people, I received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.
“I have to wait four or five days. Abramovich is asking too much right now. Chelsea owes him £2 billion ($2.7 billion, 2.4 billion euros). But Chelsea has no money. This means that those who buy Chelsea must compensate Abramovich.
“We do not yet know the exact sale price. I can very well imagine myself joining Chelsea with partners. First I have to look carefully at the conditions.
“I certainly wouldn’t do such a thing alone. If I buy Chelsea, it will be with a consortium of six to seven investors.”
– Silence at Stamford Bridge –
Contacted in London, Chelsea refused to comment, while a spokeswoman for Abramovich did not immediately respond.
Chelsea defeated Brazil’s Palmeiras 2-1 in the Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi last month, meaning the Blues have now won every possible trophy since Abramovich bought the west London side in 2003.
Johnson was asked in Warsaw on Tuesday why Abramovich has not been personally sanctioned by Britain, as several UK lawmakers have demanded.
In response, Johnson did not mention the Chelsea owner, but said Britain would be “tightening the economic noose” further around the Russian regime.
In parliament on Tuesday, opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant said Abramovich seemed “terrified of being sanctioned, which is why he’s already going to sell his home”.
Wyss praised the West’s “excellent approach” in imposing sanctions on Russian interests.
“The fact that the Russian oligarchs are targeted by the Americans and Europeans is absolutely essential, because they may have an influence on Putin,” he told Blick.
– Medical devices fortune –
Forbes magazine’s 2021 annual list of the world’s dollar billionaires put Wyss in 451st place, with a fortune of $6 billion.
The Harvard Business School graduate was the chairman and president of Synthes, one of the world’s major manufacturers of instruments and implants to mend bone fractures.
In 2012, Synthes was bought by US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson. It now forms part of J&J’s DePuy division, with the acquisition creating one of the world’s largest orthopaedic and neurological businesses.
Wyss is also a well-known philanthropist, with his charitable foundation worth over $2 billion.
In 2018, he pledged to donate $1 billion to conservation programmes.
Stephen Taylor Heath, head of sports law at Manchester-based lawyers JMW Solicitors, said it was understood that Abramovich controls the corporate entities that own Chelsea rather than the club directly.
“Any would-be buyer would need to undertake due diligence which would establish the ownership structure and any issues with the club. And so a very quick immediate sale would be very difficult in practice,” he said.
AFP
Headlines
Your Presidential Ambition Dead on Arrival, Presidency Mocks Atiku As PDP Stalwarts Defect to APC
The Presidency has delivered a jab at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, declaring his 2027 presidential ambition and coalition-building efforts “dead on arrival” following the defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other top PDP figures to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In separate posts on X, Presidential aides Bayo Onanuga and Tunde Rahman mocked Atiku’s attempts to rally opposition forces, saying recent developments show his coalition is crumbling before it even takes off.
Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, wrote: “Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El-Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated. Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again.”
Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, posted earlier in the day: “Things are really getting perilous and the future looks so bleak for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s coalition. After the PDP governors washed their hands clean of any such coalition plan, the defunct CPC wing he is also counting on has proffered support for President Tinubu.
Today (Wednesday), he got his biggest shocker ever. His 2023 election running mate, former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and Okowa’s successor, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, dumped the sinking PDP ship and hopped aboard the APC plane, and by inference, crossed over to the PBAT side.
Indeed, the counting of PDP governors crossing over to APC has begun. Isn’t Atiku’s coalition dead on arrival?”
The coordinated remarks followed a major political realignment in Delta State, where the governor, his predecessor, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and the entire PDP state structure defected to the APC – an event seen as a significant blow to Atiku, who has been working to form a broad opposition alliance against President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
Okowa was Atiku’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku has yet to respond to the defection or the presidential aides’ comments, though acting national chairman Iliya Damagum earlier described the Delta exit as “unfortunate,” while insisting that the party remains focused and resilient.
The Lagos State Government has disclosed that a staggering 31,596 public school students failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), raising alarm across its education sector.
The figures, unveiled by the Lagos Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, during a ministerial press briefing on Thursday in Alausa, Ikeja, showed that 54.3% of the 58,188 students from public schools who sat for the exams failed.
The commissioner said the pass rate was 45.7%.
The failure rate comes despite the government’s significant financial backing — a whopping N1.577 billion was paid on behalf of the students to cover WAEC fees.
“Suffice to say that the sum of N1,577,794,000 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Thousand Naira) only was paid by the State Government as examination fees for 58,188 students who were captured for year 2024 WASSCE,” Alli-Balogun announced.
In a bid to tighten accountability and avoid wastage, the Commissioner disclosed that biometric and image registration was carried out to accurately determine eligible students for government sponsorship for the 2025 WASSCE.
“The exercise successfully captured and registered 56,134 students as bona-fide beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s sponsorship for the examination,” he added.
However, the Lagos State Government rolled out a bold educational intervention – the Eko Learners’ Support Programme for WASSCE and NECO Candidates – aimed at reversing the tide of academic failure in the state’s public schools.
Launched on January 14, 2025, the initiative is part of a broader commitment by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to equip Lagos students with tools for success.
“This forward-thinking initiative was designed to support and empower young scholars in attestation of the Ministry’s commitment at advancing interest and management of the educational system in Lagos State,” Alli-Balogun stated.
He said with a vision to broadcast 320 lessons across 10 key subjects, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, Government, History, Literature-in-English, and Yoruba, the programme aims to bring world-class tutoring directly into students’ homes.
Thw commissioner said each 30-minute episode would air on Lagos Television (LTV) and be archived across major platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), creating a digital learning library accessible to every student.
“It is a supportive eco-system that fosters academic achievement, creativity, critical thinking… every student deserves the opportunity to attain their full potential, regardless of their background or socio-economic status,” the Commissioner declared passionately.
Alli-Balogun urged students, especially those in boarding schools, to seize this opportunity.
“It is on this note that I urge and encourage students’, more importantly, students in our boarding schools, to take full advantage of this initiative, as education is a lifelong journey,” he said.
Former Governor of Delta State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential running mate in the 2023 election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okowa confirmed the news of his defection to ARISE NEWS on Wednesday following the announcement of the current governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, who also defected from the PDP to the APC on Wednesday.
The development was disclosed by Senator James Manager after a six-hour meeting at Government House, Asaba.
“All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC,” Manager stated. “We cannot continue to be in a sinking boat.”
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Aniagwu Charles, officially confirmed the sweeping political shift, attributing the decision to the need for renewed direction and enhanced governance in the state.
“There is a need for us to adjust our drinking patterns. And in adjusting that drinking pattern, we needed to make a decision that would further help to cement the development in our state,” he said.
Aniagwu added that the move aimed to sustain progress in law, security, and welfare, likening the PDP to a “palm wine whose taste has changed,” necessitating a change in “drinking party”.
He further indicated that the defection was unanimously agreed upon by key PDP leaders and stakeholders in the state, with a formal public declaration expected on Monday.
“By the grace of God, on Monday next week, we will be able to make a very big statement confirming that we are moving into the APC,” he said.
The mass defection represents a dramatic realignment in Delta State’s political landscape and could significantly alter party dynamics in the broader South-South region, historically a PDP stronghold.
Okowa will be received on Monday by Vice President Kashim Shettima alongside Governor Oborevwori.
AriseNews
