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Tinubu Hails Osimhen, Oshoala, Nnadozie on Winning CAF Football Awards
By Eric Elezuo
President Bola Tinubu has extended congratulatory messages to three Nigerian football players for their great feats at this year’s Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Awards held in Morocco.
The footballers are Victor Osimhen, who won the African Footballer of the Year (men), Asisat Oshoala, who the African Footballer of the Year (women) and Chiamaka Nnadozie as the best in the goal keeping category.
In a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelali, Tinubu applauded the trio for their “outstanding performances on both national and international stages, and for being sources of pride to the nation and an inspiration for aspiring footballers across the continent.”
While expressing great joy at the feats, the President prayed that more successes will trail their career as they continue the journey.
Read the statement in detail:
PRESIDENT TINUBU HAILS OSIMHEN, OSHOALA, NNADOZIE ON AFRICAN PLAYERS OF THE YEAR AWARD
President Bola Tinubu congratulates Nigeria’s Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, on winning the CAF 2023 Men’s Player of the Year award.
The President also celebrates the remarkable achievements of Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria’s Super Falcons, who clinched the 2023 CAF Women’s Player of The Year for the sixth time, and Chiamaka Nnadozie, who was awarded the Woman Goalkeeper of the Year, as well as the Super Falcons for emerging the Women’s National Team of the Year.
The President commends the trio of Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie for their outstanding performances on both national and international stages, and for being sources of pride to the nation and an inspiration for aspiring footballers across the continent.
”Watching the great ambassadors of Nigeria stand atop the podium as the African Footballers of the Year, in the men and women categories, on Monday night in Marrakesh, Morocco, has strengthened our belief that with hard work, perseverance, and the help of God, everything this nation needs for greatness is within us and available to us.
”I commend Victor and Asisat for not forgetting their roots and days of humble beginnings in the game they love so much and for acknowledging the role of indigenous coaches in shaping their careers.
”I join all Nigerian fans in praying that this well-deserved honour will be the beginning of a continued journey filled with success, triumphs, and the fulfilment of all your footballing dreams,” the President says.
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the political adviser to President Bola Tinubu, has resigned his appointment.
Reports say the former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) tendered his resignation about two weeks ago.
Further reports quoting presidency sources did not, however, provide details of the reasons for his decision, but only stated that it was on personal grounds.
Baba-Ahmed was appointed in September 2023 as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Over the past 17 months, he had represented the presidency at several public fora, including a recent national conference themed: “Strengthening Nigeria’s Democracy: Pathway to Good Governance and Political Integrity”, which held from January 28 and 29, 2025 in Abuja.
The Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the Labour Party, after finding out earlier that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
The apex court held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party, over which courts lacks jurisdiction.
The court further allowed the appeal filed by Senator Nenadi Usman and one other, and held that it is meritorious.
It also proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure group of the Labour Party for being unmeritorious.
In January, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reiterated that Abure remained the chairman of the LP.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Hamma Barka, held that its judgment of November 13, 2024, which recognises Abure as national chairman, subsists and has not been set aside by any court.
Justice Barka made the declaration while delivering judgment in two separate appeals filed by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman and the caretaker committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appellate court in the two separate appeals held that it did not delve into the issue of the leadership of the Labour Party because such issues are not justiciable.
It said that anything done outside jurisdiction amounts to a nullity. Hence, the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on October 8, 2024, by Justice Emeka Nwite is of no effect because it was delivered without jurisdiction.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied being partisan in handling the failed recall of the lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to Chairman of INEC Mahmood Yakubu, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, explained how the Commission handled the process.
“In the case of the Kogi Central District, we received a petition and a cover letter and of course what Nigerians were saying was that we were taking sides,” Oyekanmi said on the programme.
“But what happened was that in the covering letter, the representatives of the petitioners did not include their address as required in our regulations and guidelines and what we just did was to ask them to supply their address, it has nothing to do with the petition.
“And of course, there is nowhere in the law where INEC is asked to reject a petition just because the cover letter did not contain the address. So, there was no hanky-panky in what we did.”
Earlier on Thursday, INEC rejected the petition to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying that it has not met the requirements.
The electoral commission said the petition to recall Senator Natasha did not meet constitutional requirements.
Senator Natasha was suspended for breaching Senate rules, prompting some of her constituents to initiate her recall. They claimed the move was to ensure their constituency did not lack representation following the suspension of the 45-year-old senator.
Asked whether there could be a repeat of the recall process, the INEC spokesperson said the law did not specify if the process could be repeated and how many times.
“The law just talks about the threshold, the threshold meaning that if you want to recall, you must have, in addition to your petition, 50 per cent plus one signatures. The law did not specify how many times you can undertake that,” he said.
The lawmaker has made headlines in recent months after she accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment, a claim the Akwa Ibom lawmaker has equally denied.
She was, thereafter, suspended by the Red Chamber for violation of its rule of conduct.
