Author: Opalim Lifted

Coventry City have sealed a long-awaited return to the English Premier League after a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. The result confirms the Sky Blues will finish in the top two of the EFL Championship, securing automatic promotion for the first time since their relegation in 2001. Bobby Thomas emerged as the hero, scoring a crucial equaliser after Ryoya Morishita had given Blackburn the lead early in the second half. The point was enough to mathematically guarantee promotion. Coventry are now unbeaten in five matches, although their recent form includes three consecutive draws. Despite that, their consistency…

Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” for all commercial vessels and will remain so during the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire,” Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X on Friday. A 10-day ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Lebanon late on Thursday, though it remains unclear whether the armed group Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon during the Iran war, will recognise it. The passage…

The Kwara State Government has filed a 20-count charge against Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, and Abdulfatah Ahmed, former governor of the state, over allegations of arming suspects convicted of robbery in Offa. Other defendants in the case are Yusuf Abdulwahab, a former chief of staff to Ahmed, and Alabi Olalekan, another aide. The charges were filed at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on April 9, 2026. According to the charge sheet, Saraki, Ahmed, Abdulwahab, Olalekan, and five convicted individuals allegedly conspired on April 5, 2018, in Offa, Kwara State, to commit armed robbery at several banks, including…

Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has alleged that the deadly Offa robbery incident was orchestrated under the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, with the connivance of certain individuals from Kwara State, as a tool to blackmail his political group and seize power in 2019. In a statement on Friday, Saraki accused the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, of making an insidious move to initiate criminal proceedings against him over the robbery incident that occurred eight years ago. According to Saraki, he would have dismissed the move and prepared to defend himself in court if not for appeals from…

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is seeking to attract investors to the planned listing of his refinery business by anchoring returns to US dollar-denominated dividends, as he prepares to float about a 10 per cent minority stake in one of Africa’s largest industrial assets to fund a sweeping expansion programme. The billionaire industrialist plans to sell about 10 per cent of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE through a listing across multiple African stock exchanges, in a move aimed at unlocking long-term capital for the next phase of growth in his energy and industrial empire. Under the proposed structure, shareholders…

Eight people have been confirmed dead after a private helicopter crashed in a dense forest on Indonesia’s Borneo island. The aircraft, an Airbus helicopter operated by local firm Matthew Air Nusantara, lost contact with air traffic control just five minutes after takeoff in West Kalimantan province on Thursday morning. According to civil aviation director general Lukman F. Laisa, all eight occupants — two crew members and six passengers — were killed in the crash. One of the victims was a Malaysian national. Search and rescue teams later located the wreckage deep within a forested area marked by steep terrain, making…

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed that results for candidates who sat the first day of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will be released before midnight on Friday. In a statement issued by its Public Communication Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, the board said candidates who wrote the exam on Thursday, April 16, should expect access to their results once processing is completed later in the day. “This is to inform all candidates who sat for the 2026 UTME on Thursday, 16th April 2026, that their results will be released today before midnight,” the statement said. JAMB…

President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the 2026 Appropriation Bill, approving an aggregate expenditure of N68.32 trillion and extending the implementation period of the 2025 capital budget to June 30, 2026. The extension moves the previous deadline from March 31, 2026, giving Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) additional time to complete ongoing capital projects across the country. A breakdown of the 2026 budget shows that N4.799 trillion is allocated to statutory transfers, N15.8 trillion for debt servicing, and N15.4 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure. Capital expenditure stands at N32.2 trillion, accounting for about half of the total budget. The…

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has issued a warrant of arrest against former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, and a Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali, over an alleged fraud involving $1.3 million and ₦746.6 million. Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie gave the order on Thursday after the two defendants failed to appear in court for their scheduled arraignment. Only the third defendant, Sani Nafiu Mohammed, was present. The trio are to be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 21-count charge bordering on criminal…

Pope Leo XIV has said the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who prioritise war spending over human development. The pontiff’s remarks come amid rising tensions between him and Donald Trump following his criticism of the US-Israel strikes on Iran. The pope said God does not bless conflicts and that military action cannot deliver lasting stability. Following his comments, Trump described the pontiff as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” after the pope called for an end to rising global conflicts. Speaking on Thursday at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, during his ongoing 11-day…