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Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai The Kaduna State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Muhammed Abdullahi, said on Tuesday that the government had begun preparations for the 2017 budget which would be presented to the Assembly at the end of September. Abdullahi said that the target was for the legislature to pass the budget early, so that its implementation would commence from January 1. He explained that it would be a multi-year budget that would run from 2017 to 2019. He said, “We have received budget proposals from Ministries Department and Agencies and we have held revenue defence about three weeks ago on the budget. “What this means is, we already have a revenue budget for the proposed budget. “All revenue generating agencies in the state have defended what they proposed as revenues. “For example, we already have a figure of what we think we will make as internally generated revenue for 2017. “What we are working on now is the federal components in terms of estimated all...

Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung , has again reassured Nigerians that the efforts of the athletes competing at the ongoing Rio Olympic Games will not be in vain as, “we will not leave Rio without winning medals’’. Tony Ubani, Press Officer, Team Nigeria, quoted the minister as saying shortly after Union Bank Nigeria PLC redeemed its N30million pledge to support the team. Although, Nigeria’s name was yet to be on the medal table, Dalung said that he was optimistic that Team Nigeria would still win medals. According to him, the minister commended the bank for the support. “We’re grateful for your donation and we promise to ensure a transparent management of the fund, for you to do more.’’ Ubani said that Yinka Kadejoh, the Events and Sports Officer of the bank presented ATM cards loaded with N250,000 to each of the athletes . Vice-Captain of Team Nigeria, Funke Oshonaike, in her response on behalf of the team thanked the bank for having `a heart of gold’ in remembering the athletes. She ...

Joao Havelange, who has died at 100, was the man who made FIFA a global powerhouse, only to resign under a cloud of corruption that has darkened the world footballing body’s reputation. His death was confirmed Tuesday by the Samaritano Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. He had been treated there as recently as July for pneumonia. As head of FIFA for 24 years and with half a century on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Havelange thought and acted big, becoming a central figure in the evolution of today’s sporting mega-events. Among his last achievements was to use his clout to help Rio win its bid to host this year’s Olympic Games — the first held in South America. Havelange “sees the world through a telescope and not through a microscope,” former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said. Born to a wealthy Belgian immigrant family in Rio de Janeiro in 1916, Jean-Marie Faustin Goedefroid de Havelange graduated with a law degree, but sport was his true love. He represented Brazil in ...

Armed robbers on Tuesday attacked a bullion van belonging to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at Hawan Kibo hills, near Riyom in Plateau, killing two policemen attached to the van as escorts. The spokesman of Plateau Police Command, Mr Terna Tyopev, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that the van was ambushed by the robbers. He said that three other policemen attached to the bullion van were injured. He said that the bullion van was carrying money from Jos to Lafia in Nasawara State. “It was a clear case of ambush; they were attacked unexpectedly. “Policemen escorting the bullion van repelled the attack; unfortunately we lost two of our men on the spot, while three other were badly injured,” Tyopev told NAN. The PPRO however stated that the robbers were not able to cart away money from the bullion van “because our men responded vigorously; they reacted firmly,” he said, adding that the police had commenced investigation to arrest the gun men.  (NAN)

Former Nigeria military President Ibrahim Babangida has said that his toughest encounter in the army was trekking from Enugu to Umuahia where he sustained injury during the Nigeria civil war. Babangida made this known at an interactive session with newsmen to mark his 75th birthday in Minna on Wednesday. “Movement from Enugu to Umuahia was very tough and challenging because you need to be physically fit to be able to undertake that kind of journey on foot. “We had to go through the jungles and the hills. I think it was my toughest encounter in the army because that was where I got wounded in April 1969,’’ he said. He said that he joined the army for the purpose of being in the force to protect the country. According to him, being in the military means that you must subject yourself to a constituted authority to execute all the tasks assigned to you by government. He said that the constitutional roll and international treaties made it possible for military personnel to serve anywhere i...

The first full weekend of the Premier League underlined why this is being billed as the year of the Galatctico managers. From Jurgen Klopp giving goalscorer Sadio Mane a piggyback ride to Antonio Conte jumping into the crowd at Stamford Bridge, you couldn't take your eyes out of the technical area. Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola made the big decisions you'd expect of the world's best, while for Arsene Wenger it was a familiar story after 20 years. Sportsmail looks at how all the leading managers fared in various aspects of their performance. Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger went head-to-head in the opening weekend of the season ANTONIO CONTE (Chelsea 2-1 West Ham) Tactics: The Italian is renowned for playing 4-2-4 or with wing-backs but adapted to 4-3-3 with Oscar chosen ahead of Cesc Fabregas in the engine room. Also, with Eden Hazard and Willian – neither natural wingers – either side of centre-forward Diego Costa, there was a need for the full-backs to provide width, wh...

Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Dr. Junaid Mohammed Broderick Bozimo ( An Ijaw leader and former Minister of Police Affairs) In line with the call for restructuring from different parts of the country, the most appropriate thing the current administration should do is to study the report of the 2014 National Conference. That should be done with a viewing to identifying the aspects of the document that could be implemented immediately. There is no doubt that the country needs to be restructured. Many eminent Nigerians, including a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, have acknowledged this fact. In the interest of the survival of the entire country, the Federal Government should consider the conference report as an important document that must not be ignored. Some people have argued that the process that led to the composition of members of the conference was not democratic. We should know that nothing is perfect anywhere in the world. We cannot dismiss the report on the basis that the p...