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News_Naija

FULL LIST: Oborevwori, Other Sitting Governors Who Dumped One Party For Another

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, on Wednesday, officially dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and joined the All Progressives Congress. Oborevwori’s move isn’t the first time a sitting governor has changed political camps and he likely won’t be the last. Over the years, several governors have crossed party lines while still in office. PUNCH Online has compiled a list of sitting governors who defected from one party to another. See list below: Sheriff Oborevwori The latest on this growing list, Oborevwori, won the 2023 governorship election under the PDP. On Wednesday, he was officially received into the APC by top party leaders. In a press briefing, Senator Ebiowou Manager and Information Commissioner Aniagwu Charles confirmed the governor’s defection, describing it as a move with serious implications for 2027. Aminu Tambuwal The former Sokoto governor first left the PDP for the APC while serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 2018, he returned to the PDP while still governor and aimed for the presidential ticket, which he lost to Atiku Abubakar, who also left the APC for the PDP. Tambuwal wasn’t the only Sokoto governor to switch parties. Others include: Attahiru Bafarawa: All Nigeria People’s Party to PDP Aliyu Wamakko: PDP to APC Abdulfatah Ahmed While governor of Kwara State, Ahmed made headlines for his political switches. He left PDP for APC in 2013. He returned to PDP in 2018 Boni Haruna Governor of Adamawa State from 1999 to 2007, Haruna also defected from PDP to AC while in office. Ikedi Ohakim Governor of Imo State in 2007, Ohakim switched from the Progressive Peoples Alliance to the PDP. Murtala Nyako Nyako ruled Adamawa State from 2007 to 2008. He left the APC and moved to the PDP. Rochas Okorocha Elected Imo State governor in 2011, Okorocha defected from the All Progressives Grand Alliance to the APC during his time in office. Other are: Mahmuda Shinkafi (Zamfara): ANPP to PDP Bello Matawalle (Zamfara): PDP to APC Also, states like Benue, Ondo, Rivers, Cross River, Edo, Kano, Kebbi, and Jigawa have all experienced political defections by sitting governors at various times.    

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Futbol

Salah Laps Up Contract Acclaim - Now Van Dijk May Follow 'next Week'

While any player's worth to a football team has to be measured in more than statistics, Mohamed Salah's goal and assist numbers show exactly why he is worth pretty much any amount of money a week for Liverpool. With his assist for Luis Diaz to open the scoring against West Ham on Sunday, Salah has now been directly involved in 45 Premier League goals this season - netting 27 and providing another 18. This is a new record for a player in a 38-game season, surpassing Thierry Henry from 2002-03 and Erling Haaland's total two years ago. Salah is now 15 goal involvements clear of any other player in Europe's top five leagues in 2024-25. Sunday also showed how important Alisson and Virgil van Dijk are as Liverpool close in on the league title - but without Salah, there most likely would be no title at all. With their second league title of the Premier League era seemingly sewn up weeks ago, the latter part of Liverpool's season has been largely focused on three key players out of contract in the summer. While Trent Alexander-Arnold seems Real Madrid-bound and Van Dijk is yet to formally sign a new deal, the future of Salah was secured this week to the joy of Liverpool fans. His performance on Sunday illustrated just why Liverpool were so keen to persuade him to turn down the millions of Saudi Arabia and stay on Merseyside, and just why the fans were so thrilled he did so. "Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down the wing," was the chant for much of the game while, when his name was announced in the pre-match line-up, it got one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon. And in the 18th minute, Salah responded with a beautifully played pass with the outside of his left boot, which was cleverly left by Diogo Jota to allow Diaz to slot home. It was a record-breaking assist for Salah, one which helped move Liverpool to within six points of a Premier League title - and their first won in front of fans following their triumph in the Covid-affected season in 2020. "When we won it we won it in lockdown," Salah told Sky Sports after the game. "So let's go for it and win it." Sunday was a game of three phases for Liverpool. The first half was the Salah phase, in which his brilliance put the Reds ahead and could have led to a goal or two more. The second phase was that of Alisson, whose brilliance between the sticks ultimately earned Liverpool the win more than any other factor. He missed the defeat at Fulham with concussion, and conclusively proved his importance here. And the final, shortest but most dramatic phase belonged to Van Dijk. After Liverpool were pegged back, the captain rose highest to meet an 89th-minute corner, score the winner and send both the Reds fans and manager Arne Slot into raptures. "As a manager you are looking for the ones who have achieved a lot already in their careers to step up," Slot said in his post-match media conference. "It is always at the end of the season that the moments get bigger and bigger. "Alisson had his best game of the season today, Virgil scored the header and Mo was again important, he was lively in the first half - we saw the Mo Salah again from the first part of the season." With Salah signed up and Alexander-Arnold seemingly out the door, attention now turns to the future of Van Dijk - and the Egyptian was making eyes at his captain after the game. "I'm glad that we managed to do it before the end of the season and hopefully Virgil soon will be nice," Salah told Sky Sports. "He can do whatever he wants but I would love to see him here again next year." Van Dijk, who marked his 100th match as Liverpool captain in the most dramatic fashion possible, dropped a hint of his own. "Everyone knows how much I love this club so let's see what next week will look like," he said. Asked about this, Slot played a forward defensive of which England cricketing legend Sir Alastair Cook would be proud. "I think he means, let's see what next week brings when we play Leicester City," he said, to chuckles from the assembled journalists. "By far the most important thing this club is looking at is two more wins. "We should be completely focused on that, my full focus is on Leicester and I'm sure Virgil's is as well." Slot is right to make sure his team are fully focused on the present task. They were below par against West Ham, who had most of the second-half momentum and twice hit the woodwork. But the job could be done next weekend, if Arsenal lose at Ipswich and Liverpool beat Leicester. Should the Gunners and the Reds go perfect in their upcoming games, Liverpool would win the title in their next home league game against Spurs - at the end of the month. Slot, for his part, is not fussy about where the trophy is secured. "If I have to win it 50km from here or wherever, I don't care where to win it. We still have to win two more games," he said. But he would love to have Van Dijk's future officially resolved before the Dutchman lifts that trophy, to go alongside the priceless signature of Salah.

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Worldnews

Trump Makes Rare Criticism Of Putin After Russias Deadly Kyiv Attacks

At least 12 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital. United States President Donald Trump has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin after a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Posting on Thursday on the Truth Social platform, which he owns, Trump wrote that the attacks were “not necessary” and “very” badly timed. “Vladimir, Stop! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying,” the post said. Trump’s direct appeal to Putin came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his allies to put Russia under more pressure to halt its war, which began more than three years ago. At a news conference in South Africa with its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, Zelenskyy said: “We do not see signs of the US putting strong pressure on Russia as part of its peace push. We believe that we can bring our sides closer with greater pressure on Russia.” Trump, said his administration was applying “a lot of pressure” on Russia and reiterated his displeasure with the attack. But he said significant progress had been made in peace negotiations and the Kremlin had made a “pretty big concession” by being open to “stopping the war, stopping taking the whole country.” “This next few days is going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to make a deal … I think we’re getting very close.” Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Mika Hanna said the message from Trump on Truth Social was a rare attempt to pressure on Putin. “But once again, Trump is using ‘Vladimir’ – what could be interpreted as an almost affectionate term – once again indicating the nature of his relationship with Putin as opposed to the nature of his relationship with the Ukrainian leader,” he said. “Trump and his administration have in recent days and weeks been putting an immense amount of pressure on the Ukrainian leadership, basically saying that they have to give up territory in order to get a peace deal done,” Hanna noted. “He has not applied the same pressure to the Russian leader, so there does appear to be a bias as the US attempts to broker a peace between the warring countries,” he added. George Barros, an analyst at the US-based Institute for the Study of War, also thinks the US has various ways of exerting greater pressure on Putin if it chooses to do so. “There are things the US can do to *make* Vladimir stop. Putin has vulnerabilities we are either overlooking or choosing not to leverage,” Barros said in a social media post. “Putin is banking on the US letting Russia off the hook despite Russia’s own precarious position,” he added. The Ukrainian military said Russia used at least 11 Iskander ballistic missiles, 55 cruise missiles of several types and four guided bombs launched from tactical aircraft in its attack on Kyiv on Thursday. It said at least 145 Iranian-designed Shahed drones and simulator drones of various types were also involved and the projectiles were launched from Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod and other Russian regions. Olena Davydiuk, a 33-year-old lawyer in Kyiv, told the AFP news agency she saw windows breaking and doors “falling out of their hinges” during the barrage. “People were being pulled out of the rubble. They said that there were dead people there too,” she added. The Ukrainian army said seven of the ballistic missiles, 37 of the cruise missiles, all guided bombs and 64 drones were intercepted and 68 drone simulators fell without causing any damage. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said: “The strike objectives were achieved. All objects were hit.” The ministry said Russian military operations on the front lines of the war, including in eastern Ukraine, killed hundreds of Ukrainian service members and destroyed dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles in the past day. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also accused the Ukrainian president of “wrecking” diplomacy aimed at reaching a peace deal amid conversations over the potential recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which the Trump administration has proposed. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Zelenskyy lacks the capacity to negotiate a deal, adding that continued EU weapons transfers to Ukraine encourage more conflict. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, however, wrote in a post on X that Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine are not a pursuit of peace but “a mockery of it”. “The real obstacle is not Ukraine but Russia, whose war aims have not changed,” she said. French President Emmanuel Macron also said Putin needed to “stop lying” over wanting peace in Ukraine while continuing to strike the country. “The only thing to do is for President Putin to finally stop lying,” Macron said during a visit to Madagascar on Thursday. With Thursday’s attacks on Kyiv throwing yet more doubt on already fraught US efforts to push Russia and Ukraine to agree to a halt in fighting, Macron said Putin was the only person holding up the US-proposed and European-backed truce proposal. “In Ukraine, they only want a single answer: Does President Putin agree to an unconditional ceasefire?” Macron said. “If President Putin says yes, the weapons will fall silent tomorrow. Lives will be saved.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Instablog9ja

VDM Is Planning To Run To Ghana To Avoid Court Case Actor Uche Maduagwu Alleges