Rave of the moment in the men’s 100m, Kanyisola Ajayi, women’s 100m rising star Prestina Ochonogor and hammer-throw specialist Sade Olatoye were the standout athletes on day one of the 2025 Athletics Federation of Nigeria National Trials, currently taking place at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The trials, which had earlier been scheduled to hold in Abeokuta, Ogun state, prior to the late change in venue, will serve as a qualification event for the World Athletics Championships set to take place in Tokyo, Japan, in September. The opening day of competition at Yabatech saw elite athletes take to the track and field in their respective disciplines, with Ajayi winning heat one in the men’s 10 event in a time of 10.05s, while Israel Okon powered to a new Personal Best time of 10.03s to win heat two. Fakorede Nicholas also clocked a new Personal Best mark of 10.06s to win heat three. Meanwhile, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games finalist Enoch Adegoke put in a commendable 10.14s to win heat four, Alaba Akintola clocked 10.08s to win heat five, Olaolu Olatunde improved on his lifetime best by running a time of 10.13s to win heat six, Seye Ogunlewe took heat seven in a time of 10.18s, while Temitope Bello and John Caleb both won heats eight and nine, respectively. In the women’s 100m category, Ochonogor continued her preparations for the forthcoming World Championships with victory in a time of 11.48s to win heat one, ahead of Precious Nzeakor and Faith Osamuyi, who ended up in second and third place respectively. The women’s Discus event was evenly matched, but Chioma Onyekwere successfully defended her national title ahead of close friend Obiageri Amaechi, who could only manage a throw of 59.39m. The win saw Onyekwere win her third national title out of the five championships she has participated in. The competition continues on Saturday (today), with more athletes bidding to reach the qualification standard times, which will be sufficient to seal a spot at the World Championships.

A former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Nicolas Felix, has dismissed the newly formed opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress as no threat to President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid. Speaking in Suleja on Thursday during the distribution of thousands of litres of fuel to Nigerians, Felix expressed confidence that Tinubu would win the 2027 presidential election with no less than 15 million votes. On July 1st, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, APC’s 2023 presidential aspirant Rotimi Amaechi, and other opposition figures launched the ADC as a unified opposition platform to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 election. Reacting, Felix maintained that while there’s nothing wrong with opposition leaders forming a coalition, he believes they will eventually fall apart just as easily as they came together. He said, “In a democracy, you must have opposition. We are not threatened. They are out there campaigning. So far, we have not heard anything they want to do anyway. “So for us as a party, I don’t see any threat here. There is no threat in this coalition. We want them to coalesce. Like I said the other day, they will gather, but they will scatter because they have nothing to offer. Their intention is not pure. Their motive is not pure. “As far as we are concerned and the APC, come 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is going to have nothing less than 15 million votes. We know that is going to happen. So there is no threat from the ADC or whatever coalition. Let them come. When the time comes for campaigns, we are going to roll out the scorecard of Mr President. “Didn’t you watch on TV this morning students on campuses singing, celebrating with joy, who just received the NELFund grant, over N100 billion, with no interest, by the way. I lived in America for 21 years; I had never heard that happen. Over N100 billion given to 600,000 students. So these 600,000 students, they will vote. Their families will vote because they know what it takes to go to school. So we are excited, and we know come 2027, it is going to be a walkover for us.” He stated that his decision to regularly distribute free fuel to Nigerians is his way of supporting the president’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The ex-presidential aspirant stated, “We are giving out free fuel to the community. As you know, this is our Renewed Hope season. We are just doing this to put smiles on the faces of the people. “There is no other motivation, but we just want to give back to the community. We did this in 2023 in Edo State, and we did it here also, and we decided to come back here to make the people happy. As you can see, they are all smiling. We are giving them hope. “This outreach is for everybody, but we know those who need it more. So, I am even more excited seeing the Okada riders because we believe, you know, I would be surprised if I see a G-Waggon here coming to take free fuel. This is more for the Okada and Keke riders. So anybody that comes, we will be able to, you know, just put smiles on their face. We are just giving back. That is what it is all about.” Also speaking, APC Deputy National Women Leader Zainab Ibrahim stated that the party is pushing for sthe wift passage of the Special Seats Bill currently before the National Assembly, calling it a potential game changer for women in Nigeria. She noted that, for the first time, the Ministry of Women Affairs has received over ₦100 billion in budgetary allocation to pursue its key goals and assured that Nigerian women will stand firmly behind the president in 2027.

No fewer than 10 thousand members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency of Ondo State, on Thursday, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress. Earlier, the member of the House of Representatives from the Federal Constituency, Mr Festus Akingbaso, announced his defection to the ruling party. Receiving the defectors in Idanre town on Thursday, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who was represented by his deputy, Olayide Adelami, lauded the federal lawmaker for leading his supporters and party faithful from PDP to APC. Aiyedatiwa said, “I want to congratulate our people in Idanre and Ifedore LGAs for having a worthy son, who has been representing you well at the National Assembly. Festus Akingbaso has witnessed all that the APC is doing in Ondo State and at the federal level. We are happy to receive him and members of the PDP.” According to the governor, the economic transformations of the President Tinubu-led government are already producing positive results in many areas of the economy. While handing the APC flag to Akingbaso, chairman of the APC in the state, Ade Adetimehin expressed optimism that the Idanre and Ifedore Federal Constituency would henceforth record 100 per cent votes for the APC with the defection of the federal lawmaker. “The Federal constituency used to be divided for APC and PDP, but with the defection of Hon. Akingbaso to our party, Idanre and Ifedore will henceforth record 100 per cent votes for the APC.” Adetimehin called on the people to support President Bola Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at bringing succour to the common man, adding that Ondo State was now fully for the APC. Akingbaso, in his remarks at the event, commended Governor Aiyedatiwa for providing purposeful leadership and prioritising the welfare of the people of the state, saying he took the decision to join the APC to support the governor in his quest to bring governance closer to the grassroots. “As a member of the National Assembly for two years, I have witnessed the giant strides of President Tinubu at the top level, and it is important that I bring my supporters to work with the governor in Ondo for the overall success of the party,” Akingbaso stated.

Scottish Cup semi-final: St Johnstone v Celtic Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday 20 April Time: 15:00 BST Coverage: Follow on BBC Sport website & app; listen on BBC Sounds or BBC Radio Scotland What is it with Celtic and the Scottish Cup? It was the first major trophy they won and, since that day on 9 April, 1892, they have continued a love affair with the competition that has seen them rack up record after record. The Glasgow club will make yet another semi-final appearance on Sunday against St Johnstone as they look to lift the trophy for a third consecutive season. Let us look at Celtic's romance with the cup in numbers. Queen's Park had won half of the first 18 Scottish Cup finals when they faced an emerging Celtic side on 12 March 1892. The cup final was played at the home of city rivals Rangers, with new stands being erected at Ibrox to accommodate a then record crowd of 40,000. With the pitch declared playable despite an inch and a half of snow covering the surface, Celtic emerged victorious thanks to a 60th-minute John Campbell goal. However, following a joint protest from the two clubs to the Scottish FA, the match was declared void because of repeated crowd encroachment. Campbell would find the net again in the replay in front of 26,000 a month later, with Alexander McMahon scoring a hat-trick and James Kelly grabbing Celtic's other goal in a 5-1 win. Celtic thus became the first club to complete the treble of Scottish Cup, Glasgow Cup and Glasgow Charity Cup. Celtic head to Hampden on Sunday having won the Scottish Cup in the previous two seasons. They defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3-1 in the 2023 final and edged out Rangers 1-0 last May. Two is also the number of times Celtic have failed to win a Scottish Cup tie in the last eight years - both against Rangers. They lost 2-0 to their Old Firm rivals in the fourth round in April 2021 and 2-1 to the eventual cup winners after extra time in the semi-final a year later. Celtic hold the record for consecutive Scottish Cup final wins. Aberdeen, Queen's Park and Rangers have all won it three seasons in a row, but only Celtic have won it four times - between 2017 and 2020. Celtic have lifted the Scottish Cup six times in the last eight seasons, with only St Johnstone and Rangers breaking their grip on the trophy temporarily. Indeed, they have won it seven times in the last 11. Celtic hold the record for the biggest Scottish Cup final victory. Hibs travelled to Hampden in May 1972 full of confidence given their side contained lauded players such as John Brownlie, John Blackley, Alex Edwards, Pat Stanton, Arthur Duncan and Alan Gordon. Celtic had suffered a shock 4-1 loss to Partick Thistle in the League Cup earlier in the season, but Jock Stein's own star-studded side made no mistake this time, sweeping Eddie Turnbull's team aside 6-1 in front of a crowd of 106,102. Dixie Deans grabbed a hat-trick, Lou Macari a double and captain Billy McNeil the other as Gordon replied for Hibs. Celtic have won the domestic treble a record eight times and are on course for another, having already lifted the League Cup while leading the Premiership by 15 points. They last won the treble in 2022-23. Eight is also the record number of Scottish Cup final appearances, held by legendary Celtic winger Bobby Lennox. Celtic equalled Queen's Park's then record of 10 Scottish Cup final wins in March 1923. Forward Joe Cassidy scored the only goal against Hibs in front of 82,000 at Hampden. Two seasons after equalling Queen's Park's record, Celtic became the first club to surpass that total. Patsy Gallacher and Jimmy McGrory scored the goals, with David McLean replying for Dundee in front of 75,317 at Hampden. Legendary Celtic player and boss Willie Maley holds the record for the number of Scottish Cup final wins as a manager. Born in Ireland but capped for Scotland, the former half-back first steered his side to a 2-0 victory against Rangers in 1899 and won it a 14th time 38 years later with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen in 1937 - the day before his 69th birthday. Rangers have never again matched Celtic's total of Scottish Cup final wins since they levelled the score at 31 each by defeating Dundee 1-0 at Hampden in 2003. That was the first time they had been level since the Parkhead side beat their Ibrox rivals 3-2 to lift the trophy for a fourth time in 1904, and then lifted it for a fifth time three years later by defeating Hearts 3-0. Celtic have now lifted the Scottish Cup 42 times after last season's 1-0 win over Rangers thanks to striker Adam Idah's late winner. That extended their lead over Rangers, who have won the trophy 34 times. McGrory, who also played for Clydebank and went on to manage Celtic, holds the record for most Scottish Cup goals. His 74 goals in the competition helped him create a British record of 550 in top-flight football and he remains Celtic's all-time top scorer with 522 goals in 501 games - including a record 62 in one season. Another club legend as both a player and manager, McNeill holds the record for the most Scottish Cup appearances. McNeill, who captained the side to European Cup glory in 1967 and was team boss twice, played 94 times in the competition, winning it seven times. That aforementioned 2-1 win over Aberdeen in 1937 was watched by a record 147,365 fans packed into Hampden. That is more than 11,000 more than the next highest attendance - in 1952 for Motherwell's 4-0 win over Dundee.