FIFA President Gianni Infantino hailed Qatars progress on infrastructure ahead of its 2022 World Cup and said the tournament is poised to be the best one yet.

Qatars tiny size, high temperatures and lack of ready stadium infrastructure have prompted some to question FIFAs decision to make it host.

But the desert state has since launched huge construction projects and promised to complete seven new stadiums by 2020.

You can see the progress which is being made here four years before kickoff, Infantino who spoke during a visit to the next host nation on Tuesday said.

This was via a statement from Qatars local World Cup organising committee, after the FIFA head toured the 40,000-seater Al Wakrah stadium.

The stadium is very impressive. When you enter here you immediately feel how imposing it is.

The Russian World Cup has been the best ever but the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar I am sure will be even better, Infantino added.

The next tournaments logistics were further complicated last year when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt cut diplomatic, transport and trade ties with Qatar.

They had accused their regional neighbour of financing terrorism, a charge Qatar denies.

Qatar has nonetheless said it was pushing ahead with ambitious infrastructure plans to host the World Cup, which was the centrepiece of Dohas strategy to project itself on the global stage.

It has since inaugurated a $7.4 billion (5.7 billion) port and expects to open its first metro by the end of this year.(

Source: NAN

The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar was yellow-carded Tuesday by the Northern Youth Leaders Forum over his choice of former governor Peter Obi, as running mate.

The group sent Atiku a dire message: drop Obi or lose.

The youths tabled their demand at a meeting on Monday with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, now Atikus godfather.

They asked Atiku to review the choice of Obi, if he hopes to earn the Norths support.

The group, which prides itself as the apex body of 46 youth organisations in the North, threatened to mobilise its over six million members against the PDP and its presidential candidate, if Atiku failed to take its advice.

The national chairman of the group, Comrade Elliot Afiyo, who spoke on Tuesday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after a meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday night, claimed that the body had been instrumental to the electoral victories of successive presidents since 1999. It claimed to have played a major role in incumbent President Muhammadu Buharis victory and it also played a critical role in the reconciliation between Atiku and Obasanjo.

According to Afiyo, the group had equally intimated the former President of their position on Atikus running mate.

It was not immediately clear yesterday what Obasanjo, who has just ended a long feud with Atiku and endorsed him, told the youths.

Afiyo said Obis choice was causing friction in the Southeast, which is largely responsible for the impending defection of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremandu, from the PDP.

He added that Obi is strongly viewed as anti-north and a major sponsor of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

According to him, over 70 percent of Emirs and other traditional rulers in the North will not support Atikus choice of running mate and maintained that PDP will fail to produce the next president, if the party eventually flies the Atiku/Obi ticket.

Afiyo advised PDP to pick Atikus running mate from South south. He suggested that either Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike or his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, should be considered.

Afiyo said: Atiku is an experienced politician, and he knows what happened and as a northern Nigerian, he cannot ignore that group. I have spoken to almost all the Southeast governors and they told me that they remained in PDP because of their governorship elections and after their governorship elections, they will vote somewhere, not PDP.

And for us to ignore the stakeholders, it is political suicide, so we must agree with that fact. That was what we told Obasanjo yesterday, that as far as we want Atiku to succeed, he has no alternative than to drop Peter Obi and with the contention between Peter Obis group and Ike Ekweremadus group, it is not politically convenient again to pick a running mate from the Southeast.

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Source: NAN

Ecuador no longer plans to intervene with the British government on behalf of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in talks over his situation as an asylee in the countrys London embassy

Foreign Minister Jos Valencia said in an interview with Reuters that Ecuadors only responsibility was looking after Assanges wellbeing, after the Australian national sued the country over new conditions placed on his asylum in the London embassy.

Ecuador has no responsibility to take any further steps, Valencia said.

We are not Mr. Assanges lawyers, nor are we representatives of the British government. This is a matter to be resolved between Assange and Great Britain.

The UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment after normal business hours.

Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer advising Assange, said in an email that developments in the case in recent times showed the need for Australias government to intervene to assist one of its citizens who faces real danger.

This position marks a departure from Ecuadors previous practice of maintaining dialogue with British authorities over Assanges situation since granting him asylum in 2012, when he took refuge in Ecuadors London Embassy after British courts ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual molestation case.

That case has since been dropped, but friends and supporters have said that Assange now fears he could be arrested and eventually extradited to the United States if he leaves the embassy.

Valencia said he was frustrated by Assanges decision to file suit in an Ecuadorean court last week over new terms of his asylum, which required him to pay for medical bills and telephone calls and to clean up after his pet cat.

There is no obligation in international agreements for Ecuador to pay for things like Mr. Assanges laundry, he said.

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno has said that asylum is not meant to be eternal, but he has expressed concern about the possibility that Assange may be extradited to the United States. Valencia said on Tuesday that he has not discussed Assanges situation with the United States government.

Last December, Ecuador granted Assange Ecuadorean citizenship and sought to name him as a member of the countrys diplomatic mission in Britain and Russia, which could have assured him safe passage to leave the embassy. Britain denied the request.

Source: NAN

Ahead of the 2019 General Elections and governorship election in Delta state, Delta Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa has challenged his opponents to a debate.

Okowa who gave this challenge at a Mega Rally at the Delta North Senatorial District, to welcome new defectors, said that most of the opponents only visit the state when it was time for elections.

At the event which held at Kwale Township Stadium, some of the notable persons welcomed to the PDP were: former member of House of Representatives, Hon. Mercy Almona-Isei, a running mate to a former governorship candidate Chief V.O.T. Abanum, Chief Gabriel Mordi, Chief Emma Ogude, Hon. Henry Onianwa and others.

These notable politicians in the state led thousands of other members of their party to be received into the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Okowas who received the decampees stressed that all the other contenders in the 2019 governorship election could not challenge his in a debate neither can they defeat the PDP in the elections.

We are praying for debate, they will have nothing to talk about, I am in Delta State, I only left when I went to Ibadan to study Medicine, my opponents will have nothing to say, so they will run away from debate.

We cannot deceive ourselves, when you contest election today and after three years and half, a month to election you are back to Delta State to ask for votes, who do you want to deceive?

Even their congresses, they are deceiving themselves; the PDP had a free and fair primary elections.

In Port Harcourt, 12 persons contested in the presidential primary election, one person emerged and no one left after the primaries because, we live in love and we believe in God.

When you have God, you are not afraid, we are on a solid rock but, those who could not conduct elections are on sinking sand; no matter what they do, we are not afraid, Governor Okowa stated.

He assured that the PDP will win elections in all the elections stressing that the oppositions were already in disarray with myraids of litigations even before the commencement of campaigns.

I must thank all of you for coming to this rally, I must thank all our brothers and sisters who are returning to our party, you are welcome back home.

Okowas Deputy, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, Chairman of the PDP in the state, Barr. Kingsley Esiso, Hon. Solomon Funkekeme, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, among others in their separate goodwill message stated that the PDP will get 100 per cent votes in the state.

A high point of the event was when Hon. Gabriel Mordi publicly tore his APC membership card. He said that the achievements of Governor Okowa had attracted him and others to the PDP.

Coordinator of Atikulated Agenda 2019, Chief Greg Onah and PDP chieftain, Dr. Tabs Ogaranya-Tabowe described the success of the rally as good signal that Governor Okowa has endeared himself to Deltans through his people-oriented projects

Source: NAN

Nigerians are now drinking less of Heineken Beer with the second largest brewer in the World recording less sales in Nigeria and Congo amid significant rise in sales in other regions.

Nigeria is said to be a major Heineken market, comparable to Russia, Brazil, South Africa and France, were sales of the beer were said to have increased by 9 per cent.

Heineken increased beer sales in all four of its global regions in the third quarter and said it stuck to its full-year outlook.

The Dutch maker of Heineken, Europes top-selling lager, as well as Tiger, Sol and Strongbow cider, said on Wednesday its consolidated beer volumes rose by 4.6 percent year-on-year to 62.6 million hectoliters (6.2 billion litres).

Volume growth continued in the third quarter, benefiting from good weather in Europe and strong growth in Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam and South Africa, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said in a statement.

Sales of Heineken lager, the companys premium global brand on which margins are greater, rose by 9.2 percent, with strong growth in Brazil, South Africa, France and Russia.

The only negative spots were declines of beer sales in Nigeria, a major Heineken market, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cambodia, Poland and Spain. Heineken lager sales also fell in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said its expectations for the full year were unchanged.

Heineken cut its full-year margin forecast in July due to currency weakness in some more profitable markets, such as Mexico and Vietnam, and expansion in Brazil.

It said its operating profit margin would decline by 20 basis points this year, compared with an earlier forecast of a 25 basis point increase.

Heineken acquired the loss-making Brazilian operations of Japans Kirin in 2017 to become the number two player in the South America country, and had previously warned of a dilutive impact on its margins.

Source: NAN

CIA Director Gina Haspel visited the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday for talks with officials about the killing of Washington Post contributor Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabias Istanbul consulate.

Video images and audio tapes as well as evidence gathered from the consulate and the consuls residence were shared with Haspel during the briefing at the Turkish Intelligence Organisation (MIT), Sabah newspaper reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stopped short of pointing the blame at the Saudi leadership for the death of the Saudi insider-turned-critic.

But he said in a keynote speech on Tuesday that the murder was meticulously planned, demanding that all those involved brought to justice.

The whereabouts of Khashoggis corpse still remains unknown.

The 59-year-old vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi mission to obtain documents for his wedding.

Erdogan said that a 15-person team came from Riyadh to kill Khashoggi, including by carrying out reconnaissance outside Istanbul and deactivating security cameras at the consulate.

Turkish police searched the kingdoms Istanbul consulate, and the consul generals residence as well as hunting for evidence in an Istanbul forest.

On Tuesday, the police searched an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate in an underground car park in the Sultangazi district of Istanbul.

The Saudi leadership has denied involvement in the murder and instead blamed the chain of command.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman strongly said that he had nothing to do with this, this was at a lower level, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, adding he had spoken on Monday to the prince and his father King Salman.

Turkish pro-government media has claimed that Ankara has audio tapes of the killing.

Last week, the Turkish government denied giving any kind of audio tape from the investigation to any US official.

Source: NAN

By Sheila Offiong

A group of international and local bikers, under the auspices of Latin American Motorcycle Association (LAMA), is on a tour of Nigerias heritage sites.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed while officially welcoming the team on Monday in Abuja, assured the bikers of a wonderful time during their tour.

The minister noted that the quest to promote the cultural heritage of Nigeria to the outside world was yielding fruit.

As you tour Nigeria under the `Rediscover Heritage Bikers tour of Nigeria and visit historical heritage sites, you beam a satellite on those sites for the world to see.

Nigeria is truly a blessed Nation with world class heritage sites and we have also gone the extra mile to preserve them.

You will see these heritage sites as you travel through our country which is rich culturally and diverse as a nation.

After this tour, I urge you all to become Nigerian Heritage ambassadors by spreading news of the hidden treasures.

Sites to be visited by the bikers include museums, monuments and homes of National heroes, amongst others.

In his remarks, the Acting Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr Abdulkarim Kadir assured the bikers of a peaceful and hospitable stay in the country.

According to Kadir, the group will tour 11 states of the Federation to highlight the heritage sites, cultural assets and museums as well as the Osun Oshogbo World Heritage site.

The aim of the tour is to rediscover Nigeria and its very rich cultural heritage.

This expedition is intended to project the various heritage sites in Nigeria in a bid to draw attention to them to attract tourists and visitors.

The bikers embarking on the road trip are drawn from Nigeria, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Paraguay, Germany and Holland, amongst other countries.

President of the LAMA bikers, Mr Mario Nieves said that they were in the country to explore the culture of Nigeria, learn about Nigeria and then tell the world about Nigeria.

We believe it is more important to be human than different people from various races; at the end of the day, we are all one people.

We are just a humble group of motorcyclists that decided to organise and create some type of impact in our society, he said.

Nieves said his team had experienced the good manners and respectful nature of Nigerians, noting that they would share the good memories when they return to their respective countries.

Source: NAN

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Kwara state, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) has shifted back to the police the blame for the delay in prosecuting Offa robbery suspects.

The police claimed on Sunday that they had concluded investigations and passed since August the file for prosecution of the suspects to the Attorney-General of Kwara State, based on the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Ajibade, a senior advocate of Nigeria fired back today, accusing the police of lying and engaging in cheap blackmail.

Here is Ajibades statement:

I see this as a cheap blackmail from the police and at this instance they have something to hide which they are yet to tell Nigerians about this case. I am sure at the end of the day Nigerians will know what has transpired in this matter.

That is why the police are now passing the buck. They can now see that Nigerians have started asking questions that if you arrested suspects since April this year and they are yet to be charged to court; then there must be something about it. I urge Nigerians to ask questions about this
matter.
(What the police said: )

I am surprised particularly the statement coming from the Police Spokesperson Jimoh Moshood. Jimoh Moshood without being personal is from Ilorin here. He has contacts and I am sure he follows up with events in the Kwara command and he knows too well that all the suspects are still with him at the police headquarters.

Why will he now come to mislead the public that we are yet to prosecute? How can you prosecute people kept in Abuja in Kwara state High Courts? It is not possible. I want to confirm to you that a letter was written from the office of the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation under the office of the Attorney General of the Federation. My office received the letter on August 27th this year.

The content of the letter had to do with the investigation report on the Offa robbery and directing my office to take up the prosecution of the matter.

Immediately we received this letter on the 6th of September this year, we wrote a letter through the office of the state director of the public prosecution to the office of the Attorney General requesting from them to provide for us the original case diary in the Offa robbery and also to transfer the suspects to the Kwara state police command.

We waited for about three weeks and did not hear anything from them. I then took it upon myself to personally meet with the AIG legal one David Ogbodo and I requested that the original case diary be sent to Kwara to enable us start prosecution of the matter. I also requested him to send all the suspects to Kwara state and he told me that he had
directed the man in charge. That is one Abba Kyari.

We waited for another week, we could not get anything from them. So I directed my DPP to liaise with the police this time around. He liaised with the police both in the state and also with Abba Kyari. They promised every day that they would send the suspects to Kwara and the original case diary to no avail. You cannot prosecute under the law without having the original case diary. You cannot even file a charge without the case diary and in filing a charge you have to exhibit what we call proof of evidence.

This proof of evidence entails the statements of witnesses. Statements of witnesses in this sense we are talking of the people that investigated Offa robber. We dont have all these with us. We dont have the suspects on ground, we dont have the witnesses on ground. How do you file a charge? How do you prosecute people you c an not see?

Source: NAN

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday inaugurated the Presidential Committee for Impact and Readiness Assessment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

At the event at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Buhari said that Nigeria would not sign any treaty without assessing its impact on the lives of its citizens.

The president said Nigeria would henceforth take its time to breakaway from the past practice, where treaties were signed without making the needed positive gains for the country.

The Committee has the Minister of Industry as its Chairman, with the Chief of Staff to the President as Co-Chairman.

Buhari said: We are determined to breakaway from the past practice of committing Nigeria to treaties without a definite implementation plan to actualise the expected benefit while mitigating the risks.

We cannot go back to the days of signing agreements without understanding and planning for the consequences of such actions and our country being the worst for it.

Few months ago I directed a nationwide stakeholders engagement on the Africa Free Trade Continental Area Agreement to understand the true impact of this agreement on Nigeria and Nigerians, considering the existing domestic and regional policies as it relates to trade.

The president observed that from the consultation, the key issues raised by stakeholders were abuse of rules of origin, smuggling arising from difficulties in border controls and unqualified impact of legacy preferential trade agreements.

According to him, other issues raised include low capacity and capability of local businesses to conduct international trade, costly finance, and insufficient energy and transport logistics infrastructure.

He, however, revealed that the nations Economic Recovery and Growth Plan would address these issues.

Buhari, therefore, charged the committee to concentrate on the issues raised during the nationwide consultations in order to find lasting solutions to them.

Your task as members of the Impact and Readiness Assessment of the African Continental Free Trade Area Committee is to address the issues raised during the stakeholders consultations on the Africa Continental free trade Agreement.

You are expected to develop short, medium and long term measures that will address any challenges arising therefrom, he added.

The President further stated that Nigerias vision for intra-African trade was for a free movement of made in Africa goods, noting that Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa.

He regretted that for too long, the countrys domestic productive capabilities were neglected in favour of imports.

According to him, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan introduced by the current administration will help revive key job creating and import substitution sectors like agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

Speaking earlier, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah gave the terms of reference of the committee.

He said these included assessing the potential cost and impact of the AFCTA for Nigeria in relation to the benefits, identify the short, medium and long term measure to prepare Nigerian businesses for the take-off of AFCTA trading group.

He said the terms of reference also included a backup plan that covers selected scenarios and view the trade remedy options to safeguard the Nigerian economy from predatory and failed trade practices.

According to the minister, an updated trade policy is being prepared for Nigeria and the draft will be ready for review by the end of the year.

Other members of the committee include Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Foreign Affairs, Finance and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

The Economic Adviser to the President, Nigerian Governors Forum, President Nigerian association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and President, Nigeria Labour Congress among others, are also members of the committee.

Source: NAN

A former governor of Old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Monday urged Nigerians not to gamble with the idea of returning the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar to power in 2019.

Musa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Kaduna that the country would be worse off if the main opposition party was allowed to come back.

He said the PDP had ruled the country for 16 years before 2015 and all they brought to Nigerians was misery and underdevelopment.

Musa said that the opposition party almost completely ruined the economy with massive corruption and plunder while in power.

The governor said though all is not well with the country under the present All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, Nigerians should never risk having any hope in the PDP to make things better.

Musa said that the PDP lacked the moral right to ask for a return to power, and a credible alternative was needed to turn things around in the country.

I do not understand the hype about PDP returning to power. I just do not understand. Return to do what? The party that created many problems for 16 years while they were in power? No way!

Things are not too good at the country at the moment, but I think the country would be worse if the PDP is allowed to return. We saw what they did for 16years and they will definitely mess things up further.

Nigerians should not trust the PDP with power. We will be disappointed.What we need in the country right now is a credible alternative that would deliver good governance and respond to our needs, he said.

Musa said that money had over the years influenced Nigerian politics, resulting in the emergence of unpopular leaders.

The former governor said Nigerians must be prepared to change the narrative by voting according to their conscience in 2019 and beyond.

He said the country was currently faced with a number security and economic challenges, among others, calling for governments creative intervention to address.

Musa suggested the economic restructuring of the country to bring back privatised public corporations to government control for provision of more efficient services to the people.

The former governor said the economy was being controlled by the private sector which was ripping off the people with poor service delivery.

Source: NAN