Yari gets court order against arrest by EFCC, DSS

A federal high court in Abuja has restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) from arresting and detaining Abdulaziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State.

The judge, Donatus Okorowo, also stopped the Department of State Services (DSS) from detaining the senator-elect, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

The order was given on Monday on an ex-parte motion filed by Michael Aondoakaa on behalf of Yari.

Okorowo ordered the respondents (EFCC, ICPC, DSS) to show cause in the next adjourned date on why the prayers sought on the motion ex-parte should not be granted.

“The respondents are however restrained from detaining the applicant until the return date for the order to show cause,” the judge ruled and adjourned the matter until June 8.

Through his team of lawyers led by Aondoakaa, former minister of justice, Yari had filed the ex-parte motion marked FHC/ANJ/CS/785/23 asking the court to restrain the EFCC, ICPC and DSS from arresting him.

In the motion dated and filed on June 2, Yari sued the EFCC, ICPC and DSS as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively.

He prayed the court to stop the three agencies from arresting and/or threatening to arrest and detain him to prevent him from participating in the proclamation of the 10th senate by President Bola Tinubu on June 13.

Nigeria U20 thrash Italy 2-0, top group

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Wednesday night defeated Gli Azzurrini of Italy 2-0 in their second game of Group D at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The victory took Nigeria to the top of the group with six points.

The Flying Eagles will play Brazil on Saturday in their final game of the group.

The two goals were scored by Salim Fago Lawal and Jude Sunday in the second half of the game.

Ladan Bosso made just one change to the team which defeated Dominican Republic 2-1 in the opening game as Italy-based Victor Eletu was brought on for Tochukwu Nnadi in the midfield.

Eletu proved the change was essential when he attempted the first shot on target in the game but Sebastiano Desplanches, the Italian goalkeeper, gathered easily.

The Azurrini, who thrashed Brazil 3-2 in their first game, almost took the lead in the 20th minute but Cesare Casadei struck the woodwork.

The Flying Eagles resumed control of the game, and two consecutive chances fell to Sunday and Samson Lawal but none could beat Desplanches.

Nigerian then suffered another scare when it appeared the ball had clipped the arm of Solomon Agbalaka inside the goal area. An extensive video assistant referee (VAR) review was followed by the referee deciding against a penalty.

After the first-half break, Bosso sent on the double substitution of Nnadi and Emmanuel Umeh for Samon Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammed.

Shortly after, Nigeria broke the deadlock. Umeh held off an Italian defender in the goal area before calmly scooping a cross onto Fago Lawal, who glanced a header to the top corner.

The Nigerians gave little away as they guarded their lead into the later stage of the game.

Deep into stoppage time, Jude Sunday added another goal for Nigeria as he slotted the ball between the legs of Desplanches after reacting fastest to a clearance by Kingsley Aniaboso, the Eagles goalkeeper.

New national carrier plane to fly on Friday – Sirika

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said the much anticipated new national career, Nigeria Air, will begin operations on Friday, three days to the terminal date of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Sirika said the new airline’s plane would arrive in Nigeria on Friday.
He disclosed this Wednesday on Channels TV.
He said that the aircraft would be unveiled in Nigeria’s colours, adding that the implementation of the aviation roadmap has been achieved 100 percent.
He said: “On the question of Nigeria Air, on Friday in two days, Nigeria Air plane will land in Nigeria as part of the processes to commence operation. We will on that day unveil this aircraft, the livery and everything in Nigeria’s colours, belong to Nigeria Air and we will proceed to go and do the retrofit and bring back those airplanes.”
However, it is not clear whether the airline would be cleared to commence operations or demonstration flights as part of the requirement to secure the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) amidst disquiet within the industry over alleged move by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to waive some requirements to enable the take-off of the airline.
Also, the order of perpetual injunction issued against the airline in the suit filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), is yet to be set aside even as the substantive motion challenging the shareholding structure is yet to be heard.
Additionally, despite receiving the Air Transport License (ATL), a prerequisite for obtaining an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), the airline still has a long way to go before meeting the stringent standards of the AOC, especially the stipulation of 50-hour demonstration flights for any intending carrier