The player was part of the Nigerian side that finished fourth at the 2022 African Women's Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Morocco.
By Emmanuel Egobiambu Updated July 20, 2023
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have signed Super Falcons star Nicole Payne, the club said on Thursday.
“Paris Saint-Germain are delighted to announce the arrival of Nicole Payne. The Nigerian international defender joins the Rouge et Bleu until June 2026,” the French outfit said in a statement announcing Payne’s arrival.
“Paris Saint-Germain would like to welcome Nicole to the Rouge et Bleu squad,” they added.
The player was part of the Nigerian side that finished fourth at the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Morocco.
She was born in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) where she started her football career.
Nicole featured for the US at U15, U16, U17, and U18 levels before teaming up with the Super Falcons in 2021. So far, she has made two appearances for the Africans.
But she was not part of Nigeria’s team for the 2023 World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand.
American-born Nigerian sisters Toni Oyedupe Payne and Nicole Oyeyemisi Payne. Toni Payne (ToeKnee Payne) is currently playing for the Super Falcons at the Women's World Cup, but unfortunately Nicole Payne was not selected.
Paris Saint-Germain is pleased to announce the arrival of Nicole Payne. The Nigerian international defender joins the Red and Blue until June 2026.
Nicole Payne was born in Birmingham (Alabama, USA), where she started playing football. After playing for the Concorde Fire, a club based in Atlanta, she joined the University of West Virginia in 2019 and played 3 seasons with the "Montaineers" (53 games, 4 goals).
In 2022, the defender continued her career and studies in psychology at the University of Southern California. She played in every match during the season, accumulating a total of 16 matches and 3 goals.
The young full-back first wore the jersey of the United States in the U15, U16, U17 and U18 selections before being called, in 2021, to the Nigerian team. She now has 2 appearances with the Super Falcons.
Paris Saint-Germain welcome Nicole to the Rouge et Bleu squad.
Happening Now: His Excellency the Vice President Sen. @KashimSM, GCON chairs the National Economic Council (NEC) Meeting at the Presidential Council Chambers, State House Abuja.
PETROL SUBSIDY REMOVAL: NEC BACKS PLANNED DISTRIBUTION OF GRAINS, FERTILIZER STARTING JULY 24
* Supports proposed cost-of-living allowance for civil servants
* Endorses deployment of CNG vehicles for public transportation
The National Economic Council (NEC) has thrown its weight behind the planned distribution of grains and fertilizer to Nigerians by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria to mitigate the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy on citizens.
The decision was part of resolutions reached today at the 4th meeting of the Council chaired by Vice President @KashimSM at the State House Executive Council Chambers, Abuja.
The decision was taken after a presentation by the NEC Adhoc Committee on cushioning the effect of petrol subsidy removal was made by Anambra State Governor, Prof. @CCSoludo.
Speaking after deliberations on the presentation, Sen. Shettima read the resolutions of the Council noting, “we will also pursue vigorously, the mass deployment of CNG-powered vehicles and establishment of autogas conversion plants/kits in all States in the short-term and deployment of electric buses and cars with charging infrastructure across the country.”
The meeting also resolved to support enhanced engagements between State Governors and the leadership of the labour unions across the States, and proposed the provision of the cost-of-living allowances to be paid to civil servants in both the State and Federal Civil Services.
The Council agreed to support federal Government’s efforts to scale up infrastructure especially to give attention to fixing dilapidated highway roads across the country.
Other highlights of the 134th NEC meeting are as follows:
UPDATES:
A I. OUTSTANDING BALANCES AS AT END OF JUNE
Excess Crude Account - $473,754.57
Stabilisation Account - ₦27,524,857,142.27
Development of Natural Resources Fund - ₦98,421,834,602.86
Monthly Statutory, Exchange Gain, Non-Oil Revenues Etc.
Balance as at Jan to June, 2023 - ₦104,978,145,865.86
Solid Mineral Development Fund (SMDF)
Balance As At Jan To Jun, 2023 - ₦835,511,263.00
II. UPDATE ON STATES' BUDGET SUPPORT FACILITY AS AT 30TH JUNE, 2023 FAAC MEETING OUTSTANDING LIABILITY: - ₦1,718,705,566,436.25
B PRESENTATION BY FEDERAL INLAND REVENUE BY CHAIRMAN, MUHAMMAD NAMI
The presentation on revenue outlook by the FIRS was made by the Chairman, Mr Muhammad Nami. It focused on major revenue reforms implemented between 2020 and 2023. Four key areas highlighted include:
· restructuring tax operations and administration · automation of tax administration and operational processes · creating a customer-focused service · creating a data-centric institution.
Short-Term plans by FIRS · further automation tax administration in FIRS · bring the informal sector into the tax net through partnership · intensify data streaming from industry regulators, MDAs, industry operators and treaty partners to improve compliance
FIRS 2023 revenue projection for the second half of the year was put at N7.5 trillion and 2024 revenue projection at N25 trillion.Council resolutions:
Council commended the FIRS for its initiatives and reforms to boost revenue generation in the country, especially the projection of N25 trillion for year 2024.
Council encouraged States to utilize the peer review mechanism in the Nigerian Governors Forum and improve partnership with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to increase their internally generated revenue.
C PRESENTATION ON FLOOD READINESS AND RESPONSE, INCLUDING COORDINATION MECHANISMS ACROSS STATES BY DG NEMA, MUSTAPHA AHMED
The presentation on flood readiness and response, including coordination mechanisms across states preliminary assessment report was made by the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed. In the presentation the DG highlighted the plight of victims of the unfortunate flood disaster across affected States of the Federation could be alleviated if the much-needed intervention from the Federal Government materialized without further delay.
HIGHLIGHTED STRATEGIES PREPAREDNESS AND EARLY WARNING MEASURES
NEMA in collaboration with Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre, organized an Executive Disaster Management Course between 23rd-27th January, 2023 to enhance capacity of disaster responders. This enabled the production of disaster early warning alerts that are disseminated to communities at risk nationwide.
FLOOD DISASTER EARLY WARNING COMMUNICATION
Request to equip State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) to efficiently and effectively respond to emergencies within the State;
Carry out public sensitization of the public on 2023 Climate - Related Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies.
FLOOD DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
Organize State humanitarian coordination meetings to prepare for activation of Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) to coordinate search and recue and relief distribution.
Ensure evacuation of refuse, weeds, water hyacinths and floats from water channels and on all avenues for river run-offs to allow free flow of excess waters.
MITIGATION EFFORTS
•Carrying out Media Public Enlightenment Campaign (i.e. Radio & TV jingles), targeting vulnerable communities (on-going); •Advocacy visits to Federal MDAs, DRUs & other relevant disaster management partners. (on-going); •Collaborating with National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to acquire satellite imageries of inaccessible areas in the event of floods.
THE WAY FORWARD
Disaster management is multi-task, multi-discipline and multi-jurisdictional. Disaster management, is everyone’s business.
To meet our aspiration for effective disaster risk management, NEMA requires the full support and collaboration of all tiers of government, the private sector and general public.
All disasters are local; disaster hits a particular community, in a particular LGA, in a particular state. The first lifesaving responders are always from the local community before external support arrives.
Disasters cut across political and administrative boundaries as proven by annually recurring floods and the recent pandemics, COVID-19, Ebola etc.
Council resolution:
Council resolved that relief materials be distributed to flood and disaster victims across the country by NEMA.
F PRESENTATION ON STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE BY PERMANENT SECRETARY, FMARD, DR ENERST UMAKHIHE
The proposed strategies for achieving food and nutrition security include:
Support smallholder farmers with agricultural equipment, other farm inputs such as seeds & seedlings, agro-chemicals and growth enhancers among others, and build their capacity on good agronomic practices.
Training and capacity building agents, strengthen agricultural extension services.
Improve pasture development by building farm settlements for pastoralists and generally ensuring breed improvement in livestock sub-sector.
Promote out-grower scheme for cropping maize and soyabean for livestock production.
Construction of rural roads, boreholes, mini-water treatment plants, among other facilities geared towards improving the entire livestock value chain.
The way forward in addressing food insecurity is as follows:
Fast-track the operationalization of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing zones in each of the six geo-political zones and revitalize moribund agricultural industries to promote production and productivity for food and nutrition security.
Establishment of more mini earth dams and run-off water harvesting structures to promote all year-round farming.
Strengthen agriculture research institutes and colleges for increased research output and agricultural productivity in the country.
Bridge fertilizer raw material gap by fast tracking the local exploration of Di-Ammonium Phosphate and muriate of potash in line with National Food Security Council to the Solid Mineral Development Fund.
Council noted the various agricultural interventions made to boost food production across the country.
Olusola Abiola Director Information Office of the Vice President 20th July, 2023 10:07 PM · Jul 20, 2023.
Soji Oye, director of information, National Judicial Council (NJC), says Boloukuoromo Ugo, justice of the court of appeal, has not withdrawn his membership of the presidential election petition court.
Umar Sani, a Twitter user, claimed that Ugo tendered his resignation after citing “demands to knee-cap democracy”.
Sani alleged that the judge, in his letter, stated that he was asked to “cripple the independence of the judiciary” by ruling in favour of a certain political candidate believed to be President Bola Tinubu.
“Justice Ugo’s resignation has caused a serious uproar and a setback to the activities of the presidential election petition court,” Sani said.
However, speaking with TheCable on Thursday, Oye described the claims as “falsehood from the pit of hell”.
He said the allegations should be disregarded, adding that the aim is to distract Nigerians and set the tone for a narrative, in the event that the court’s judgement doesn’t favour the rumour peddlers.
Oye said the presidential election petition court will issue a formal statement to address the issues.
When contacted, Josephine Ekperobe, secretary of the presidential tribunal, said the story is “fake”.
She said she spent time with the judge yesterday and that as of Thursday, she is yet to be informed of the judge’s purported resignation.
SUPREME COURT REACTS TO REPORTS THAT TINUBU SPOKE WITH CJN
Ugo’s alleged resignation is coming barely 48 hours after Jackson Ude, a Twitter user, reported that the president spoke with Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), over the outcome of the presidential election petition.
Ude alleged that the CJN told Tinubu to prepare for a rerun of the election.
However, Festus Akande, spokesperson of the supreme court, said there was “no iota of truth” in the claim.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also denied the allegation by Ude.
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, standard bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are challenging the victory of Tinubu in the last election.
Abubakar and Obi recently submitted their final written addresses after closing their respective cases at the election tribunal.
The tribunal is yet to fix a day for the adoption of final written addresses and judgement in the petitions.
Soji Oye, director of information, National Judicial Council (NJC), says Boloukuoromo Ugo, justice of the court of appeal, has not withdrawn his membership of the presidential election petition court.
Umar Sani, a Twitter user, claimed that Ugo tendered his resignation after citing “demands to knee-cap democracy”.
Sani alleged that the judge, in his letter, stated that he was asked to “cripple the independence of the judiciary” by ruling in favour of a certain political candidate believed to be President Bola Tinubu.
“Justice Ugo’s resignation has caused a serious uproar and a setback to the activities of the presidential election petition court,” Sani said.
However, speaking with TheCable on Thursday, Oye described the claims as “falsehood from the pit of hell”.
He said the allegations should be disregarded, adding that the aim is to distract Nigerians and set the tone for a narrative, in the event that the court’s judgement doesn’t favour the rumour peddlers.
Oye said the presidential election petition court will issue a formal statement to address the issues.
When contacted, Josephine Ekperobe, secretary of the presidential tribunal, said the story is “fake”.
She said she spent time with the judge yesterday and that as of Thursday, she is yet to be informed of the judge’s purported resignation.
SUPREME COURT REACTS TO REPORTS THAT TINUBU SPOKE WITH CJN
Ugo’s alleged resignation is coming barely 48 hours after Jackson Ude, a Twitter user, reported that the president spoke with Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), over the outcome of the presidential election petition.
Ude alleged that the CJN told Tinubu to prepare for a rerun of the election.
However, Festus Akande, spokesperson of the supreme court, said there was “no iota of truth” in the claim.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also denied the allegation by Ude.
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, standard bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are challenging the victory of Tinubu in the last election.
Abubakar and Obi recently submitted their final written addresses after closing their respective cases at the election tribunal.
The tribunal is yet to fix a day for the adoption of final written addresses and judgement in the petitions.
SOSinNigeria: Why should we believe anonymous sources on a very critical issue like this? If this is fake, don't you think Justice Ugo or someone representing him made a rebuttal since it went viral?
Appeal court will always claim it's false to save face, even if they know it's 100% correct.
Only people that can't reason logically will believe you.
I couldn't give a shit whether you choose to believe in the moon or not. That's your personal problem. You said believe me? Believe me that what exactly? You can choose to believe the article, choose to believe in Santa Claus or whatever the hell you want to believe in. That's your personal problem and none of my business.
But you can choose to continue to entertain me. I won't mind. But right now I have to go take care of my other thread.
Breaking: Senate forced into closed-door meeting over ministerial nominees
By Henry Umoru, Abuja
The Senate is, at the moment, in a closed-door meeting few minutes into the commencement of today’s plenary, largely necessitated by the list of ministerial nominees believed to have been submitted by the Presidency.
Soon after taking petitions, which is the fifth item in the Order Paper, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced that the Senators should go into an executive session after the leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) had made the announcement.
The Senate entered into the closed-door session at 11.59a.m.
Vanguard gathered that the meeting may be about the ministerial nominees from President Bola Tinubu.
A source told Vanguard that the list is already creating problems among the Senators, which explained the need for the meeting.
Recall that there was a meeting the President of the Senate had with major stakeholders yesterday. It lasted for several hours.
The source told Vanguard that the President of the Senate was already in possession of the list, which may be read after the closed-door meeting, or next week since there will be no plenary tomorrow.
SOSinNigeria: Dude, we can see through your gimmicks. You call genuine news fake and then promote fake news as genuine?!
Common, there are Nigerians whose brains are still functioning. If this report is not true, Justice Ugo or someone representing him would have since released a rebuttal. His silence says it all.
Stop trying to decieve people, Naptu!
You mean to tell me that you do not know the way to Vanguard office or to the Appeal Court??
You can see through my gimmicks? Have you considered seeing an opthalmologist for that?
Soji Oye, director of information, National Judicial Council (NJC), says Boloukuoromo Ugo, justice of the court of appeal, has not withdrawn his membership of the presidential election petition court.
Umar Sani, a Twitter user, claimed that Ugo tendered his resignation after citing “demands to knee-cap democracy”.
Sani alleged that the judge, in his letter, stated that he was asked to “cripple the independence of the judiciary” by ruling in favour of a certain political candidate believed to be President Bola Tinubu.
“Justice Ugo’s resignation has caused a serious uproar and a setback to the activities of the presidential election petition court,” Sani said.
However, speaking with TheCable on Thursday, Oye described the claims as “falsehood from the pit of hell”.
He said the allegations should be disregarded, adding that the aim is to distract Nigerians and set the tone for a narrative, in the event that the court’s judgement doesn’t favour the rumour peddlers.
Oye said the presidential election petition court will issue a formal statement to address the issues.
When contacted, Josephine Ekperobe, secretary of the presidential tribunal, said the story is “fake”.
She said she spent time with the judge yesterday and that as of Thursday, she is yet to be informed of the judge’s purported resignation.
SUPREME COURT REACTS TO REPORTS THAT TINUBU SPOKE WITH CJN
Ugo’s alleged resignation is coming barely 48 hours after Jackson Ude, a Twitter user, reported that the president spoke with Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), over the outcome of the presidential election petition.
Ude alleged that the CJN told Tinubu to prepare for a rerun of the election.
However, Festus Akande, spokesperson of the supreme court, said there was “no iota of truth” in the claim.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) also denied the allegation by Ude.
Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, standard bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), are challenging the victory of Tinubu in the last election.
Abubakar and Obi recently submitted their final written addresses after closing their respective cases at the election tribunal.
The tribunal is yet to fix a day for the adoption of final written addresses and judgement in the petitions.
ABUJA– The Court of Appeal, on Thursday, debunked the news that a member of the five-member panel that is handling petitions seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu, resigned.
A high ranking official of the court, who spoke to Vanguard, described the information as “fake news”, insisting that it was the handiwork of “evil rumour mongers.”
The source, who pleaded not to be mentioned because he was not authorized to speak to the press, maintained that “no such thing happened.”
He said: “I was with some members of the panel yesterday and I can authoritatively tell you that there was nothing like that.
“In fact, we were shocked when our attention was drawn to the fake news. The true position is that parties in the petitions were given time to file and exchange their final written address. They are already doing that.
“Once the process is completed, the panel will communicate a date for the parties to appear in court to adopt their processes after which the petitions will be fixed for judgement.
“So, it is absurd for someone to sit in a corner of his room and concoct lies from the figment of his or her imagination.
“In fact, our attention was equally drawn to another fake news that a former Governor of Rivers State held a meeting with members of the court, outside the country.
“These are very laughable. How can the honourable justices on the panel travel abroad when they have enormous work pending on their desks?
“Please ignore the fake news. It is very unfortunate. Hopefully, before the end of the day, the Appeal Court will issue a formal statement on the matter.
“I believe that unless someone is made a scape goat, this fake news trend will continue,” the source added.
Meanwhile, in the said “fake news” that is gaining traction on social media, it was reported that a member of the presidential election petition court, Justice Boloukuoromo M. Ugo, had in “a shocking and unprecedented move”, resigned from the bench over pressure from the Executive arm of the government which he believed would destroy the country’s democracy.
According to the report, Justice Ugo, in a statement, maintained that siding with the government on the matter before the court, would be the “death of Nigeria’s democracy,” insisting that he could not in good conscience remain silent.
The report stated that Justice Ugo, in the said statement, disclosed that he was asked to “cripple the independence of the judiciary”, by ruling in favor of President Tinubu.
Besides, he was reported to have claimed that the panel was asked to suppress evidence and dismiss all the petitions against President Tinubu.
It will be recalled that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kayode Ariwoola, had on Wednesday, equally debunked the news that he had a telephone conversation with President Tinubu with respect to petitions that are seeking to sack him from office.
Sports › Re: PSG Signs Nigerian Defender Nicole Payne. by naptu2(op): 7:52am On Jul 21, 2023
