₦airaland Forum

The prize money for participating teams at the 2022 World Cup ongoing in Qatar is a whopping total of $440 million.

The 2022 tournament featured 32 teams from various countries across the globe. 13 countries from Europe, five African teams, four North American countries, four countries from South America and six countries from Asia.

The teams that exited the World Cup at the group stage – Qatar, Ecuador, Wales, Iran, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Costa Rica, Serbia, Cameroon, Ghana, Uruguay – all earned $9 million each

The teams that made it through to the round of 16 – USA, Senegal, Australia, Poland, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea – all earned $13 million each
While those that reached the quarter-finals -Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, England – earned $17 million each.

Fourth place team Morocco, earned $25 million

Third-placed team Croatia earned $27 million

The runner-up between Argentina or France will earn $30 million, while the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner will earn $42 million.

This is an increase of $40m compared to the 2018 tournament.

Prior to 2006, World Cup-winning teams never pocketed more than $10m, with 1982 champions Italy walking away with an estimated $2.2m for their efforts.

In 2002, there was a big push from national teams for FIFA to increase the prize money on offer. Below are the prize monies won since 1982 up until 2022;

Year Prize money
(USD)
2022 $42m
2018 $38m
2014 $35m
2010 $30m
2006 $20m
2002 $8m
1998 $6m
1994 $4m
1990 $3.5m
1986 $2.8m
1982 $2.2m


The tournament will officially come to an end on Sunday (today) December 18, 2022, as holders France will face Argentina for a chance to lift the trophy and win the $42 million grand price.


https://punchng.com/full-list-2022-world-cup-prize-money-breakdown/

Dr Helen Oritsejafor, wife to the ex-president of Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor, has debunked rumours surrounding the status of their marriage.

Last week, reports that the cleric’s marriage had crashed due to infidelity went viral on the Internet.

Helen, on her Facebook page on Monday, reacted to the claims which she tagged “works of the devil” aimed at tainting her reputation.

Oritsejafor reaffirmed her love for her husband and their family, stating that she strongly believed in the tenets of Christian faith and thus, could noy go against her own values.




Her statement partly read, “Fam, my attention has been drawn to the fake and malicious news making rounds on blogs, social media platforms and the newspapers against my character and that of my family. It’s totally unbelievable, reprehensible and unthinkable and it’s important that I make the facts clear.

“I am a wife, a mother and a woman of God, and I uphold the tenets of my Christian faith and marriage. My family and home is the most important part of my life.

“I, therefore, appeal to everyone to put our interest and that of our lovely kids, above the need to profit from this baseless endeavor.

“My Husband and I are not divorced, unless people get divorced on social media and I have never been unfaithful to my husband, whom I love very dearly. These are works of the devil and his agents to dent my character and good works.”

She further stated that she would be taking legal actions against the rumours mongers as she had already briefed her lawyers.

“Don’t forget that life is a seed. To carry a baseless news not supported is not only malicious but punishable under the law of the land,” she continued.

“In retrospect to the fake news, I have briefed my lawyers and all necessary legal actions are being taken. Thank you all and stay blessed,” she concluded.


https://punchng.com/wife-of-ex-can-leader-oritsejafor-debunks-divorce-rumours/

Against the backdrop of a bleak economic future for Nigeria painted by the World Bank recently, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council has said the report justifies the need to have its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, elected president of the country to address the nation’s many challenges.

The PUNCH had in an earlier report, quoted Alex Sienaert, World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, as saying that in 2023, debt servicing will gulp 123.4 per cent of the country’s total revenue.

Sienaert had stated this in a presentation titled ‘Nigeria Public Finance Review: Fiscal Adjustment for Better and Sustainable Development Results’ for the month of November.

“Borrowing more is not the solution: debt costs are rising rapidly, squeezing non-interest spending,” he said, adding that “debt servicing has surged over the past decade and is expected to continue increasing over the medium-term, crowding out productive spending.”




Responding in a statement to the presentation, spokesman of the campaign council, Senator Dino Melaye said, “The solution to the years of the locusts under APC is Atiku Abubakar, who worked under a team that brought great economic prosperity to Nigeria.

“The APC presidential candidate is always eager to dissociate from Buhari, but he carries a DNA that is infused with the APC blood and water. What can he do differently? Besides, if he had a different solution he could have offered it to his failed party so as to pave a smooth way for his own emergence. Having ‘chilled’ with the big boys, he now wants to ‘chill’ alone.

“Nigerians should look forward to the termination of APC’s arrested development when Atiku/Okowa and the PDP return Nigeria to its winning ways. As President Obasanjo said in his famous aphorism, there is no need to reinforce failure.

“What the World Bank report has done is an economic advisory, which Nigerians have to take seriously by looking away from APC and embracing the People’s Democratic Party on February 25, 2023.”



According to the statement, “the recent report by the World Bank, confirming the arrested development experienced under the All Progressives Congress administration since 2015 has more than any other indices, justified the imperative of stopping APC from doing further damage to Nigeria’s economy and social advancement in 2023.

“The APC inherited a healthy economy in 2015, just a year after Nigeria’s economy was re-based, and rated as the largest economy in Africa, ahead of South Africa. Rather than consolidate on the gains recorded by the PDP administration, Buhari and the APC embarked on unprecedented economic amateurism that has thrown Nigeria into one of the least performing economies in Africa. The APC has also thrown Nigeria into such a huge debt doldrum that it would take the country years of creative management to regain lost grounds.

“The APC which premised its campaign on change has succeeded in taking Nigeria back more than 10 years. While they accused their predecessors of corruption, they have now made corruption a state policy and the stench in the high corruption quotient of APC provokes deep revulsion.”

The statement further read, “Nigerians will not forget the great prosperity under the PDP administrations. They can also not forget how the reversal of fortune under APC has brought Nigeria down from prosperity to poverty, resulting in the relegation of Nigerians to a nation of 133 million poor citizens.

“If only Nigerians understood what the APC meant by change! The prodigal son scores better when peered with the APC.

“Sadly, the poor performance of the APC is not limited to the economy. Insecurity has degenerated by a higher degree. Unemployment is at its worst. The energy crisis remains intractable and unaddressed.


“The Buhari administration and APC are now relying on the Department of State Services to make fuel available to Nigerians. The subsidy programme that came under heavy criticism by APC has not only been sustained but has become an indefensible and convoluted policy in which the supposed poor now pay higher for fuel than the obviously rich. While fuel sells for about N180 in the cities, the rural folks buy the same product at about N300-500 per litre.”

https://punchng.com/world-bank-report-reveals-why-nigeria-needs-atiku/

Kaduna residents now skip meals due to the rising cost of foodstuff in the market.

Many residents who spoke to DAILY POST in Kaduna, on Sunday lamented the high increase in the price of foodstuff, ingredients and basic necessities.

A resident of Narayi community in Kaduna, Mr James Madaki said before now, he had three square meals a day with his five children and wife, but now, the story is different since his meagre salary can not afford to buy even ingredients for the meal.

A widow with seven children in Nasarawa community, Mrs Williams Janet expressed anger over the increasing cost of foodstuff.

“I lost my husband in January 2022, when bandits invaded our house in Nassarawa. My five children and I escaped, but my husband was Kidnapped. After demanding millions, which we could not afford, they slaughtered him,” she said

According to her, the family’s situation has gone from bad to worse having lost its breadwinner, adding that they now eat once a day.

Also, Mr Samuel Nduja who stayed in Kajuru said he eats with his family, twice a day, and once on Sunday.

An undergraduate of the University of Kaduna in Goni Gora community, Miss Angela Makama, said she sometimes eats once a day due to the high cost of foodstuff in the market.

” I am from Nasarawa State, schooling in Kaduna. I was only given transport money and N300 meal ticket per day. So, I managed to eat once a day,” she stated

https://dailypost.ng/2022/12/11/kaduna-residents-skip-meals-as-price-of-foodstuff-skyrockets/

Nlfpmod!

PHOTOS: Bandits Kill Three, Destroy Farm Produce In Gombe

Three persons have been confirmed dead following Thursday's banditry attack on Amtawalam and Pobawure communities of Billiri Local Government Area, Gombe State.

Speaking during an on-the-spot assessment on Friday, Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, decried the killings and destruction of food items.

Credit: Chima Azubuike

https://twitter.com/MobilePunch/status/1601211496092295171

been sold to people. Even those who are engaged in crop farming, they get something, maybe free, and when it comes to livestock, they will say it is private business. That is hypocrisy. And it is unfair to those who are engaged in livestock farming.

"This is 2022. Next year there will be elections for President, Governors, Senators, House of Representatives and state Assembly members. In the APC, I will fight until our manifesto provides for our livestock sub-sector programme.

"Yes, I will lead the fight and there will be no problem because I believe that our administration must do something. And whatever is left for this administration, I am going to get more of my colleagues to push something for the livestock sector. Fair is fair.

"We just have to be fair to people and I think we have not been fair to our livestock animal rearers and fishermen. Our livestock sub-sector needs better attention.

"And I'm not talking politics. Leaders, at all levels of government, Federal, states and Local Government, must do something to address this. And Nigerians must desist from being hypocritical."

The Senate President has, for about five years, through his foundation, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan (SAIL) Foundation, launched an annual programme of free vaccination for cattle, goats and sheep in his Yobe North Senatorial District.

https://saharareporters.com/2022/12/08/cattle-rearing-not-private-business-nigerian-government-must-support-it-senate-president

Suspected political thugs early on Thursday morning invaded the residence of Senator Lee Maeba in the GRA, Phase 3 axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Maeba is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State.

A source told our correspondent that the hoodlums came from a nearby street, shot sporadically at his entrance, and eventually broke into the former Senator’s compound.

They reportedly destroyed about five cars, including a jeep, while three persons in the compound, including Senator Maeba’s relative scampered for safety.




When our correspondent visited the scene about 10:50am, a team of operatives of the Department of State Services and policemen along with the Senator were seen driving into the residence.

Related News
UPDATED: Gunmen abduct corps member, seven others in Abuja
BREAKING: One killed, others missing as gunmen attack Abuja community
Two die in Ebonyi police, gunmen clash
See pictures from the attack below:





Details later…

https://punchng.com/breaking-gunmen-attack-rivers-pdp-campaign-boss-residence/

Nlpfmod!

The Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop, Enugu Diocese, Anglican Communion, Most. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma has again come hard on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, alleging that it is the most corrupt in the country’s history.

Chukwuma spoke to journalists in Enugu on Monday evening, rating the Buhari administration as a failure in the anti-corruption fight.

The cleric said it was saddening that a government that was voted into power owing to its promise of coming to fight corruption and improve the economy, had worsened the state of affairs in the country.

He said, “When Buhari was coming in, he promised change, we embraced him, but rather than what was promised to Nigerians, what we are seeing is worse.

“Corruption has gone to a high level. There is too much embezzlement and money laundering under this government.

“Corrupt officials who are indicted and arrested are not being imprisoned, even those that were imprisoned by the last administration have been granted pardon.

“We were told about billions of recovered loot, where is it? That’s why I said the government is too corrupt. They are re-looting recovered money.”

DAILY POST recalls that the Buhari government had earlier in the year granted pardon to two former State governors who were jailed for stealing public funds.

The former governors, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State governed their respective States between 1999 and 2007.

They were among the 159 convicted persons whose pardon was approved by the Council of State in April this year.

Archbishop Chukwuma described the development as a clear indication that the government was not committed to the anti-corruption fight.

He equally lampooned the government over the spiral inflation in the country, lamenting that essential commodities had gone far beyond the reach of the common man.

“Inflation is now too high like never before. A litre of petrol is now sold between N250 and N300.

“Salaries are not being paid; many States are yet to implement minimum wage.

“Brain drain is on the highest level, medical officials especially have all deserted the country and the government is just moving on as though everything is normal.

“The only interest of this government is on taking loans everyday, we don’t know how the debt will be paid; we are not even seeing what they are doing with the loans.

“Oil theft has worsened. The vessel that was discovered, why should it be set ablaze, destruction of evidence. Some people are supposed to be fired for doing that but nothing has happened,” he lamented.

On the 2023 general elections, Chukwuma advised the electorate “to look out for people with pedigree to bring us out of this mess. We are in slavery of corruption, slavery of insecurity, slavery of collapsed education, slavery of inflation and bad economy.

“It is so disturbing, people are even sceptical that the election will not be held. We should pray for God’s intervention.

“All old politicians should step aside, they have nothing to offer. We want a new wine in a new wine skin.”

He, however, charged Nigerians not to despair but to remain prayerful.

“As we begin Advent, approach Christmas and New Year, it has become pertinent for me to release this message.

“Nigerians should move closer to God and trust him for an intervention. Let us work together to make Nigeria great.”

Meanwhile, he also condemned the attack on some communities in Eha-Amufu, in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, which left several persons dead.

While accusing some security personnel of sabotaging the efforts of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, he demanded the immediate removal of the security chiefs in the State.

“Some of these security men are not helping us, they appear to be sympathetic to those killing our people,” he alleged.

https://dailypost.ng/2022/12/06/buhari-government-most-corrupt-in-nigeria-history-archbishop-chukwuma/

Nlpfmod!

On Sunday in a statement by the Atiku Campaign Organisation spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, Atiku said that Tinubu was being haunted by his scheme to relocate the FCT to Lagos State, his alleged criminal indictments, perjury, forgery and inconsistencies in age, name, ancestry and education qualifications.

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Bola Tinubu, deliberately embarked on a foreign trip to the UK to avoid answering questions about his plot to move Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from Abuja to Lagos, among other issues.




On Sunday in a statement by the Atiku Campaign Organisation spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, Atiku said that Tinubu was being haunted by his scheme to relocate the FCT to Lagos State, his alleged criminal indictments, perjury, forgery and inconsistencies in age, name, ancestry and education qualifications.



Ologbondiyan said, “The APC presidential candidate should face Nigerians with an explanation for the exposed scheme instead of allowing his handlers to be playing to the gallery with disjointed denials and blaming other political parties for allegedly spreading the accusation that he wants to relocate the federal capital from Abuja to Lagos.




“The plan to relocate the federal capital was conceptualised and propagated by the Tinubu campaign and only became hysterical as a result of the public ire against such an atrocious plot to sequester the nation’s capital for his personal selfish interest.



“It is clear that the foreign trip embarked on by Asiwaju Tinubu was a deliberate plot to dodge the Arise TV debate scheduled to hold tomorrow following fear that Nigerians will take him to task on the FCT relocation plot, alleged criminal indictments, perjury, forgery and inconsistencies in age, name, ancestry and education qualification.



“Moreover, the handlers of the APC presidential candidate are not comfortable putting him before the cameras because of his constant embarrassing gaffes that question his fitness for the office of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria.



“If Asiwaju Tinubu cannot face Nigerians as a candidate because of his many pieces of baggage, he surely does not deserve their votes on February 25, 2023.



“Our campaign urges Nigerians not to relent for a moment in their continued support for Atiku until they elect him into office.”

Meanwhile, Tinubu’s presidential campaign team had described the claim that he planned to relocate the country’s capital from Abuja as an “egregious lie.”



https://saharareporters.com/2022/12/05/tinubu-deliberately-travelled-abroad-avoid-questions-alleged-criminal-indictments-plan

The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress have urged the Federal Government to put an end to the fuel shortages and price hikes in the country.

The Presidents of NLC and the TUC, Ayuba Wabba and Mr Festus Osifo said this in a statement, signed by them on Saturday in Abuja.

They said that the fuel shortages, price hikes and avoidable long queues in filling stations are unacceptable and no longer tolerable.

The labour leaders said the Federal Government should put an end to the avoidable, unnecessary, crippling and pain-inducing fuel shortages and unapproved price hikes of up to N240 per litre in the country.

They warned ”No excuse is good enough to cripple the country.

”If there are challenges, they should be fixed. We have a government in power to fix challenges not to make excuses,’’ they said in their statement.

The statement said the labour leaders were bewildered and disturbed by the persistent shortage and uncontrollable prices that players in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry were meting out to Nigerians.

It noted that the persistent shortages of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, had become a source of pain to the Nigerian people.

It said this had led not just to long avoidable queues, but to adulteration of the product by unscrupulous elements, exploitation of the consumers and turning fuel stations to traffic menace.

“All these have tragic consequences for the Nigerian people and debilitating effects on the health of the economy which itself is not in a good state.

“We are reliably informed that the shortage is deliberately fostered by players in the downstream sector in other to hike the price far above the government-approved threshold.

“It is an added problem when non-state actors begin to arrogate to themselves the power to determine the price of a litre of fuel far above the rate pegged by government in the current subsidy regime,” it said.

The labour leaders also said that the Nigerian people and the taxpayers currently spend trillions of Naira annually to subsidise petrol.

They added that the same people could not be exploited and made to pay over N240 per litre when the current ex-depot price was N148.19k per litre.


Their statement noted that the opportunity cost of the subsidy payment was enormous and yet the benefit of the subsidy regime is gradually been eroded.

According to them, no country develops when its people are subjected to perennial hardship and its industries are shackled by unnecessary chains of miseries.

“It is more disturbing that the government is equally demonstrating a high level of culpability in the unwholesome situation by its silence and unwillingness to frontally and publicly address the harrowing experiences in the current situation.

“No concerned and responsive government will bury its head in the sands like the proverbial Ostrich while the citizens are being brutally exploited.

“We are strongly worried that leaving our energy security and sovereignty in the hands of unscrupulous capitalists and their collaborators will further plunge this nation into the economic abyss we are working hard to avoid,” it said.

The statement said that Organised Labour is ready and willing to engage the Federal Government and assist in all ways possible to overcome the country’s present challenges.

It called on the regulatory and law enforcement agencies to do more to protect Nigerians from exploitation.

https://punchng.com/end-fuel-scarcity-price-hikes-labour-urges-fg/

In June, SaharaReporters uncovered how Abdulhameed siphoned close to N1 billion using the private bank account of the agency's Head of Finance, Idris Issa Aweda, as a conduit.

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Managing Director of the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, Aliyu Abdulhameed, over fraud allegations.




It was learnt that the president removed Mr Abdulhameed on Thursday afternoon and hauled him out of office shortly thereafter, Peoples Gazette reports.



Mr Abdulhameed had allegedly been siphoning money from the establishment since he was appointed to office in 2015.




It was gathered that the search for his replacement had begun.



“His exotic official vehicles were all withdrawn from him. He left the office in a small Ford vehicle and was grandstanding that he would soon be back,” a source told the newspaper.



In June, SaharaReporters uncovered how Abdulhameed siphoned close to N1 billion using the private bank account of the agency's Head of Finance, Idris Issa Aweda, as a conduit.



Aweda used three personal bank accounts: FCMB (4986133010), GTB (0245155058), and Stanbic IBTC (0021195810) to receive proceeds of fraud on behalf of Abdulhameed.







Although NIRSAL is not a security agency, Abdulhameed fraudulently ordered payment of money for “advance for security challenge in the North-East on the farms fields”, “security challenge in the North-Central on the farms fields”, “advance for external security issue armoured car” and “advance for security challenge in the South-East on the farms fields”.



He also summarily "dismissed" the organisation’s Acting Head of Internal Audit, Mr Olalekan Olusanya, in bid to conceal a deep-rooted multi-billion-naira fraud.



Abdulhameed also dismissed another staff member of the organisation, Olusola Omole, in a bid to conceal the corruption taking place under his watch.



Omole was the head of a technical unit with responsibility across the 36 states of the federation before he was removed.



NIRSAL is a $500 million non-bank financial institution, a creation of the Central Bank of Nigeria mandated to manage agribusiness-related credit risks in Nigeria.



Mr Abdulhameed’s corrupt practices also forced the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend funding to NIRSAL last year.



The CBN has been guaranteeing all borrowings disbursed by NIRSAL, which is a parastatal of the government’s banker.



Another source said Mr Abdulhameed also misappropriated funds earmarked for wheat distributions across the country.



SaharaReporters also exclusively confirmed that Abdulhameed’s son, Imran Aliyu Abdulhameed was jailed by the United Arab Emirates government for money laundering, in case number 2018/4796.



It was further gathered that Mr Abdulhameed has been recommended for prosecution following his dismissal from office, although he has not yet been apprehended by security operatives.



SaharaReporters obtained the statement of account which details how Imran laundered money on several occasions.



SaharaReporters also obtained a copy of the bail bond of the public prosecution department, the government of Ras AI Khaimah with which Imran's release was eventually secured.



When Imran was arrested by the cops in Dubai, he was caught driving a Lamborghini Urus car, worth $400,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand Dollars) and was wearing a designer wristwatch, Audemars Piguet, one of the world's most expensive wristwatches valued at tens of thousands of dollars.


https://saharareporters.com/2022/12/02/buhari-sacks-managing-director-nirsal-aliyu-abdulhameed-over-fraud-allegations-withdraws

NNPC blaming Lagos roads now is absurdity!