2014 was a rough year –Messi

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi says he feels back to his best after what he feels was a difficult 2014 plagued with off-field problems, Goal reports.

The Argentine was came under criticism towards the end of last season as his side lost out on the Liga title to Atletico Madrid and were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, while the player himself was beaten to the FIFA Ballon d’Or by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Off the field, he became the subject of a tax investigation, with a threat of possible jail time looming over him.

The 27-year-old, however, says he has recovered from a rough year and is happy with his personal life and his performances.

“I am happy. The truth is that I started the season in another way after what happened to me last year,” he told Barca’s official website. “I had a difficult year for what happened off the field, for my injuries and my performance. But this year I started differently and now I feel great.

“Last year I had an uneven season. I was out with injuries and missed many games. When I returned to the pitch, it never ended well. It was a year that I’ve tried to forget quickly to get back to my best version. Luckily now I feel fine.”

The Catalan side failed to pick up a major trophy last season and Messi feels that disappointment has motivated the players to return to picking up silverware this term.

“We came from a time when each year we were winning a title, and perhaps we did not value what we were winning,” he added.

“It was a bad year in which we won nothing, and now, when they get back some success, we will see how important they are and enjoy them more because we know they are very hard to achieve.”

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner is nearing his 400th Barcelona goal and he said he wants to keep adding to his tally once he reaches the milestone.

“It’s nice to score goals. Some are special, but it’s the same. By now every goal is a goal, but it is nice to know that I can keep adding to them and remain in the history of this great club.”

The attacker also praised team-mates Luis Suarez and Neymar, stating that they add a new dimension to the team’s front line.

“Barcelona have always had great forwards, not just now with Neymar and Luis. But it’s true that we are taking advantage of them because they are both great world stars. They give us another thing than goals, so in that sense, I’m calm.”

Echiejile

Echiejile targets Juve upset

Monaco can upset favourites Juventus in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg match in Turin, according to the French club’s defender Elderson Echiejile, AfricanFootball.com reports.

Monaco may not have won in Italy all these years, but Nigeria international Elderson they could rewrite history on Tuesday night in Turin.

“In the (Champions League) group stage, we set a new record by not conceding a goal in six matches. We could as well rewrite our history by winning in Italy,” he told his official website elderson3.com.

“We only need to stay focused in both legs and we could be in the semifinals.”

He added, “Juventus are on great form in Serie A as well as in Europe, but we can get results from them to go through.”

Monaco themselves have shrugged off a wretched start to the season and have now gone eight games unbeaten in the French Ligue 1 and are now third in the standings on 58 points from 32 matches, just three points behind leaders PSG.

But Juve were the more convincing qualifiers to the last-eight after they dumped Borussia Dortmund 5-1 on aggregate, while Monaco needed the away goals’ rule to progress after they were tied at 3-3 aggregate with Arsenal.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

INEC announces Assembly election winners without figures

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Peoples Democratic Party candidates as the winners of 13 of the 14 results released so far in the 16 constituencies where elections held in Bayelsa State.

A list of the names of winners in the election released by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, did not include the votes scored by the respective candidates and their political parties.

When he was accosted by journalists for a comprehensive result, he referred journalists to the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Timidi Wariowei, who told journalists interested in the number of votes scored by each candidate and political party to write INEC.

A look at the result released by INEC showed that the PDP won 13 out of the 14 Assembly seats released so far while the APC won one.

The election was declared inconclusive in Ogbia Constituency II while elections could not hold in Brass Constituency II because the youths allegedly insisted on sighting collation results sheets before the commencement of accreditation.

The PDP winners as announced by INEC are Abraham Ingobere, Brass Constituency 111; Ololo Ben, Ingo Iwowari; and Obiene Iniyobiyo.

Others are Monday Obolo, Igali Barapadei, Benson Friday, for the Southern Ijaw Constituencies 1, III and IV respectively.

Also, returned as winners are Salo Adikumo, Sagbama III, Dr. Parkinson Markmanuel, Ebiuwou Obiyai and Emelah Epilefa for Yenagoa constituencies 1, II and III.

The only successful candidate from the opposition APC defeated the Deputy Speaker, Victor Sam-Ateki, to win the Brass I Constituency seat.

Man Fulfills His promise To Walk From Lagos To Abuja If Buhari Wins, Presently In Niger [See Photo]

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NOTE: This article is posted as written by the source , read full story below:
Suleiman Hashimu or ‘The traveller’ as I prefer to call him is an indigene of Katsina state, Funtua to be precise. He was born in Osun state but lives in Ibadan.
The traveler promised two years ago to walk from where ever he is to the capital of Nigeria, Abuja if General Muhammadu Buhari wins the election in 2015.
BBC Hausa, Voice of America and Aminiya (a Hausa mgazine) interviewed him.
He was in Lagos when Buhari was declared the President-elect of Nigeria. He left Lagos at about 5am the next day and arrived Ibadan around 6pm.

He went to get a police report to allow for the smoothness of his journey but couldn’t wait and so, the D.P.O. gave him his phone number. Despite several discouragement from friends and at the same time, inspiration from friends and loved ones; he continued from Ibadan to Oyo. Then from Oyo to Ogbomoso.; And from Ogbomoso to Ilorin with much hospitality at every stop.
At Ilorin, some people escorted him for some miles and he stopped at Oloru. Oloru, to border’n Sa’ada and then to Jebba. He received so much hospitality from Jebba and unlike other villages he met a lot of people who had heard of the traveller. About 20 people set off with him from Jebba and after some miles, about 18 went back but the remaining two where determined. They met with armed robbers close to Makwa and luckily, he already met one of them in Jebba and he even gave him 200 Naira for pure water. The robber told his colleagues that he was going to see Buhari and he gave him 2000 Naira and then slapped the two men with him.
He continued his journey from Mkwa to Kudu and then to Kutigi. He is currently in Kutigi and will continue his journey to Bida tomorrow by the grace of God.
I asked him about his encounter with the different people and he said it was remarkable. Actually he gets more determined to move on from the people. He was even treated like a King in a village in Niger.
They sang tribal songs he didn’t understand and travellers stop to provide him with food and company along the way. Most of them are familiar with him because they travel the same route daily. Sometimes up to 10 cars would stop to converse with him. News travelled with the public transports to different places on his route and people from several cities, towns and villages on his route would call to check up on him and inquire about his journey.
He doesn’t know for sure if Buhari knows of him but several of his support organizations do. He intends to reach Abuja by 27th of May and celebrate with the new president at his inauguration ceremony.

THE QUESTION: Are the presidential election results being deliberately delayed? ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed THE QUESTION: Are the presidential election results being deliberately delayed? March 31 10:24 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by Taiwo George  1 Comment ALthough Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), promised to announce the result of the presidential election within 48 hours, only the result of 18 states – plus the federal capital territory – have been made public three days after the election was conducted. At Sunday’s press conference at the INEC headquarters, Jega had assured Nigerians that the result would be announced in record time. “In 2011, we declared the results within 48 hours, and we want to improve on that. We have been working assiduously to beat that record,” he said. But that is not how events have unfolded. First, the commission scheduled the announcement for 12pm on Monday, saying it would give time for collation officers across the country to arrive the federal capital territory. When the exercise eventually commenced, the chairman called for four hours of recess after announcing the results of nine states. Well, those four hours were not four hours, after all. Rather than start at 8pm, collation and announcement of results did not begin until nearly 9pm. Announcement of the result INEC officials during the collation at ICC After only an hour into the exercise, Jega called for another break, this time for just 10 minutes. By then, the results of 18 states had been announced. Jega’s 10 minutes was to spiral into an hour, prompting jokes on social media such as one saying one should hit the bed if Jega says good morning! There is so much anxiety in the air; Nigerians are eager to know who their next president would be. Whether it would be change or continuity. There are fears in some quarters that the delay is intended to alter the result in favour of a particular party or, in the end, force the commission to declare an inconclusive result. Responding to TheCable’s question in that regard, Jega had said: “I’m not under any pressure to declare the election inconclusive. Election However, the continued delay has been a source of worry, and it is now believed that the governments of the United States and United Kingdom who earlier warned against interference in the collation of results, must have stumbled on some information the public doesn’t have. “The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom would be very concerned by any attempts to undermine the independence of the Electoral Commission (INEC), or its Chairman, Professor Jega; or in any way distort the expressed will of the Nigerian people,” the statement read. “So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process but there are disturbing indications that the collation process—where the votes are finally counted—may be subject to deliberate political interference.” But we will not attempt to preempt the result, although there is hardly any other option in the face of the current delay. Unlike the guys who hacked INEC’s website on Saturday, we will, for now, not attempt to hack Jega’s mind. We will give him the benefit of the doubt, and hope this delay is all in the interest of transparency, fairness and the country’s overall interest.

THE QUESTION: Are the presidential election results being deliberately delayed? ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed THE QUESTION: Are the presidential election results being deliberately delayed? March 31 10:24 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by Taiwo George  1 Comment ALthough Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), promised to announce the result of the presidential election within 48 hours, only the result of 18 states – plus the federal capital territory – have been made public three days after the election was conducted. At Sunday’s press conference at the INEC headquarters, Jega had assured Nigerians that the result would be announced in record time. “In 2011, we declared the results within 48 hours, and we want to improve on that. We have been working assiduously to beat that record,” he said. But that is not how events have unfolded. First, the commission scheduled the announcement for 12pm on Monday, saying it would give time for collation officers across the country to arrive the federal capital territory. When the exercise eventually commenced, the chairman called for four hours of recess after announcing the results of nine states. Well, those four hours were not four hours, after all. Rather than start at 8pm, collation and announcement of results did not begin until nearly 9pm. Announcement of the result INEC officials during the collation at ICC After only an hour into the exercise, Jega called for another break, this time for just 10 minutes. By then, the results of 18 states had been announced. Jega’s 10 minutes was to spiral into an hour, prompting jokes on social media such as one saying one should hit the bed if Jega says good morning! There is so much anxiety in the air; Nigerians are eager to know who their next president would be. Whether it would be change or continuity. There are fears in some quarters that the delay is intended to alter the result in favour of a particular party or, in the end, force the commission to declare an inconclusive result. Responding to TheCable’s question in that regard, Jega had said: “I’m not under any pressure to declare the election inconclusive. Election However, the continued delay has been a source of worry, and it is now believed that the governments of the United States and United Kingdom who earlier warned against interference in the collation of results, must have stumbled on some information the public doesn’t have. “The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom would be very concerned by any attempts to undermine the independence of the Electoral Commission (INEC), or its Chairman, Professor Jega; or in any way distort the expressed will of the Nigerian people,” the statement read. “So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process but there are disturbing indications that the collation process—where the votes are finally counted—may be subject to deliberate political interference.” But we will not attempt to preempt the result, although there is hardly any other option in the face of the current delay. Unlike the guys who hacked INEC’s website on Saturday, we will, for now, not attempt to hack Jega’s mind. We will give him the benefit of the doubt, and hope this delay is all in the interest of transparency, fairness and the country’s overall interest.

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng

UPDATED: INEC suspends collation till 8pm

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared a four-hour recess in the collation of results of the presidential election, which will herald the declaration of the country’s president-elect.

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared a four-hour recess in the collation of results of the presidential election, which will herald the declaration of the country’s president-elect.

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng

UPDATED: INEC suspends collation till 8pm ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed UPDATED: INEC suspends collation till 8pm March 30 16:24 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by TheCable  0 Comments The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared a four-hour recess in the collation of results of the presidential election, which will herald the declaration of the country’s president-elect. According to Attahiru Jega, the recess was announced to give adequate time to other state returning officers “currently on their way to Abuja”. He said the collation session would reconvene at 8pm. After eight states and the federal capital territory, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 2,322,734, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) has 2,302,978. In the interim, PDP is leading with 19, 755 votes. In Nasawara, PDP polled 273,460 ahead of APC, which had 236, 838. While in Oyo APC had 528,620 over the ruling party’s 303,376. With a total of 157,195 votes, PDP carried the day in the federal capital territory, leaving the APC with 146,399. Ondo went to the APC with a total of 299,889 and PDP ,251,368. Osun, which is the only state where the opposition won in 2011, still went to the APC. The party had 383,603 ahead of PDP, which had 249,929. With 264,851, APC won in Kogi, a predominantly PDP state. PDP had 149,987 in the state. PDP had a field day in Ekiti, securing 176,466, while APC had a total of 120,331

Read more at: http://www.thecable.ng

UPDATED: INEC suspends collation till 8pm ⌂Back To Homepage Subscribe To RSS Feed UPDATED: INEC suspends collation till 8pm March 30 16:24 2015 Print This Article Share it With Friends 👤by TheCable  0 Comments The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared a four-hour recess in the collation of results of the presidential election, which will herald the declaration of the country’s president-elect. According to Attahiru Jega, the recess was announced to give adequate time to other state returning officers “currently on their way to Abuja”. He said the collation session would reconvene at 8pm. After eight states and the federal capital territory, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 2,322,734, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) has 2,302,978. In the interim, PDP is leading with 19, 755 votes. In Nasawara, PDP polled 273,460 ahead of APC, which had 236, 838. While in Oyo APC had 528,620 over the ruling party’s 303,376. With a total of 157,195 votes, PDP carried the day in the federal capital territory, leaving the APC with 146,399. Ondo went to the APC with a total of 299,889 and PDP ,251,368. Osun, which is the only state where the opposition won in 2011, still went to the APC. The party had 383,603 ahead of PDP, which had 249,929. With 264,851, APC won in Kogi, a predominantly PDP state. PDP had 149,987 in the state. PDP had a field day in Ekiti, securing 176,466, while APC had a total of 120,331