WHALEXTRA

Three African nations have secured places in the Round of 32 at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking a strong showing for the continent at the expanded tournament. Out of the 10 teams representing the continent, Morocco, South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire have so far confirmed their places in the knockout stage. Egypt, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Algeria, Senegal and Congo DR remain in contention ahead of their final group matches as of Friday, June 26. Morocco finished runners-up in Group C after a 4-2 victory over Haiti, setting up a Round of 32 clash against Group F winners the Netherlands on June 29. South Africa made history by reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time after recovering from an opening defeat to co-hosts Mexico.

  The parents of a Nigerian student convicted of robbery and blackmail in the United Kingdom have appealed to the authorities to review the verdict, insisting that their son was wrongly convicted and is innocent of all the charges against him. Mr Aderinkola Akinrinola and Mrs Olayinka Akinrinola made the appeal in a statement released in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, following the conviction of their son, Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola , by a UK court on June 19, 2026. He is currently being held in a prison in Nottingham pending his sentencing, scheduled for July 27. The distraught parents alleged that the conviction was based largely on circumstantial evidence and their son’s association with the principal suspect in the case. They explained that their son met Richile Vagnu shortly after resuming his studies as a first-year student at Leicester University in September 2025, describing their relationship as that of acquaintances rather than close associates.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) recorded sweeping victories across four states in Saturday’s by-elections, winning key senatorial, House of Representatives and state assembly seats in Ondo, Nasarawa, Kano and Kebbi, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retained the Rivers South-East Senatorial District seat. Results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday showed the APC consolidating its electoral strength ahead of the 2027 general elections, with decisive victories in most of the contests. In Ondo State, INEC declared Prof. Dayo Faduyile, a former National President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Special Adviser on Health Matters to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, winner of the Ondo South Senatorial District by-election. The Returning Officer, Prof. Gbenga Solomon-Ibileye, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, announced that Faduyile polled 68,474 votes to defeat Adeolu Akinwunmi of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), ...

  The Senate on Wednesday abandoned plans to use its electronic voting system for consideration of the constitutional amendment bill on the establishment of state police after the voting machines failed to function. Following unsuccessful efforts to activate the electronic system for more than 30 minutes, senators resolved to adopt a manual voting process, with members required to indicate their votes by raising their hands. The decision was taken as the Senate commenced voting on the report of the Constitution Review Committee on the Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the establishment of state police and related matters. The switch to manual voting followed a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), who argued that the chamber should proceed manually after repeated attempts to use the electronic system proved unsuccessful. The motion was seconded by the Senate Minority Leader...

The G7 summit of world powers in France is being chaired by President Emmanuel Macron as host but on Wednesday his guest US President Donald Trump left no doubt over who he believed was in charge. “I’m the boss,” Trump said as he strode in to the morning session of the last day of the three-day G7 summit, with the other leaders already in their seats. Amid laughter, Macron appeared to take the comment with good humour. “How are you?” the French president asked. “Good, thank you,” replied Trump, a tycoon before becoming president who famously hosted the TV show “The Apprentice” with its catchphrase “You’re fired!”, as he finally took his seat. Fresh from clinching an accord to end the war with Iran and celebrating his 80th birthday, Trump’s presence has dominated the summit in the spa town of Evian on Lake Geneva.

  West Africa’s leading airline, Air Peace , has launched scheduled flight services connecting Lagos with Douala (Cameroon), Libreville (Gabon), Bamako (Mali), and Conakry (Guinea), effective August 1, 2026. The airline said the new routes would operate four times weekly on the Lagos–Douala–Libreville–Douala–Lagos service every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flights will depart Lagos at 8:00 am, arrive in Douala at 9:30 am, depart for Libreville at 10:10 a.m. and arrive at 11:30 am. The return flight will leave Libreville at 12:10 pm, arrive in Douala at 1:30 pm and depart for Lagos at 2:10 pm, landing at 3:40 pm. The Lagos–Bamako–Conakry–Bamako–Lagos route will operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flights will depart Lagos at 7:00 am, arrive in Bamako at 8:30 am, depart for Conakry at 9:10 am and arrive at 10:50 am. The return service will leave Conakry at 11:30 am, arrive in Bamako at 1:10 pm and depart for Lagos at 1:50 pm, arriving at 5:20 pm. Through its Lagos ...

  The National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on party members, supporters, and candidates on the platform of the party not to despair over the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which purportedly ordered the deregistration of the ADC and some other political parties. This was disclosed by Kola Ologbondiyan, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity. Senator David Mark, in a swift reaction while receiving a delegation of the party’s candidates who paid him a visit in Abuja on Monday, described the judgment as “an arrow fired at the heart of Nigeria’s democracy,” assuring party faithful that the decision would be overturned by superior courts. He recalled that the Court of Appeal had earlier ordered a stay of proceedings in the matter and adjourned further hearing to October 27, 2027. He therefore questioned how a judgment could validly be delivered while the subsisting order of the appellate court remained in f...

The Senate on Tuesday called for a total ban on the importation of textile products into Nigeria as part of efforts to revive the country’s struggling textile industry and create jobs. The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Sunday Katung and co-sponsored by several lawmakers, including Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Adams Oshiomhole, Mohammed Monguno, Ibrahim Khalid and Mustapha Khabeeb. Leading the debate, Katung lamented the decline of an industry that was once one of Nigeria’s largest employers of labour. He recalled that the first large textile manufacturing mill in Nigeria was established in Kaduna in 1957, while government policies in the 1960s and 1970s helped the sector flourish. According to him, Nigeria had about 167 textile mills in the late 1970s and 1980s, employing nearly 500,000 workers.