Joachim Okhai

Robinho sentenced to nine years in prison for 2013 sexual assault. Former Brazil forward Robinho has been found guilty of sexual assault and was sentenced to nine years in prison by an Italian court on Thursday. According to La Stampa, Robinho, who now plays for Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro, and a friend have also been ordered to pay the victim €60,000 ($71,097). The outlet reports that the two men, along with a group of four other people who have not been identified and therefore have not been sentenced, got a woman drunk and assaulted her at a Milan nightclub in January 2013. The Italian justice system permits several levels of appeal. According to reports, the verdict is placed on hold until all have been exhausted. Robinho, who then played for AC Milan, denied any wrongdoing at the time of the allegations, and his lawyer, Marisa Alija, reiterated on Thursday that the player had no involvement in the incident and has already made legal arrangements to fight the decision

Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has dumped Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Mr. Abubakar in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES narrated his reasons for leaving the party. The former vice president who challenged President Muhammadu Buhari for the APC ticket in the build up to the 2015 elections did not indicate the new party he would join. Many members of the main opposition PDP, a party Mr. Abubakar helped form, have, however been asking him to rejoin the party. Read Mr. Abubakar’s full statement below. On the 19th of December, 2013, I received members of the All Progressives Congress at my house in Abuja. They had come to appeal to me to join their party after my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, had become factionalized as a result of the special convention of August 31, 2013. The fractionalization of the Peoples Democratic Party on August 31, 2013 had left me in a situation where I was, with several other