The new Juventus signing will not see the inside of a prison cell but must pay a hefty fine after coming to an agreement over evasion allegations

Cristiano Ronaldo will accept a two-year prison sentence and a fine worth  €19 million (£16.9m/$22.15m) after striking a deal with Spanish authorities over tax charges. 

The ex-Real Madrid striker, now at Juventus, pleaded guilty to four charges of evasion between 2011 and 2014 worth a total of €14.7m. 

According to EFE, that amount has been reduced in his guilty plea to €5.7m, although taking into account fines, interests and other cost the sum ascends to €19m. 

The charges were initially denied by Ronaldo and his management company Gestifute, with the player answering tetchily whenever questioned over the matter. 

After reports emerged that the Spanish government had rejected an initial offer to settle the case, Cristiano wrote on Instagram "Don't try to spoil the beautiful moment I'm living through with fake news," while on another occasion he insisted:  "I do things the right way and I will continue to do so."

As a first-time offender Ronaldo's prison sentence will not be made effective, meaning that he will not spend time behind bars. 

Under Spanish law, though, if the Portugal striker re-offends during the duration of the sentence he would then be open to a custodial sentence. 

Ronaldo's sentence still must be confirmed, which will occur when the star presents himself before Madrid's Pozuelo de Alarcon court to hear the final verdict. 

The charges and prospective sentence are almost identical to those initially handed down to Ronaldo's great rival, Barcelona wizard Lionel Messi. 

Messi and father Jorge had been sentenced to 21 and 15 months in prison respectively for tax fraud, having failed to pay some €4.1m owed on image rights. 

But in July the pair saw their sentences commuted in return for the payment of additional fines. 

Other footballers that have fallen foul of Spanish tax authorities in recent years include Manchester United's Alexis Sanchez and former Argentina captain Javier Mascherano. 

Fayemi wins as APC, PDP woo voters with cash

Dr. Kayode Fayemi

Olufemi Atoyebi, Tunde Ajaja and Tobi Aworinde

The All Progressives Congress candidate in the Ekiti State governorship election, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has won the poll held on Saturday.

From the results of the 16 local government areas in the state, Fayemi defeated his closest rival, Prof. Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party, in 12 LGAs.

Fayemi polled 197,459 while Olusola scored 178,114 votes.

The election witnessed a large turnout of voters and early arrival of the ad hoc staff and supervisors of INEC at polling units.

Voting materials also arrived early in many polling units across the state while voters conducted themselves well during accreditation process.

But tension set in as allegations of vote-buying were levelled against party agents by voters in some polling units. In some cases, the situation led to friction among loyalists of various political parties.

At Ward 12 in the Igbehin area of Ado-Ekiti, an elderly voter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused the All Progressives Congress of offering N5,000 to those who had the Permanent Voter Card to secure their votes. He said he rejected the offer.

“I was offered N5,000 to vote for the party but I rejected it. I am 73 years old retired teacher. I cannot allow the future of my children to be bought by moneybags.  I don’t know how we descended to this level when people brazenly offer money to people to secure their votes. It was not like this in the past. Will our votes count with this problem?” he asked.

In Ayegbaju and Oye-Ekiti, it was alleged that party agents paid those who had no PVC N2,000 to vote in connivance with the INEC officials.

A source, who simply identified herself as Bimbo, said after those who had PVC had voted, some of the remaining ballot papers were thumb-printed by youths who had no PVC with the promise of financial gratification.

She said, “If you look well and observe the polling units, the INEC officials connive to allow this thing to happen. They pretended to check the fingerprint but it is fraud they are perpetrating.”

The Peoples Democratic Party was also accused of offering voters N3,000 each to secure their votes. Apart from the reported N3,000 allegedly paid to some civil servants and pensioners by the PDP-led state government, the party agents were accused of going from house to house, approaching voters who possessed PVC.

INEC’s preparation, which the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Abdulganiy Raji, had described as foolproof, failed some of the tests on the election day. Although election materials got to many of the polling units early, there were reports of the card readers failing to function properly.

At Ward 11, Unit 009 in Ishan-Ekiti, where the APC candidate, Kayode Fayemi, voted, his wife, Erelu Bisi, could not vote immediately as the card reader failed to recognise her PVC. The husband expressed apprehension over the situation, saying her vote must count for him.

Loyalists of the PDP in Ado-Ekiti also accused INEC of deliberately allowing the APC supporters to vote while card readers rejected PDP voters in some of the polling units.

At the polling unit in front of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, a man, who identified himself as a youth leader of the PDP in his ward, and who also identified himself as Alawe, said the card reader failed to recognise more than half of the people who wanted to vote for the PDP candidate, Kolapo Olusola.

Elsewhere in Ayede, in the North Senatorial District of the state, some voters also accused INEC of failure to perfect the technology and innovations deployed for the election before introducing them to the Ekiti election.

The election also recorded brigandage and fighting in some parts of the state. A man was injured in a fight among party supporters at Unit 11, Ward 04, at Ijigbo junction in Ado-Ekiti around 7.45am as queues were being formed after the arrival of INEC officials. It was not clear what caused the fight but it was quickly checked by policemen at the unit.

One of our correspondents, who visited polling units in the Fajuyi area of Ado-Ekiti, observed a large turnout of voters with glaring cases of vote-buying which voters called ‘see and buy.’ It was observed that the vote buyers demanded evidence of PVC and assurance that the seller would vote for their party before offering the money.

At Ward 10, Unit 02, security operatives accosted a female voter who had followed the due process of accreditation and voting, only to attempt photographing her ballot paper. The incident prompted uproar from other voters which led female officers to seize the voter’s mobile telephone while also compelling her to delete the photograph.

A source confirmed to SUNDAY PUNCH that a woman sitting by the new Fajuyi Bridge with three bags paid voters on behalf of one of the major political parties.

At one scene, a middle-aged man approached a youth and accused him of voting at the nearby Ward 10, Unit 13 and leaving the polling station to disrupt the conduct at Ward 10, Unit 02.

Another man was heard complaining that he voted and showed evidence to a political party as he demanded payment.

At Ward 10, Unit 13 in Ado-Ekiti, voters were agitated as a domestic electoral observer confided in one of our correspondents that the ‘see and buy’ arrangement had been at play, albeit discreetly.

The atmosphere at the ward was chaotic as a large number of frustrated voters unsuccessfully tried to get registered as a result of a malfunctioned card reader. Elderly men and women stood in the sun for more than three hours before provision was made for the replacement of the faulty card reader.

According to an electoral observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, other areas that experienced pockets of violence included Ojumose, Damilore and Oke-Ila in Ado-Ekiti.

The source said policemen invited to the scene of the violence in Ojumose shot indiscriminately into the air to disperse the thugs. The source added that cases of ‘see and buy’ were also prevalent in the aforementioned areas.

My source if from Punch

JUST IN: #EkitiDecides2018: APC wins Fayose’s local government

Fayose casting his vote

The candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC) in the ongoing Ekiti State election has emerged victorious in Irepodun-Ifelodun Local Government Area.

Kayode Fayemi of the APC polled 13,869 votes in the local government of the outgoing governor, Ayodele Fayose. The PDP had 11,456 votes.

Even though the PDP won in Mr Fayose’s polling unit and ward, the votes in other wards were not enough to secure victory for his party in his local government.

The local government has 11 wards. Results from each ward was collated at the headquarters of INEC situated in Igede.

A total of 66,162 electorates are registered in the local government while 27,306 were accredited.

Of the 27,211 votes cast, 25,849 were valid while 1362 were rejected.

Only party agents of APC and PDP present at the centre signed the result at 11:06p.m.

SEE THE FULL RESULTS BELOW:

AWO WARD 3

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5102
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2245
APC – 1074
PDP – 1002
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2121
TOTAL REJECTED – 96
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2217
NO CANCELLATION

IROPORA/ESURE/EYIO WARD 8

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5637
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2109
APC – 937
PDP – 1033
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2006
TOTAL REJECTED – 103
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2109
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 3 WARD 7

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 3902
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 1717
APC – 665
PDP – 963
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1652
TOTAL REJECTED – 61
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 1713
NO CANCELLATION

AFAO WARD 1

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 4286
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2036
APC – 517
PDP – 1361
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1909
TOTAL REJECTED – 127
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2036
NO CANCELLATION

ARE, WARD 2

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 4426
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 1968
APC – 701
PDP – 1095
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1850
TOTAL REJECTED – 108
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 1958
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 2 WARD 6

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5450
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2307
APC – 891
PDP – 1190
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2114
TOTAL REJECTED – 187
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2301
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 1, WARD 5

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5794
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2610
APC – 1087
PDP – 1330
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2475
TOTAL REJECTED – 135
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2610
NO CANCELLATION

IYIN 1, WARD 10

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 6574
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 3014
APC – 2229
PDP – 612
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2887
TOTAL REJECTED – 110
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2998
NO CANCELLATION

IYIN 2, WARD 11

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 7148
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 3188
APC – 2218
PDP – 743
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 3018
TOTAL REJECTED – 165
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 3183
NO CANCELLATION

IWOROKO, WARD 9

TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 11025
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2658
APC – 1315
PDP – 1140
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2521
TOTAL REJECTED – 130
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2651
NO CANCELLATION

10 years old Boy seen in Lagos selling plantain in the night, gets cleaned up by Williams Uchemba, reunites with his family in Akwa Ibom

10-year-old Joseph, the plantain seller who was pictured sleeping in the middle of the road late at night with his trays of plantain by his side , has had his fortunes turned around after former child actor Williams Uchemba stepped in to help him.

Joseph left his parents in Akwa Ibom to serve a woman in Lagos after she promised to send him to school. But she then turned around to maltreat him and make him sell plantain on the streets.

He was picked up off the streets when a photo of him went viral, he was cleaned up real good, fed, and is now on his way back to his hometown in Akwa Ibom. Some members of Uchemba’s team accompanied him home to be reunited with his parents.

They have also promised to rehabilitate him to make sure he doesn’t return to the streets.