Tinubu Should Be Sworn In; Igbo People Won’t Be Part Of ‘Satanic’ Interim Government To Derail Democracy –Ohanaeze Ndigbo Faction

A faction of pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has challenged the Department of State Services (DSS) to apprehend the proponents of the Interim Government scheme.

The organisation said Igbo people would never be part of the call for an Interim Government in Nigeria, in a statement released by its Secretary-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro.

It, therefore, urged security operatives to ensure that “those unpatriotic elements of destruction” do not derail the country’s democracy with evil intent to forestall the smooth transition of power from President Muhammadu Buhari to ‘President-elect’, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It said, “Ndigbo will never recognize any Interim Government or be part of the evil scheme, as the clamor for an interim government is unconstitutional, satanic and atrocious, as those behind the call for the interim government, are only trying to plunge the country into avoidable political crises and make the Igbo as scapegoats as Nigerians witnessed in 1993.

“Ndigbo will participate fully in all pre-inauguration and swearing-in ceremonies of the President-Elect Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29th, 2023, and caution all of those who are working behind the scenes for the enthronement of an illegitimate interim government to use the courts to vent their resentments and grievances.

“We are satisfied that Atiku and Peter Obi had explored the legal options in other to recover the mandates and challenging the outcomes of 2023 Presidential elections in court is better than restraining a smooth transition of power in 29th May 2023, as we will not allow unpatriotic monsters to truncate our hard-earned democracy.

“Ndigbo condemns the call for the establishment of an interim government but insists that the President-Elect should be sworn in by 29th May 2023.”

The organisation described Ndigbo as an “endangered species in Nigeria”, adding that never again will Igbo people be used as sacrificial lambs as “we were used in 1993 during the Abiola saga, where a lot of Igbos were bullied, maimed, killed and their properties looted…”

It noted that the proponents of the interim government are already setting the stage through the “systematic burning of Igbo-populated markets in Lagos (President-elect's state) and Borno (Vice President-elect's state) and promotion of hate campaigns against the Igbo, these are castles built on quicksand and Igbos are wiser and sophisticated now and we will continue to support the President-elect Bola Tinubu and ask him to commence the healing process tour from the Southeast by releasing IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu and incorporate the East into the Government of National President (GNU) by giving the President of the Senate to the people of Southeast."

Obi versus Oyedepo: Too bad!

I heard they set up a Committee made up of some Communications experts, headed by our prodigal brother from Nnewi. They are reviewing all calls Obi made in the last three years, and especially now to see if he mentioned Interim Government or anything that will make them prosecute him for treason when and if they take over.

Till now, they are yet to see any. The badly doctored conservation with Bishop Oyedepo released by our Nnewi prodigal brother is the much they have discovered so far. They edited out the Muslim-Muslim ticket that led to the discussion, where Obi said that in a society like ours, religious balancing was a necessary consideration and that their recklessness had made Christians to assume it was a religious war.

Nnewi prodigal brother – Peter Obi reveals who leaked his conversation with Oyedepo

Valentine Obienyem, a media aide to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said the leaked audio of his principal’s conversation with the founder of Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, was edited out of context.

Obienyem also claimed ‘our Nnewi prodigal brother’ is responsible for the leak.

In the audio clip, Obi seemed to be urging Oyedepo to encourage Christians to vote for him.

“Daddy, I need you to speak to your people in the South-West and Kwara, the Christians in the South-West and Kwara. This is a religious war,” Obi apparently said in the trending audio.

But in a post on Facebook this Sunday, Obienyem said: “The badly doctored conservation with Bishop Oyedepo released by our Nnewi prodigal brother is the much they have discovered so far.

“They edited out the Muslim-Muslim ticket that led to the discussion, where Obi said that in a society like ours, religious balancing was a necessary consideration and that their recklessness had made Christians to assume it was a religious war.”

The All Progressives Congress, APC, fielded a Muslim-Muslim ticket, with Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Obi, in last-minute push for votes, begs Bishop Oyedepo to help win 2023 ‘religious war’

An audio obtained by The Gazette undercut Mr Obi’s public assertions that his campaign diligently eschewed religious tendencies.

As Nigerians prepared to head to the polls and tension peaked among politicians, Peter Gregory Obi, a major presidential candidate, mustered Christian leaders to ramp up a sectarian appeal to push him over the line, Peoples Gazette heard from a leaked conversation.

Mr Obi, the Labour Party’s standard-bearer, saw the February 25, 2023, exercise as a battle to assert the place of Christians in the country, bootstrapping his candidacy out of a polarised cycle set off by Bola Tinubu’s religiously-tinged Muslim-Muslim nomination. The election was largely a three-way race between Messrs Obi, Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president who ran again on the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party line.

Mr Obi, 61, called Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church (Winners’ Chapel) on the eve of the election and implored him to pass messages to Christians across the South-West — and also to those in central states like Kwara, Kogi and Niger.

“Daddy, I need you to speak to your people in the South-West and Kwara, the Christians in the South-West and Kwara,” Mr Obi said in the audio obtained by The Gazette. “This is a religious war.”

“I believe that, I believe that, I believe that,” Mr Oyedepo said.

“Like I keep saying: if this works, you people will never regret the support,” Mr Obi said with candour, adding that Christians in places like Kogi, Kwara and Niger have been difficult to penetrate.

“We look forward to God’s intervention,” Mr Oyedepo said, promising to circulate more messages to Christians on Mr Obi’s behalf.

For two days, Mr Obi did not attend to The Gazette’s calls and messages to his two available telephone lines. His media aides and allies, including Akin Osuntokun, Valentine Obienyem and Mike Ifedi, all declined comments when The Gazette sent an enquiry to them with the full audio.

Mr Ifedi said he was trying to discuss the audio with Mr Obi for a measured response, but his message did not come in before a final decision was taken to run this story.


Mr Oyedepo asked The Gazette to forward an enquiry to him by WhatsApp, but he declined comments for more than a day after messages and the audio were sent to him.

‘United and Indivisble Nigeria’

While religion has always been a dominant feature of Nigerian politicos, the conversation, which lasted over four minutes, undercut Mr Obi’s public statements that his campaign was devoid of any religious undertones.

He took part in several dialogues to maintain peace and stability in the country, and was seen as a formidable path to the first Nigerian president of Igbo origin since the Civil War.

“No one should ascribe ethnic or religious colouration to the OBIdient Movement. Nigeria is one and my ambition is to become the President of a United and Indivisible Nigeria,” Mr Obi said in a statement signed by him on March 26, a month after the election, as he continued his legal push to reclaim what he described as a stolen mandate.

Mr Obi, whose aspiration spurred a historic participation of Nigerian youths in the last election, was inundated with partisan attacks about alleged ethno-religious colouration of his movement.

Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto from the Muslim-dominated northwestern flank, was among those who attacked Mr Obi’s campaign as lacking plural representation.

Mr Obi said his campaign was aimed at rescuing Nigerians from the grip of Mr Tinubu’s APC, which has ruled the country since 2015 amid widespread poverty and underdevelopment.

Religion, competence

The 2023 presidential election to replace Muhammadu Buhari was seen by analysts as the first to have three major candidates with near-equal short at victory since the country returned to civil rule in 1999.

But the season did not open with the same elements. Mr Obi himself was seeking office under the PDP until it became clear to him in May 2022 that he would not be able to secure. theparty’s ticket. He then joined the Labour and was summarily given the party’s ticket.

Even then, an analyst said, Mr Obi’s candidacy was not entirely appealing to political observers, who saw Labour as too fringe and unviable for national campaign. Labour had only produced a governor in its near two-decade history prior to Mr Obi’s membership.

“No political heavyweights followed Peter Obi to Labour,” political analyst Omodele Odunfa said. “That was why many people, including myself admittedly, did not take him seriously at first.”

Mr Odunfa said it was after Mr Tinubu tapped Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate that Mr Obi’s ambition became appealing to Christians.

“Christians rightly saw Bola Tinubu’s action as a holy war against their faith and decided to rally behind a ticket they could relate with ideologically,” he added.

Atiku Abubakar

Although the PDP ticket had Mr Abubakar, a Muslim, and Ifeanyi Okowa, a Christian, some Christians still believed Mr Obi would better represent their interest as president because it would address the clamour for the southern Christian president to succeed a northern Muslim leader.

Mr Obi, a Catholic, promptly unite all Christian denominations against the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which Mr Tinubu had justified as politically expedient and administratively prudent.

“Tinubu said he picked because Shettima because of competence,” Mr Odunfa said. “But we all knew it was simply because he knew it would be his surest path to victory.”

Mr Odunfa said it was Mr Tinubu who started the 2023 election along religious lines.

“But for Bola Tinubu’s divisive move, the way Christians were fired up for Peter Obi might have been somewhat neutralised,” he added.

Following his declaration as president-elect, Mr Tinubu promised to run a government of inclusion, saying Nigerians will be treated equally as encouraged by the nation’s Constitution.

Mr Oyedepo, in his support for Mr Obi during the pre-election call, said the Labour’s candidate had better appeal than his challengers, whom he insinuated had poor health and ill-gotten wealth.

“A sickening nation like Nigeria will require a strong and healthy personality,” Mr Obi said. “Anyone whose source of wealth cannot be verified should not have access to governance, particularly in a dying economy like Nigeria.”

Obidients: Man arrested at Abuja airport mentally challenged – Lawyer seeks treatment

The identity of the man arrested on Friday at the Abuja Airport has been unveiled.

The suspect, Mr. Obiajulu Uja was arrested while voicing out that President-elect, Bola Tinubu must never be sworn-in.

He is from Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State.

His lawyer, Barr. Ejike Ugwu told DAILY POST in an exclusive interview on Saturday that Obiajulu is mentally challenged.

Ugwu, who said he was at the Airport Police Division to see the suspect, said the police were yet to provide him (suspect) with medical care) despite his bad situation.

“Obiajulu is not in the right state of mind; before he boarded the flight, he was chased away from a hotel in Abuja because of his mental state.

“He even booked three different flights for the Lagos trip. He booked Aero, Dana and Ibom Air. He had the three tickets for the same trip. So, there is no doubt that he is mentally challenged,” Ugwu said.

The lawyer said every effort he made to make the police see reason on why the suspect should be allowed access to medical care had not received attention.

“As I speak to you, both the IPO handling the case and the DPO of the Police Division are nowhere to be found. And the suspect’s legs are all swollen now because of the several beatings he received at the Airport. He is critically sick right now.

“All I am asking for is that he should at least be taken to the police clinic.

“I have also made efforts to reach the Force PRO but he did not take my calls,” he added.

DAILY POST also put calls across to the Force PRO, Olumuyiwa Adejobi but he was yet to respond as of the time of filing this report.

Obiajulu was arrested on board a Lagos bound flight after he had delayed take-off for nearly one hour.

In a trending video, he could be heard shouting, “Obidients you’re here. They are doing this to me. Obidients you’re here, I am naked. Obidients you’re here, I am going naked.”

IKENNA OBIANERI writes on the plight of South-East residents, business owners and motorists in the hands of illegal revenue collectors

The activities of illegal revenue collectors in the South-East have worsened the economic conditions of residents, business owners, motorists and commuters in the region.

Despite efforts and interventions by security agents, the hoodlums, aka ndi agbero, are growing in notoriety, particularly in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Onitsha has been tagged the operational headquarters of the gang because the city serves as the gateway to other states in the region.

It is also home to the Onitsha Main Market which is regarded as one of the largest markets in West Africa due to its size and volume of business transactions.

The market reportedly contributes a huge percentage to the revenue of the state and the entire South-East.

Because of the market, a large number of trucks come into Onitsha daily, increasing the number of ndi agbero in the city.

Here, it is not only commercial transport operators that suffer in the hands of the hoodlums, traders and pedestrians are not spared.

The effect of their activities is also felt on the movement of goods and services as it negatively impact on businesses, particularly small-scale enterprises.

20 illegal levies
The issue of ndi agbero has continued to be a cause for concern among residents.

The state Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, identified it as a top priority of his government on his resumption of office in March 2022, when he banned their activities and suspended all revenue collections in the state.

The ban was greeted with joy and excitement and gave respite to residents.

But the excitement was short-lived, as the louts returned a few months after, more hardened and monstrous.

It is believed that those behind the louts are powerful individuals and politicians.

Findings by our reporter show that the illegal revenue collectors – mostly made up of political thugs — operate alongside state-licensed revenue collection agents.

They force commercial drivers, motorists, as well as traders, to pay at least 20 different levies.

Some of the receipts issued after such payments include, “Park and Pay”, “Daily Motor Ticket”, “Daily Tolls Ticket”, “Morning Levy”, “Afternoon Levy”, “Evening Levy”, “Cargo Ticket”, among others.

Failure to settle these rates attracts assaults in different forms.

The lorry and truck drivers entering the South-East from the Upper Iweka part of Onitsha, are always the worst hit, as their windscreens and side mirrors are often smashed by the hoodlums, who swooped on them, demanding various payments.

The Publicity Secretary, Lorry Drivers Association of Nigeria, South-East chapter, Chief Chimezie Ugoh, said the operation of ndi agbero in Onitsha was as old as the city itself.

“It is a pity that it has continued to defy every solution by successive administrations. It is a challenge that is causing agony, tears, sorrow and blood to us as we convey goods to various locations.

“We move our trucks all the way from other places with less molestation from the agberos, but the moment we cross the Onitsha Bridge into Upper Iweka, it is a different ball game.

“We always spend between N5,000 and N7,000 coming from other states, but the moment we cross the bridge, what they slam us in Onitsha alone is as much as between N30,000 and N40,000.

“These miscreants always wear different uniforms, demanding various levies, which we must pay daily. All the levies have suddenly been increased. The cargo levy that we used to pay N5,000 before was suddenly increased to N25,000 towards the end of last year. They also follow us to the place where the goods will be offloaded and collect ‘offloading’ levy. What we pay at the end of the day becomes much and this definitely increases the prices of goods.

“We have carried out various protests to draw the attention of the government to our plight, but no impact has been made and we have been left in this agony. When the government banned their activities some months back, it was a relief for us. But today, they are back in full force and venom, unleashing terror on road users. This is pathetic,” he added.

‘Our city ceded to agberos’
The Upper Iweka axis of Onitsha is a very strategic point which connects the Onitsha-Owerri Road to other South-East states.

The axis is also a major concentration point of the louts because of the large volume of containerised vehicles plying the road.

The hoodlums sometimes outnumber road users, as they pursue vehicles with long sticks.

Daily, drivers battle these miscreants, who operate without any challenge from law enforcement agents.

Narrating his ordeal, a traveller, Mr Chukwudi Onu, said, “Today, at Upper Iweka, Onitsha, I witnessed the worst of civilians; our city has been ceded to ndi agberos and we have to take it back from them.”

Onu, an Onitsha indigene, said he was coming from Lagos in his Toyota Sienna which contained a computer and a small printer.

He said as soon as he got to a bad portion of the Upper Iweka axis of the Onitsha-Owerri Road, where he had to slow down, four louts jumped out and surrounded his vehicle, shouting, “Give us our money.”

The motorist said he was taken aback by the demand and was shocked when two of the hoodlums broke his two side mirrors, while two others threatened to smash his windscreen.

Onu said, “When I asked them the reason I should pay them since I was not driving a commercial vehicle, they told me I was carrying some items at the back seat and I must pay N4,000 for the load. It became a tug of war as I was forced to part with N4,000 for them not to inflict further damage on my car.

“I have never heard anywhere that people pay for items on the backseat of their vehicle. If Soludo can just rid this city of louts, he will get a lot of accolades because their activities are destroying the means of livelihood of other people.”

Another victim, Cosmos Okafor, said he was travelling with members of his family from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, in his shuttle bus when he was attacked.

“On getting to Onitsha, these guys hijacked the vehicle in a commando style because of what they called the absence of ‘emblem’. They took us inside their office at Tarzan, near Upper Iweka Road. There, we saw men in their late 60s and 70s as their ogas, who told us that we would pay them N35,000 for not having ‘emblem’.

“I told them it was a private vehicle, but all our pleas fell on deaf ears and begging them was like trying to squeeze water out of a stone. In fact, my matter was made worse when I tried to remind them about the ban on their activities by the governor.

“We spent over two hours negotiating. It took phone calls to people that mattered for them to come down to N20,000. I also paid N1,000 for a gate fee,” he added.

Okafor lamented that the situation in Onitsha had reached a level where the miscreants had become first-class citizens, while other residents were tagged, second-class citizens.

A member of the National Youth Service Corps, Janet Ufodi, while narrating her ordeal in the hands of the hoodlums, said she was waiting for a commercial bus to carry her at Upper Iweka when she was accosted by two louts.

“They demanded I pay them for the luggage I carried, threatening to seize it.

“I was surprised that nobody came to my rescue as everybody was just watching as they were almost violently attacking me. At the end of the day, I parted with N2,000,” she added.

Commuters suffer amid protests
While several arrests have been made in recent times, the hoodlums usually end up returning to their various ‘duty posts’ after a few days in detention.

This has led to protests and clashes between the hoodlums and commercial vehicle operators, joined by aggrieved traders.

In the past, transport workers withdrew their service to draw the attention of the government to their plight.

However, commuters are most times at the receiving end of such actions, as they are forced to trek to their various destinations.

Despite these, the agberos continue in their reign of terror.

The Chairman, Anambra State Drivers Welfare Association, Mr Adindu Opara, said, “When you travel to other cities, you will discover that the activities of the agberos are restricted to parks, but immediately you enter Onitsha, you will be molested, harassed and beaten up by ndi agbero if you refuse to do their bidding, even non-commercial motorists are not left out. We are almost becoming second-class citizens in our state because of their activities.

“A lot of levies are being forced on us and if we refuse to pay or ask questions, the revenue agents will brutalise us and no one is coming to our rescue.

“The agberos have totally hijacked the revenue collection processes and it is so disorganised that it is difficult to distinguish between the government revenue agents and the agberos. We have not seen any law enforcement agent carrying out the order by the governor banning them; there is a need for the government to do the needful. This problem has defied every solution from past administrations and it must not be so in this new government.”

The Coordinator of the Keke/Motorcycle Drivers Stakeholders Welfare, Anambra State chapter, Chief Augustine Uka, lamented that tricycle drivers were forced to pay between N15,000 and N25,000 to the agberos every month.

He said each time the group decided to protest the highhandedness of the hoodlums, the gang beat would them up.

Uka noted that while many members of his group were living in abject poverty, the agberos fed fat on their sweat.

He advised the governor to set up a committee for the eradication of illegal revenue collection in the state.

“Past administrations only scratched the surface, but the present government must do the needful and muster up the courage and the willpower to deal with this menace, which has become a thorn in the flesh of the people.

“Although there are powerful sponsors and politicians behind them, any government that is ready to deal with them will succeed because nobody is bigger than the government,” Uka added.

Removal gradual, says govt
Due to the impunity with which the hoodlums carried out their activities, there have been allegations that the state government sold the “revenue windows” to the hoodlums for a huge amount.

But the Press Secretary to the state governor, Mr Christian Aburime, said it was not true that the state government had such a deal with the agberos.

Aburime said, “The state government is working hard to ensure that agberos are cleared off the streets and reduce their nefarious activities to the barest minimum so that there can be sanity in the system. But we should also bear in mind that these people have been there over the years and it is going to take a gradual process to remove them from roads and look for alternative means of livelihood for those who want to turn a new leaf.

“Some of them have been arrested and taken to court and the court has given judgment as to what should be done to them. Those that are willing to turn a new leaf, the government is rehabilitating them after which an alternative means of livelihood will be provided for them so they can become productive and good citizens not just of Anambra, but Nigeria as a whole.

“Again, it is not true that the government has sold the revenue window to the agberos. Nobody bought revenue windows from the government. When you bid and you win, it is not buying and you must abide by the terms and conditions. Even if you are working as a revenue collector for the government, there are rules of engagement you must abide by. You must not go beyond what government says you should do.”

•Says it’s unconstitutional, treasonable

Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has called for serious punishment for those behind the plans to scuttle the nation’s democratic process through an interim government arrangement.

In a statement yesterday, Agbakoba said Nigeria’s 1999 constitution had no interim government arrangement, adding that those harbouring such plans as disclosed recently by the Department of State Security, DSS, should be severely resisted and punished.

“I suggest that the gravest possible consequences must be applied to all who are associated with this treasonable intent,” he stated.

Calling on political actors to respect the rule of law, Agbakoba said: “It is shocking to learn from the Department of State Security, DSS, that secret plans are underway to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process and transition, by arrangements of what is described as an interim government. This will be a major set-back and we must all resist it.

“The general elections have held, albeit under the most challenging circumstance. But a president- elect has emerged and we must respect and accept this as fact. At least for now.

“All leading presidential candidates have approached the courts with grounds of complaint concerning what they consider as electoral irregularities.

“If the presidential candidates have accepted the democratic process by lodging petitions before the courts, then it is very difficult to understand upon what basis anyone considers that an interim government is a viable and legal alternative.

“We must all reject this nonsense and respect our constitution, which has no provision for interim arrangements.

“As the President -elect is sworn into office on May 29, the Judicial process will ultimately render a decision. As Nigerians, we must turn to the courts to render a decision on the petitions before them.

“The judicial process will certainly carry a huge responsibility in the process of democratic consolidation. The notion of the contraption referred to as interim government, has no place in our lives and our constitution. We must all say no.”

Recall that the Department of State Services, DSS, on Wednesday said it had confirmed a plot by some persons to install an interim government and stop Bola Ahmed Tinubu from being inaugurated as president.

The DSS said the plot includes embarking on violent protests nationwide to engineer the declaration of a state of emergency as well as securing frivolous court injunctions to stall the inauguration.

It, however, warned those behind the plot to desist or be dealth with.

by Jonathan Nda-Isaiah

The secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha, has disclosed that as part of the transition process, four members of the President-elect Bola Tinubu’s team, will be joining the Federal Government delegation to the Spring Meeting of the World Bank.

He disclosed this on Tuesday to journalists while briefing on the activities of the Presidential Transition Council (PTC), in Abuja.

According to him, the Presidential Transition Council which was inaugurated on February 14, 2023 is made up of 24 members which include two persons from the President-elect’s team.

He further explained that after the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-elect, the PTC requested him to nominate his representatives on the council as provided in the Executive Order setting up the Council.

He said the President-elect nominated Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu, and Olawale Edun, both of whom have since joined the process actively.

He added that since the inauguration, the Council has met four times with the 5th meeting holding on Tuesday.

The SGF said, “to ensure a smooth transition process and make the work more efficient, the PTC broke into three committees;

“The first of these is Inauguration Committee which is responsible for organizing the swearing–and the inaugural parade; working out the details of Programmes and other logistics necessary for the successful inauguration ceremonies.

”This committee is headed by the SGF with 15 members and is working through 13 sub-committees to facilitate effective planning and execution of the inauguration activities.”

[i]Mustapha also said the President-elect has also been requested to nominate 13 persons that will work across the 13 sub-committees.

According to him, the sub-committees have been working round the clock to ensure that all preparations were in place for a smooth inauguration ceremony.

”The second committee is the Transition Documents Committee which is headed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

“The committee is responsible for compiling all policy, programmes, and projects of this administration in the form of a compendium that focuses on this government’s nine (9) priority areas.

“It is also in charge of ensuring the preparation of sectoral briefs and handover notes of the current administration for the incoming administration. The Committee is working assiduously to finalize the compilation of these documents.

”The third committee is the Facilities, Security and Intelligence Committee. The duty of this committee is to organise necessary facilities, including furnished office and personnel for the President-and Vice-President-Elect and their transition team; Provision of security for the President and Vice-President Elect; Provision of covert and overt security before, during and after the 2023 Presidential Inauguration including venues of events, hotels, airports, entry points, roads and general surveillance of FCT. This committee is headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA).

”The Committee has been active and the refurbishment of offices for the President and Vice-President Elect has been completed. The facility at the Defence House is ready. Security personnel of the Department of State Service and the Nigerian Police Force have also been deployed to the President and Vice-President Elect.

”Protocol officers have also been assigned to both the President and Vice President-Elect from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Agency.

”The Transition process is on course and all efforts are being made to ensure that it is smooth and on May 29th, there would be peaceful formal transfer of power to the new President,” he added.

25th March, 2023

Igbo chieftain and businessman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has said Yoruba people are political rascals and would be handled.

Iwuanyanwu, in a trending video, said nobody has the right to take the life of any innocent Igbo person, saying that anyone who did that would be fought with by the Igbo.

He said the Igbo had invested so much in Nigeria and that they were not going to yield to pressure of people asking them to leave.

Iwuanyanwu stated that there is no war between the Igbo in Lagos and the Yoruba, but that the Yoruba were just political rascals and would be handled.

“Nobody has the right to take the life of any innocent Igbo person, all of us are going to fight the battle, we are going to face the person, never again, we are in Nigeria and have invested in Nigeria.

“Our investments are too much, we are not going to take the pressure of people asking us to go, we are not going anywhere.

“And I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yoruba, Yoruba are just political rascals and we are going to handle them,” he said in the video.

Iwuanyanwu’s comment is coming at a time Nigerians are calling for healing and forgiveness so that the nation can move forward.

The 2023 general elections have further divided Nigerians into ethnicity and hatred as the ember of tribalism is being fanned.

A twitter user, Ibrahim Ademola, who shared the video said “Are Yorubas “Politically Rascal” to be handled? To be rascal means that such a tribe is mischievous. Chief Iwuanyawu was directing this message to the Yoruba tribe today. This is not too good from a person who called himself an elder in his region. Just listen. Caution & Peace.

“At this period Nigeria only need peace, peace and peace. Nigeria remains one indivisible Nation irrespective of any tribe or ethnic group, we should just caution ourselves from calling anybody any name. Let’s think of how we can move the country forward irrespective of our tribes.”

Says Nigeria’s Politics is fascinating with a bright future

By Henry Umoru, ABUJA

THE outgoing British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing has said that though there were setbacks in the Saturday, February, 25th Presidential and National Assembly election, overall, it was a positive process Nigeria should be proud of.

Amid litigations trailing the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) on February 25, 2023, the envoy has described the election as fascinating as it offered future assurances for democratic governance in the country.

Speaking with Journalists yesterday in Abuja at the Senate wing of the National Assembly after a courtesy visit on the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, the British envoy said that despite contestation on the process of the election by some political actors, it was fascinating and portend bright future for the country.

The envoy said, ”I made very good friends I love Nigerian music a lot the culture here is so rich secondly the politics in Nigeria is so fascinating.

“I was here till the last election and I finished with this election and I’m impressed with Nigeria’s democratic journey.

“Yes, a bit setbacks. but overall, I see this as positive and Nigeria should be proud, but with a remarkable difference when I came in 2019.

“Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa. The world watches your progress to democracy.

“Though there were some disappointments in the last election overall, every Nigerian should be proud because since 1999 Nigeria has been on the right track as far as participatory democracy is concerned.

“The election here is very different and fascinating as you are moving to three party system or maybe even four. I think Nigerians as well should realise that their votes count”, she said.

Aside election, the British Envoy who hailed Nigerians for being resilient at all times of difficulties, said, “There had been some tough times. We had COVID-19, and insecurity has got a lot more since I was here. Nigerian people are incredibly resilient. I remain very optimistic about Nigeria’s future. So it’s been a very wonderful tour and very sad to be going.”

Earlier in his remarks, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan who commended the British envoy on her positive disposition to the country, however, tasked her to help in strengthening bilateral relations between Nigeria and Britain.

Lawan said, ”Nigeria and Britain have come a long way in very cordial and diplomatic relations over the years, the tradition we believe, high rated diplomat like you can help to foster and strengthen.”

He wished her all the best in her future endeavours.

By Gloria Nwafor

13 March 2023 | 5:05 am

• NECA says small businesses going into extinction
• NLC: Govt undermining productivity
• CPPE calls on Buhari to intervene
• Food factories shutdown, lose billions
• We use our wages to buy money for transport fare, say factory workers

The inability of many Nigerians to access cash for daily activities is beginning to impact livelihoods and productivity in the real sector negatively while pushing many businesses in the informal sector to the edge.

Already, employers are witnessing rising cases of absenteeism from members of staff, especially low cadre workers, owing to their inability to access cash for transportation. Factories are also experiencing a reduction in number of shifts and utilisation due to fewer workers and poor product sales at the retail end, while stakeholders in the informal sector have witnessed a decline in activities in the last few weeks.

As many banks’ online platforms and apps continue to fail the stress test, many Nigerians are in a limbo, unable to make necessary transactions in cases where they choose to embrace cashless payments, yet equally unable to access their cash.

Though some state governments are allegedly planning to initiate contempt proceedings against the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, over their refusal to implement the Supreme Court judgment on the naira redesign policy of the Federal Government, the organised private sector noted that the economy has lost an estimated N20 trillion since the cash crisis commenced.

The silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the judgment of the apex court had fuelled the rejection of the old N1,000 and N500 as legal tender, even though sources at the CBN claimed the bank was still sorting the notes.

Findings by The Guardian showed that in the last two weeks, the challenges of access to cash have worsened, as banks no longer offer cash to their customers as previously done in small ration before the presidential election.

This is just as the Point of Sale (POS) operators, who have continued to bridge the cash gap, are equally constrained by lack of access despite Nigerians offering to pay a premium for available cash.

The Guardian gathered that many Nigerians now depend on offerings from churches and fuel station attendants to have access to cash to meet their daily needs and pay for transport fares to their places of work.

According to the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), the N20 trillion losses suffered by the economy arose from the deceleration of economic activities, crippling of trading activities, stifling of the informal economy, contraction in the agricultural sector and paralysis of the rural economy, adding that there are also corresponding job losses in thousands.

CPPE chief executive officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf, noted that Nigerians continue to groan in the adversity inflicted by the acute cash shortage amid rejection of old currency notes by market operators, refusal by banks to accept old notes, silence by the Presidency on the Supreme Court judgment and absence of official pronouncement by CBN on the issue.

He added that retail transactions across sectors have become nerve-wracking and distressing as payment system challenges persist.

Yusuf, therefore, called on President Buhari to immediately intervene to put an end to the hardship caused by the currency redesign policy, adding that the cash scarcity has not only crippled economic activities in the country but has now become a major risk to the livelihoods of Nigerians.

“Nigerians have not been this traumatized in recent history. The economy is gradually grinding to a halt because of the collapse of payment systems across all platforms. Digital platforms are performing sub-optimally because of congestion; physical cash is unavailable because the CBN has sucked away over 70 per cent of cash in the economy and the expected relief from the supreme court judgment has not materialised,” CPPE said.

A report by purchasing managers index (PMI) equally showed that Nigerian firms recorded a slight loss of growth momentum in January, citing lower demand, issues with machinery and power supply, which dipped to 53.5 in January from 54.6 in December.

The PMI report stated that with CBN’s cashless policy, many businesses are having difficulties in finalising transactions due to poor access to cash and downtime on payment channels.

Already, the situation has affected many organisations as workers’ productivity has nose-dived drastically, thereby affecting output. Many workers in the civil service and some private organisations have remained at home due to lack of transport fare to get to their places of work.

A civil servant with a family of four, at the weekend, told The Guardian how the cash scarcity is affecting him so badly that he could not afford to transport himself to work and back.

According to him, “after explaining my ordeal to the bus operator that I don’t have cash and that I will transfer through my bank app, he agreed. After trying several times with my two banks’ apps, both of them failed me and I made a fool of myself in public. Thank God, he understood my predicament as he allowed me to perform the transaction even after I had alighted. Since then I have remained at home until I can access cash.”

A factory worker, Blessing Akachukwu, who collects N1,300 daily from a 12-hour shift of 7:00a.m. to 7:00p.m., said her organisation no longer pays cash but does transfers bi-weekly.

She said the current situation has drastically reduced her wages, as she has to use the wages to buy money, thereby reducing her take-home.

“I have to do that because if I remain at home, I’ll not be paid. I only get paid on days I go to work. Our employers don’t care how we get to work and the day we don’t come, that day’s payment would be deducted. By the time I deduct the percentage I part with to get cash, remove transportation costs and feeding, there is nothing left. The suffering is just too much,” she lamented.

A supervisor in one of the factories also told The Guardian that the cash crunch has made his firm cancel one of the shifts, thereby, operating two shifts, morning and night.

He said his factory, which produces tomato paste, had reduced the workforce due to its inability to meet demand, rather than running at a loss.

He added that low patronage has reduced their production capacity and they had to review the workforce, promising that the organisation would recall them back when the economy bounces back.

President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Tommy Okon, who expressed concerns and pain, said the economic advisers to the government have failed in their capacities, which is hurting the informal sector badly.

Okon said if the situation is not urgently addressed, many civil servants would continue to remain at home due to lack of transport fare to get to their places of work.

Also lamenting the current situation are operators in the food and beverages sub-sector, who noted that many consumers are wary of spending available cash on certain items.

Former President of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Lateef Oyelekan, who said the government was torturing Nigerians with the naira redesign policy, said the sector has lost billions, as most factories have shut down due to low patronage.

He said when workers are not on ground to run the plants, the production capacity will drop and sales will slash down.

“Many workers are not at their duty posts due to lack of transportation, except organisations with staff buses and you know our products have an expiry date, with a shelf life of each food processing at six months. So, if they produce and do not sell, after six months they have to discard it because it has expired. The raw materials also get expired. A lot of money is going down the drain with billions of naira lost. It has not helped the economy,” he said.

For businesses in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said due to the policy and cash crunch, many of them have crashed and gone into extinction.

“A business that is already on lifeblood, you now squeeze the pipe that is giving it blood and you expect absolute magic. In the informal sector, the volume of cash that is transacted daily could only be imagined. Go to Mile 12 market and other markets and see. It is because those at the top do not feel these things, that this situation has persisted for this long,” he said.

The Deputy General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, said the policy was probably a conscious effort to undermine productivity across the nation.

“A government that is seeking ways to enhance productivity and drive economic development and not taking the issue of the cash crunch seriously speaks to the irresponsible way we have run governance in the country. Cash is fluid and when cash is emasculated, the people are emasculated and productivity is also undermined.

“A worker that does not have cash to pay for transport, while waiting for buses that accept transfer or POS, by the time he gets to work very late, he is already tired and frustrated. Such a worker will not be able to focus at work. The moment you sit down to work, you begin to doze off and the next thing you begin to think of is how you are going to get home. All these occupy your mind and you then lose focus,” he said.

A public affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, said the President Buhari-led administration, which promised to create 10 million jobs in 10 years appears to want to take more than five million jobs back before it leaves in May 29, relating it to the naira and fuel scarcity challenges, which has been counter-productive to the economy.

Lamenting the number of lives that have been lost to the cash crunch, he said: “This is counterproductive to our economy because when you compute the manhours people spend to go queue for cash, people now queue at church account departments and fuel stations to look for cash. Many businesses are ready to sell on credit, even as productivity has reduced drastically. Nigerians deserve better.”

Controversy has trailed an independent collation of the February 25 presidential election results spearheaded by supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The PUNCH reports that supporters of both Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party’s counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, have faulted the victory of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate and now President-elect, Bola Tinubu, claiming that the election was rigged in favour of the former Lagos State governor.

The PUNCH reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Tinubu as the President-elect after the 70-year-old polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku and Obi, who scored 6,984,520 and 6,101, votes, respectively.

But both Atiku and Obi have refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their electoral mandate in court.

The two candidates also rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by Tinubu, who in his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the poll, asked them to support him in the task of building the nation.

However, both presidential candidates claimed they had data to back their claims in court. For the legal battle, The PUNCH reports that the trio engaged a combined team of 89 Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

Sources within the camp of the warring political parties said that the array of legal luminaries, drawn from different chambers, are currently being furnished with materials that could be tendered as evidence in court.

To prove their candidate’s case, supporters of Obi, known better as ‘Obidients’ on social media, had mobilised themselves to independently collate results and show Nigerians that the former Anambra State governor won the presidential poll.

The supporters, spearheaded by one Mark Essien, with the username @markessien on the popular microblogging site, Twitter, had claimed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and Election Result Viewing Portal deployed by INEC were not utilised and true election results from different polling units across the country were not what was uploaded on the portal.

Collating results on an independent iReV, with the help of other Obidients, the first set of results shared by Essien showed that Obi was in the clear lead, a development that further justified the claim that their candidate was allegedly rigged out.

“The way things are going, by tomorrow, we would have counted 160,000 polling unit results and done our own collation. All collation officers that thought they could announce anything they wanted did not understand the power of a mass movement,” Essien had tweeted on Thursday.

Trouble however started hours later after the collation showed that Tinubu polled more votes than Obi and Atiku combined and was in the lead against expectation. With the development, some Obidents turned on Essien and accused him of allegedly working for the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and not for Obi’s cause.

Leading the attack on Essien, a Twitter user with the handle @AfamDeluxo wrote, “Mark Essien is deeply into Nasiru El-rufai’s pocket. Trust whatever you think he is doing for the obidient movement at your own peril. You can go ahead and trust him, that’s fine, I don’t anyone that is friends, or crony with the high and mighty in the APC. Especially someone like Nasiru El-rufai. Never!”

However, the independent IReV portal’s results were later blocked from public view, a development that sparks reactions from Twitter users.

A user, @celestocalculus, said, “Take Mr. Essien’s poll & its eventual result with a pinch of salt. Here’s why: if he’s sourcing the forms from IReV online records, then it’s already sus to begin with. Why? Those records weren’t uploaded from the PU, so they had ample time to beat it up to fit their numbers.

He added, “I know he’s blocked the results from the public but as at right now, 11:18 pm this is what it is. The game is to swing public trust to the website. Build anticipation by hiding the result, then show the final outcome, [maybe] as presented by [the now mostly clear] IReV uploads.

“Finally, it’s really just smokes and mirrors ladies and gents. The game is the game! Allow the Labour Party legal team to do their work and disregard all these distractions, that we all keep looking for to boost our validation.”

@AsiwajuOladimej wrote, “Essien was a good guy when he started the Collation and LP was leading. By the time the result wasn’t going in their favour, they said he is working for APC and El Rufai. Soludo will always be right. Headless Mob 🤣🤣🤣”

@Sholexx_ wrote, “Obidient dey their own dey nurse their wound. You carry your oversabi say you wan audit Irev results and assured them that Obi won the election. Now, the audit is not “mathing” as you’ve anticipated. You must collect from both Obidient and Agbado hand today.”

@MrOdanz wrote, “So these people were losing at the collation centre they set up for themselves after tallying 90% of the results? I heard they’ve shut it down based on “legal advice” because the results isn’t resulting to what they want.

“Few days ago they were cheering their own INEC chairman (Mark Essien) who wanted to prove to them that their mandate was stolen. Now that the result isn’t going according to plan, they have turned on their INEC Chairman, accusing him of being a saboteur sent by El-Rufai.

“This was the last result from their own collation center. They have suspended collation for now. Only positive thing from this their independent election is that it is clear PDP stole second position from them.”

By Reuters Fact Check

A photo purporting to show Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi on the cover of the February 2023 edition of TIME magazine is fabricated, a spokesperson for the publication told Reuters.

“All eyes on Nigeria: Time for Africa’s sleeping giant to awaken,” reads the kicker on the supposed cover. Further text reads: “Peter Obi: His Labour party is favoured to win the Nigerian presidency. Are Nigerians finally ready to retire the old order and chart a new course?” (here).

Other examples of the fake cover can be viewed (here), (here), (here) and (here).

In an email to Reuters, a TIME spokesperson said: “This image is not an authentic TIME cover.”

TIME magazine keeps a public record of its previous front covers (time.com/vault/year/2023/). Reuters, however, found no cover featuring Obi in February 2023, per the publishing date on the image.

A Google keyword search for the cover did not yield any results either (/3KF8ZEQ).

TIME did publish a story on the 2023 Nigerian elections on its website, which can be viewed (here), but Reuters did not find any TIME cover dedicated to the elections.

This misinformation narrative surfaced online after Nigerians voted in presidential elections on Feb. 25. The Nigerian electoral commission has started announcing state-by-state results, Reuters reported (here).

VERDICT

Fabricated. No evidence that Nigerian presidential candidate Peter Obi featured on TIME magazine cover.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.

*Five of 10 top-performing emerging-market bonds are Nigerian
*Sovereign-risk premium narrows 104 basis points in three days

By Srinivasan Sivabalan, Colleen Goko and Kerim Karakaya

February 27, 2023 at 6:17 PM GMT+1

Nigerian bonds are posting some of the best gains in emerging markets as investors bet that ruling-party candidate Bola Tinubu, who’s taken an early lead in the nation’s presidential election tally, will offer reforms to pull Africa’s largest economy out of a fiscal mess.

Five of the West African nation’s dollar bonds ranked among the 10 best performers on Monday in a Bloomberg index of 71 emerging and frontier nations. The country’s sovereign risk premium narrowed the most this year on Monday, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data. The equity benchmark in Lagos rose to an eight-month high.

Counting is ongoing after the Feb. 25 presidential election, though early trends show Tinubu winning three key states. Money managers expect the nation’s next leader to take the unpopular decisions required to boost government revenue, stabilize the currency and cut down debt.

“Markets seem to be increasingly pricing in a Tinubu win, given the expectations that he could push through reforms quicker than others,” said Simon Quijano-Evans, the chief economist at Gemcorp Capital Management in London. “But it is difficult to see this holding if the election winner is unable to quickly turn around the macro story with visible reforms and personnel changes.”

Some of the gains may also be driven by bargain hunters after Nigeria’s bonds tumbled in the run-up to the elections, he said.

Nigeria’s bond due 2047 rose 1.8 cents on the dollar to 68.8, cutting its yield by 33 basis points to 11.5%. Securities maturing in 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033 all rallied more than 2% in price. The NGX 50 Index rose for a fourth day to the highest level since June 2022, with Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc accounting for more than half of the gains.

A JPMorgan gauge of sovereign-risk premium, meantime, narrowed 42 basis points to 723. That’s a reduction of 104 basis in the past three days alone. The measure had hovered above the 1,000 basis-point mark until Nov. 3, the widely accepted threshold to indicate a debt-distressed nation.

The final result was still up in the air even after All Progressives Congress’s Tinubu won Ekiti, Ondo and Kwara states. Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party narrowly secured a majority in Osun state and Peter Obi of the Labour Party secured the most support in Lagos state.

“Tinubu, who we perceive as being the least market-friendly of the three main candidates, is currently in the driver’s seat, but it is still early days and the positive reaction in Nigerian credit could indicate that markets think Obi stands a fighting chance,” said Patrick Curran, a senior economist at Tellimer Ltd. “There is likely to be a positive macro policy shift at the margin no matter who wins the election.”

Delay in Release of Results Saps Trust in Nigeria’s Election

Under the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s total debt stock exploded more than six-fold to about 44 trillion naira. The World Bank has said that the next president should quickly implement reforms that Buhari neglected to enact, including quashing a multiple exchange-rate regime that is repelling investors, removing import restrictions and lifting fuel subsidies that cost most of what it makes pumping crude.

“Default is a risk,” Charlie Robertson, the global chief economist at Renaissance Capital in London, wrote in a note. “By Wednesday, attention should turn to the challenges for the next administration. And they remain very challenging, unless oil provides some stunning upside surprises for a few years. The interest bill as a percent of federal revenues is very high.”

Rivers Police Arrest Hon Chinyere Igwe For Money Laundering

Police Officers from Rivers State Command deployed to INEC Headquarters Aba Road today 24/2/2023 at about 0245hrs, while on stop and search, arrested one Hon Chinyere Igwe, member House of Representatives representing Port Harcourt II Federal Constituency with a cash sum of 498,100 USD inside a bag in his car.

Also recovered was a list for distribution of the money.

The AIG Election, AIG Abutu Yaro fdc has ordered swift interrogation and arraignment in court.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) House of Assembly Candidates in the six Southwest states have endorsed and declared their support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the forthcoming presidential election.

The House of Assembly Candidates from Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo and Lagos declared and formally endorsed Tinubu-Shettima’s candidacy in Lagos.

Speaking on behalf of other candidates, Lagos state House of Assembly Candidate representing Ikorodu Constituency 01, Arulogun Taofeek, disclosed that the endorsement was only for the presidential candidate of the APC.

He noted that endorsement was a sequel to a thorough analysis of other contenders in the race based on their antecedents, pedigrees, manifestoes and broad acceptance across the country.

Taofeek added that Tinubu and his vice presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima stand head and shoulder above the rest.

He said the democratic history will be grossly incomplete if generous pages are not dedicated to Asiwaju’s contribution to democratic struggles and his landmark achievements as the governor of Lagos State.

“His consistency as a progress Democratic is worthy of emulation by all budding politicians. We observed at a close range his energetic campaign through the nooks, corners and crannies of the country.

“His message of Renewed Hope reverberates with all and sundry and we safely confuses that we have in Asiwaju a candidate who is ready to confront headlong the various problems bedevilling our nation."

Five opposition political parties in Oyo State have endorsed the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, as their preferred candidate in this Saturday’s general election.

The parties are Action Alliance; African Action Congress; Action Peoples Party and Booth Party.

This decision was taken by their respective gubernatorial candidates at a press conference in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday, while the Young Peoples Party State Chairman, Adedeji Adeyemi, who spoke on phone to newsmen was represented by his vice, Adesola Adedeji.

The gubernatorial candidate of the AAC, Okedara said, “I am giving my support to Tinubu and I have directed my people, our supporters to vote en masse for Tinubu on Saturday because he shares our manifestos in terms of infrastructures, youth empowerment, education, health care delivery and security for all Nigerians.

“The APC leaders have reviewed my manifestos online and they expressed willingness to adopt them in line with the APC agenda to transform Nigeria, so we are voting Tinubu and Kashim Shettima ticket on Saturday.”

The Booth party governorship candidate, Okunade said he had directed his followers as well to support Tinubu.

“Bola Tinubu has fought tirelessly to sustain democracy in Nigeria and that made him be the most appropriate for the presidency because he would enhance constitutional democracy and rule of law,” he said.

In his contribution, the gubernatorial candidate of APP, Ayandoye said, “I am a pure Yorubaman and this contest is what Yorubas want because it is our turn.

“Our support for Tinubu is beyond political party thing and I cannot support any other candidate than Tinubu because of his verifiable records of achievements.

“I am urging thousands of my supporters to adopt Tinubu and vote massively for him on Saturday.” He added.

Also speaking, the AA gubernatorial candidate, Ajekiiigbe said his party decided to support Tinubu because of his antecedents in Lagos as governor.

“I am urging all our supporters to vote for Tinubu to become the President-elect of Nigeria by February 25th, this weekend.”[/i]

EXCLUSIVE: Naira Crisis: Emefiele discloses why currency redesign policy is failing

Despite admitting to the supply constraints, Mr Emefiele also lamented the activities of saboteurs in the banking industry, who are hoarding the new notes.

ByTaiwo-Hassan Adebayo February 10, 2023
Reading Time: 3 mins read

Supply constraint arising from the limited capacity to print enough new Naira notes is responsible for the severe cash crunch hurting Nigerians, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele admitted amid the disappointing naira swap policy of the Buhari administration.

Mr Emefiele made the disclosure on Friday when he briefed the emergency meeting of the National Council of State, sources who attended the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES. President Muhammadu Buhari convened the meeting as threats of social instability rise following the shortage of Naira.

Violent protests have been recorded in parts of the country, including in Ogun, Oyo and Akwa Ibom in the country’s south, and the media is awash with lamentations of suffering Nigerians, who are not able to access their funds for transactions, especially in the cash-dominated informal economy.

Many banks in various states have shut down their operations as citizens violently protest their inability to access their funds.

Many governors have also echoed the lamentations of the citizens.

On Friday, Mr Emefiele told the leaders that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (The Mint), suffers capacity constraints resulting in the failure to print adequate new notes to replace the old N200, N500 and 1,000 notes.

The extended deadline to phase out the old notes is today, 10 February. However, a Supreme Court decision this week asked that the deadline be further extended. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is challenging that interim ruling by the Supreme Court and the central bank has not spoken on how it intends to comply with the ruling, thus leaving Nigerians confused.

Without a definite pronouncement by the federal government or the CBN, Nigerians have started rejecting the old notes, on-the-ground reporting across the country shows.

In further reporting for this story, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that The Mint’s capacity constraints rest on not having enough papers to print new Naira notes.

“The Mint has run out of papers to print N500 and 1,000 notes,” a source said, explaining the supply constraints The Minit faces. “They have placed orders with a German firm and De La Rue of the UK (for papers) but they have been placed on a long waiting list so their orders cannot be met now.”

The source said The Mint had received CBN’s request to print 70 million copies of the new notes, totalling N126 billion to be pumped into circulation by today, the source added, regretting, however, that the request could not be met because “The Mint doesn’t have the capacity.”

PREMIUM TIMES could not speak with The Mint officially.


“Sabotage”

Despite admitting to the supply constraints, Mr Emefiele also lamented the activities of saboteurs in the banking industry, who, he said, are hoarding the new notes.

At least two unnamed bank branches have been busted for hoarding new notes while customers endured long queues and were unable to withdraw their money, he said.

Some commercial banks have, however, denied hoarding the new notes, saying the Central Bank is simply not providing them with enough notes for customers.


PREMIUM TIMES’ sources, who attended the Friday meeting, said the attendees supported the Naira redesign policy, which the government has said is aimed at combating illicit financing. However, they were said to be unanimous in decrying the implementation of the policy, which has deepened hardship among Nigerians.

The problem is exacerbated by the country’s apparently fragile electronic transactions infrastructure, which has seen a spike in failed transactions as more people resort to e-banking amid cash shortage.

The attendees asked the government to be more aggressive in distributing the new notes to address the shortage.

“Relating to the Naira redesign policy, the policy stands but then the council agreed that there is need for aggressive action on the part of the CBN as it relates to the implementation of the policy by way of ensuring adequate provision being made with particular regard to the supply of the Naira in the system,” Mr Malami told journalists after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Buhari was non-committal at the meeting and barely spoke, the sources said. He left the meeting as the time for the Muslim’s Jummah prayer drew close and his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, took over.

Mr Osinbajo was said to have thanked the attendees and reminded them that the Council of State is an advisory body.

He said the president would take a decision.

Following the fire incident of Tuesday, February 8, at line 27 of Ngwa Road Market which affected two shops and was sparked by a fish roaster’s stove that was left on after close of business, Abia State governor Okezie Ikpeazu has directed immediate ban on roasting of fish and other animals as well as cooking within the major markets in the state.

The governor thanked God that the market authorities and other sympathisers were able to deploy available fire-fighting equipment to quickly contain the fire.

In a statement issued by the commissioner for trade and investment, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, the governor directed the Ministry of Trade and Investment to evaluate the extent of damage to goods at the two affected shops with a view to supporting the concerned traders.

He said, “We wish to encourage all market executives to fully implement the guidelines on fire protection within our markets including ensuring that no flammable material is allowed to be stored within the market as well as effectively distributing fire extinguishers.

Many Igbo People Are Billionaires But Not Giving Peter Obi Financial Support –Afenifere Leader, Adebanjo

Adebanjo adopted Obi as his preferred presidential candidate in 2022 and has maintained that he remains the best candidate.

Pa Ayo Adebanjo, leader of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has berated some people from the South-East region of Nigeria for allegedly not giving financial support to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the forthcoming election.

Adebanjo adopted Obi as his preferred presidential candidate in 2022 and has maintained that he remains the best candidate.

According to Adebanjo, apart from being competent, Obi should be elected the next president of Nigeria for the sake of equity and fairness and to ensure a united Nigeria.

While speaking at an event organised for the late President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor, in Lagos on Wednesday, Adebanjo lamented that some wealthy people from Southeast Nigeria (Igbo) are not giving Obi the financial support required to drive his presidential ambition.

He said that while many Igbo people are billionaires, they have refused to support Obi’s presidential bid financially.

The Afenifere leader said, “These days, I don’t fancy those who talk about united Nigeria in peace without action to back it up. Many people, even among the Igbo, pay lip service to a united Nigeria because of their selfish interest; Obiozor was not one of them. Obiozor was a distinguished scholar, an ambassador par excellence, an intellectual of international repute, and a qualified and distinguished Nigerian.

“When you want to mention the people who give this country recognition and respect, how can you not mention George? He is one of our prides. He shouldn’t have gone now because we are in the middle of a great battle.

“Unfortunately, the Igbo are not giving Obi financial support. I am challenging you openly; you have not been giving Obi the financial support. Those of us supporting him are poor people.

“I know that you people are billionaires. This is the time to spend your money for a good cause. Obi must not suffer anything financially in this cause when he has you people.

“It is a great shame and that is one of the reasons I am missing Obiozor; a man of courage; a man who will call a spade a spade; very diplomatic, courageous and distinguished in character. I hope there are more of him in Igbo land, who will contribute to this struggle to keep Nigeria a united country in peace.”

The woman, identified as Chinwendu Nnamani, was seen in the viral video, in late January, extorting N1,000 each from registrants who wanted to collect their PVCs.


The police in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria, said they have arrested and arraigned a woman seen in a viral video asking for money to distribute Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to registered voters in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

A woman, later identified as Chinwendu Nnamani, was seen in the viral video, in late January, extorting N1,000 each from registrants who wanted to collect their PVCs in the state.

She claimed in the video that the N1,000 was to cover her transport fare and other stress she went through to get the cards to a primary school in the neighbourhood of Emene, a community in the Enugu East Local Government Area of the state.

In response, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would investigate the viral video, pointing out that the woman in question was not a staffer or ad-hoc member of the staff of INEC.

The Head of the Department of Voter Education and Publicity in the Enugu State branch of INEC, Rex Achumie, said none of the people in the video was an INEC employee, assuring that the commission would unravel how the cards got into the hands of the woman in the first place.


Arrest and arraignment

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said Mrs Nnamani, 41, was later arrested on 31 January by the State Criminal Investigation Department.

“Also arrested is one Nkiruka Patience Obinna, 38, identified as an INEC staff and alleged to have given the said cards to the first suspect (Mrs Nnamani) for distribution to the actual owners,” he said.

The police spokesperson said an investigation into the matter had been concluded and that the case was charged to court in line with provisions of the 2022 Electoral Law.

He added that the suspects had been arraigned accordingly.

He did not, however, indicate the court where the suspects were arraigned.

“The suspects were granted bail and the case adjourned until 15 February 2023 for further hearing,” Mr Ndukwe said.

The International Monetary Fund, on Wednesday, counselled the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the February 10 deadline for swapping old naira notes with the redesigned ones.

The IMF gave the counsel in the wake of the challenges faced by Nigerians across the country over the banknote swap process.

The IMF said in a statement, “In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline, should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline.”

February 2, 2023

By Henry Umoru

FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark has asked the Delta state Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to resign from being the running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday at his Asokoro residence in Abuja, the Leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF and Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) in a letter dated February 2, 2023, addressed to Governor Okowa, said that the Governor and Atiku will not win the presidency on joint ticket.

Clark who noted that Okowa went contrary to the resolutions of southern governors and other stakeholders that no politician from the South should accept to be running mate to a northerner and particularly, Atiku Abubakar, accused the Governor of using money belonging to Delta people to fund his campaign with Atiku, and asked the governor to publicly apologise to the people of the south and withdraw from the race.

Part of the letter read, “Today, I say with certainty that you are more dictatorial than any other Military administrator that has administered Delta State since its creation in 1991.

“I can therefore understand why you have deliberately and immorally betrayed your colleagues of Southern Nigeria and the people for your own selfish ambition by wanting to land on a safer ground by accepting to serve as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“No, by God’s grace your prayer will not be answered. Perhaps, you have forgotten the gravity of the offence you have committed against the people of Southern Nigeria.

“In order to cover your nefarious plot, you voluntarily induced everyone to host a meeting of the 17 Southern governors in Government House Asaba on Tuesday 11th May 2021. You gave them a very good reception and provided them a secretariat that drafted the communiqué under your supervision, which was ably read by the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.

“It was indeed a bombshell, as you collectively demanded for Southern Presidency and insisted that none of you should accept to be a Vice President.

“Shortly afterwards, the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), which I lead, gave the governor’s declaration 100% support and declared that no Southern serving governors, Legislators or Politicians should accept to be running mate, particularly to Atiku Abubakar.

“The 17 governors later met again in Lagos and Enugu to affirm the decision taken in your Government House Asaba. Little did we know that you were using this to perfect your secret plan to be running mate to Atiku Abubakar from the very beginning.

“We are therefore not surprised that you directed all the delegates from Delta State not to vote for Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State or Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State who are your neighbours but instead, they voted massively for Atiku Abubakar during the PDP Presidential Primaries last year.

“It would be recalled in 2007, that Delta State finances were used in funding part of the election of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua through the directive of President Olusegun Obasanjo. We were therefore not surprised when you too have decided to finance Atiku Abubakar with Delta People’s money because; there is nobody to challenge you. I repeat, you will not succeed.

“It is therefore in your own interest to openly apologise to your colleagues of both APC and PDP whom you deceived in taking a decision you never believed in. After your unreserved apology to your people and Southern Nigeria, you should step down your ambition of becoming Vice-Presidential candidate of the PDP. There your honour lies.”

The Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation has disclosed that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is not in talks with the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over a possible alliance.

The PUNCH reports that Atiku hinted at his readiness to work with Obi and the New Nigerian People Party’s candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, after meeting with the duo to support his ambition in the forthcoming election.

Atiku made this known in a 15-minute interview with BBC Hausa service on Tuesday.

Speaking with the interviewer in the Hausa language, Atiku said both Obi and Kwankwaso were not a threat to his chances of winning at the February 25 poll.

“Although I see no threat in any of them, we are in talks, and the discussion might yield a positive result that will see one of them coming.”

But reacting to the claim on Wednesday in an exclusive chat with The PUNCH, the Obi-Datti campaign organisation spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, said those making the alliance claim are just trying to exploit Obi’s popularity.

“As of yesterday, before we left Numan, there was nothing of such nature. We are busy with campaigns. We are not aware of anything like an alliance.

“I think somebody is just trying to cash out on the Obi-Datti ticket. We are right now campaigning in Sokoto and we will be in Zamfara.”

Efforts to get the spokesperson for the New Nigeria Peoples Party were futile as he did not pick up his calls as of the time of filing this report.

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), has directed its members to continue to receive the old naira notes, till deadline of the Federal Government’s extension of the new currency swap policy on Feb. 10.

The Union’s President, Prof. Tajudeen Baruwa, gave the directive on Monday when the Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr Garba Abari, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.

Recall that the reports that the newly redesigned naira notes which are being swapped with old notes includes the N200, N500 and N1000 denominations.

Baruwa urged his members to give relevant government’s agencies the opportunity to implement the monetary policy.

He said that he had discussed the issue of rejection of old naira notes with the NOA boss for proper sensitisation.

“We have discussed with the Director-General of NOA that most people are rejecting the old naira notes in spite of the deadline extension and he promised to do something about it.

“I think we should give him a benefit of doubt; I am hopeful before Feb. 10, they will do something and I know with such intervention, the public will not reject the old notes again.

“We on our part, are going to support NOA to sensitise our members on the government’s policy as regard new naira notes.

“We are having the National Executive Council Meeting tomorrow. We will use the opportunity to enlighten our NEC members on the policy.


“And we will ensure that handbills and flyers are given to our state executives to take the message to the grassroots,” he said.

Baruwa described the visit of the NOA boss as very important, adding that, “the people have been calling the union’s leadership to assist them because they believe it has a role to play in the implementation of the banknotes swap policy.

“I have acquired lot of experiences through this visit. We will share the posters they gave us to every nook and cranny of the state.

“Then on our own, we will embark on jingle to enlighten commercial drivers and the public in general,” he said.

Earlier, Abari said the visit was to collaborate with the union on the government’s currency redesigned policy in order to take the message to the grassroots and give a feedback.


According to him, this is what we are going to send back to relevant agencies saddled with the responsibility of implementing the monetary policy in the country.

“We are also embarking on community sensitisation to address issues of fake new bank notes.

“There is need for Nigerians to look out for specific security features on the new notes such as the coat of arm when you raise the note to view it, security ink and mark on the notes.

“These are the signs and this is the reason why NURTW needs to come in,” the NOA boss said.

When in August 2022, I announced to the whole world that in Osun, my Principal, Adegboyega Oyetola, did not lose the July 16 Governorship election, but only lost the vote count, some Nigerians, especially sympathisers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were furious. They called me names. But they could not marshall any reasonable argument to disprove my position.

So, last Friday’s judgement of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, for me, is a vindication of my position prior to the 2018 governorship election that majority of Osun citizens, who are reasonable, knowledgeable and who value education could not have voted for a man, who allegedly forged his certificate and who, apart from ‘dancecraft’, has nothing to offer the State. His administration of Osun in the last 60 days has further exposed him as a man lacking in character, content, and capacity.

Similarly, the outcome of the Tribunal is equally a vindication of my August 2022 postulation that we only lost the vote count and not the election.

Contrary to the claims of the Governor and his cohorts, three of the judges agreed on the fact that he forged his certificate, while two concurred that there was indeed over-voting in the July 16 Governorship election. And in accordance with the Electoral Act, the invalid votes were separated from the valid ones and Oyetola was declared as the validly-elected Governor of Osun State.

Therefore, issue of “Member 1” and “Member 2” being propounded by Senator Ademola Adeleke, Kolapo Alimi and the rest only exists in their imagination. It is a pity that the Governor does not know and those we thought should know ended up misleading the poor man.

In the lead judgement, which was over 90 pages, “we” featured prominently to indicate that the position reached were arrived at by two or more persons. Similarly, the dissenting judgement, which was just 8 pages, “I” featured prominently to indicate he was alone in that decision. How Senator Ademola Adeleke’s men were able to confuse him that an 8-page judgement can be used to upturn an over 90 pages of sound and scholarly judgement, which are well grounded in law and facts, remains a mystery to me.

How the Tribunal arrived at its conclusion

Before delving into how the Tribunal arrived at its conclusion, I wish to deal with the issue of alleged forgery as established by the Tribunal.

Recall that Oyetola and APC approached the Tribunal on two fundamental grounds: One, that as at the time Senator Adeleke was contesting, he was not qualified. Two, that he did not score the lawful valid votes.

According to the Tribunal led by Justice Tertsea Kume, APC and Oyetola were able to prove alleged forgery case against Governor Adeleke as EC9, which is the affidavit in support of personal particulars about the governor told “a lie about itself.”

The three justices of the Tribunal went further to hold that “clear reading of the above reproduced section of the Criminal Code and exhibit EC9 reproduced above reveals that EC9 tells a lie about itself. See ACN vs. Lamido (2011) LPELR-91741 (CA) 1 at 79 80 paras C- A, and 80 81 paras F- A.

“In that regard, forgery of the said documents presented by the 2nd Respondent (Ademola Adeleke) to 1st Respondent (INEC) has been proved.

“The same consequence applies to FILE D in so far as the contents therein relate to ‘Osun State’ that was not in existence before 1991. See PDP v. Degi-Eremenyo (2021) 9 NWLR (Pt. 1781) 274 at 292 paras A-C cited by learned counsel for the Petitioners.”

The Tribunal Justices went further to hold as follows: “The question, however, is whether having found forgery in parts of exhibit EC9 and FILE D, the 2nd Respondent (Ademola Adeleke) is exonerated by exhibits 2R.RW6 and 2R.RW9. We think he is. It would have been otherwise if no other qualifying certificate of attendance at an institution had been presented to 1st Respondent for the election.”

As a layman, the mere fact that the Tribunal only says they “think,” shows that this is another potent pendulum that could swing against the Governor at the appellate court. Reason being that, the additional qualifications which were the basis of what I want to refer to as his temporary respite in the issue of qualification, was acquired using the O’Level that has been proven to be allegedly forged.

Therefore, if we go by the popular axiom, you cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand. It goes without any further probing that the Governor is yet to be let off the hook as far as his qualification to stand for the election is concerned. He can be disqualified for submitting an alleged forged document as contained in his file with INEC.

But let’s go back to the issue of over-voting. The Electoral Act is clear. To make a return as to the announcement of the results of election, the presiding officer must take into account what the BVAS transmitted, which is in the back end. In this instance, Senator Ademola Adeleke was declared winner of that election by the INEC on July 17 based on the figures the BVAS transmitted. It was these figures the APC and Oyetola applied for and got from the INEC.

After filing their petitions, the PDP rushed to INEC and obtained what was later referred to as a “synchronised” BVAS report. Assuming without conceding that there should be a synchronised BVAS report, the next question to ask, which I raised in September is: on what basis then was Adeleke declared winner on July 17?

By their stretch of argument, it means Adeleke was declared winner before “synchronisation.” Since Adeleke was never declared winner by opening the BVAS machine, how on earth will you now sway the Tribunal to accept that? At any rate, even in that one too, the expert hired by Adeleke, Samuel Oduntan, to analyse the BVAS machine also admitted before the court that there was over-voting. The only difference is that he said it was discovered in only six polling units.

But during the cross-examination, APC and Oyetola counsel were able to prove to him that apart from the six he claimed over voting occurred, there were others.

“Under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, I conducted the forensic analysis of BVAS machines. I then analysed the result with form EC8A series. My report didn’t determine who won or lost. I only gave the figures. I observed over-voting in 6 polling units. I was paid for the job. But it does not affect the figures and facts in my report”, he said.

Under cross-examination by petitioner’s counsel, Akin Olujinmi, SAN, Odutan while being confronted with his witness statement and the BVAS report (Exhibit RBVR) on accreditation figure in Ward 4, unit 7, said, “in my witness statement, page 7, serial number 138, the accreditation figure as extracted on BVAS machine is 388, but on exhibit RBVR, it is 313.”

But because it is difficult to cover up lies, even in the synchronised BVAS report presented before the Tribunal by INEC, the APC and Oyetola legal team were able to prove over-voting in over 100 polling units across the 10 Local Government Areas , LGAs, which they were challenging.

What is more, INEC, the beneficiary (Adeleke) and the PDP, which sponsored Adeleke could not even agree on the BVAS reports they presented before the Tribunal. This was what led the Adeleke’s counsel to disown even the synchronised BVAS report INEC presented to the Tribunal.

Again, INEC’s witness, who testified before the Tribunal did not disown the BVAS report given to Oyetola and APC and she admitted under cross-examination that there was indeed over-voting in that election. Take note that apart from the BVAS report obtained by APC and Oyetola, all other BVAS reports were generated after the petition had been filed and served. Therefore, it was easy to conclude that they were products of afterthought.

And the Tribunal reiterated the above position when it said: “Moreover, exhibit BVR (given to Oyetola and APC) has not been withdrawn by the first respondent (INEC), who made and issued it. The petitioners relied on exhibit BVR in maintaining this petition.

“Similarly, the exhibit tendered by the respondents after exhibit BVR submitted by learned counsel to the petitioners were thought of after the declaration of result on the 17th day of July, 2022.

“The said conduct of the respondents, especially, the first (INEC) respondent amounts to tampering with official records. The conduct of the first respondent in the said election under consideration has produced multiple accusation report, contrary to votes declaration, to conduct of free, fair and credible elections on the basis of one man or woman with one vote.”

The Tribunal further said: “In other words, the defenses of the respondents are tainted with fundamental flaws, irreconcilable and unreliable, incapable of defeating the credible evidence tendered by the petitioners in respect of the 744 polling units where over voting has been established.”

While I agree with INEC and most Nigerians that nothing is wrong with BVAS, I, however, make bold to say that a lot is wrong with the operators, especially those who came up with the idea of synchronisation. For me, all stakeholders interested in deepening our electoral system and democracy must devise means to tackle synchronisation of BVAS report before the presidential and National Assembly elections.

May I leave my readers with the snippets from one of the observer groups, Northern Patriotic Front (NPF) that observed the July 16 Governorship election.

In the media report I read on July 25, 2022, the group, among other things, said: “Between Sekona roundabout and Edunabon, there were no checking points nor patrol of any security personnel in that axis.

“According to the electoral guidelines, the official close of voting at polling units is 2:30pm. In most of the polling units visited and as reported by the NPF observers, voting was concluded at various polling units across the State by 2:30 pm in accordance with the electoral law as amended 2022.

“However, this was not followed in some of the polling units in Ede axis where voting was still going on till around 9:00 pm. This is clearly against the provision of the Electoral Act. This anomaly was also reported by some other observer groups’ analyses in the media.

“The conduct of election in Ede South and Ede North areas should be investigated to assist the commission in preventing admitting voters to queue after the stipulated time,” NPF added.

*Omipidan, a journalist and a political analyst writes from Ile Olorisa Compound, Eyindi, Ila Orangun, Osun.

29th January 2023

By Faith Ajayi

Controversial singer and songwriter, Augustine Ahmedu, aka Blackface, has, over the years, accused other artistes of stealing his songs. The first and most high profile case was that between him and his former group mate and friend, Innocent Idibia, aka 2Baba. He had accused 2Baba of ‘stealing’ his song, African Queen, and even though the latter reportedly gave him some financial compensation, the feud between them has lingered for many years.

However, the latest artistes on Blackface’s radar include rave-of-the-moment, Asake, and pop star, Wizkid.

In an interview with Sunday Scoop, he said, “The time I released the songs (that were allegedly stolen) are online. I don’t want to trend; I just want people to stop touching my music without my permission. I am begging them to stop. I cannot be competing with myself. Many of them plan shows, and they intentionally don’t invite me. They should just give me the credit I deserve.”

The singer also stated that he was still giving the people involved some time before escalating the matter. He said, “We have to improve on what we do to get better. Some members of the public don’t take me seriously because they are not the ones that copy my songs. The ones who copy my songs are not finding it funny. I have not taken the cases to court because I’m still giving them benefit of the doubt for them to retrace their steps. If they don’t do so, I will instruct my lawyer to commence legal action against them.”

The singer added that originality and respect were important qualities for any artist to have in order to succeed.

Nigerians and other immigrant students in the United Kingdom currently face a high-risk of deportation after completion of their studies following a row between UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the Department of Education.

According to The Daily Mail, Braverman is currently seeking to cut down the amount of time foreign students can stay in the UK after graduation.

The PUNCH reports that currently, immigrants who travel to Britain to study can stay behind two years after graduation.

But the Department for Education is said to be resisting Braverman’s plan to cut that to just six months, after which they have to have a skilled job that makes them eligible for a work visa or leave the UK.

The Daily Mail further stated that the development is the latest twist in a long-running row over foreign student numbers.

“Braverman has committed to cut immigration and ‘substantially reduce’ the number of unskilled foreign workers coming to Britain, from 239,000 to the ‘tens of thousands’.

“As part of that, she wants to reduce the number of international students who can apply for a graduate post-study work visa, which allows any student who has passed their degree to remain and work in the UK for at least two years.

“But education officials fear this will make the UK less attractive to foreign students, who pay far more than UK students for their courses and are a major source of income for universities”, the media house stated.

The PUNCH reports that the UK is one of the choicest destinations for Nigerian students seeking to study overseas.

Recent data released by the home office of the UK revealed that the number of study visas released to Nigerians increased by 222.8 per cent, with 65,929 issued as of June 2022 as against 20,427 in the same period in 2021.

Similarly, Nigerian students and their dependents in the United Kingdom we’re said to have contributed an estimated £1.9 billion to the economy of the UK, according to an analysis by SBM intelligence.

The data which covered the 2021/2022 academic session estimated that a sum of £680,620,000 were reportedly paid as school fees with a total of £54.3m paid in taxes by working spouses of the students.

Back home, Nigeria’s tertiary education sector faces challenges ranging from poor funding, dearth of research and poor welfare for academic and non-academic staff.

A Professor of Mathematics at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Gbolahan Bolarin, notee that the government needs to dedicate more efforts to the funding of tertiary education in the country so as to prevent a total collapse of the sector.

The PUNCH reports that over $680m was released by the Central Bank of Nigeria for foreign education in the first nine months of 2022 alone.

The apex Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has appealed to the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to allow the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, to address the people of South-East before the 2023 General Elections.

This was made known by the Secretary-General of the organisation, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro.

Isiguzoro said the killings in the South-East would subside if Buhari allows the IPOB leader to address Nigerians.

Speaking on the activities of gunmen linked to Ekpa, the organisation’s Secretary-General reiterated his stance on a plot to destabilise the 2023 elections in the South-East using Ekpa.

According to Isiguzoro, “This madness of sit-at-home and incessant killings and insecurity we are witnessing in the Southeast can be traced to the continuous incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, which Simon Ekpa is taking undue advantage of.

“Ekpa is an opportunist, fame and fortune seeker who saw the window and lapses of Kanu’s detention as an opportunity for him to venture into his journey of amassing wealth from politicians and destroying the people of the South-East.

“The only cure to this madness of Simon Ekpa is a passionate appeal to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to allow the leader of IPOB to address Ndigbo possibly this February before the elections, because there is a grand conspiracy by some external enemies of Ndigbo, and they are using Ekpa to shortchange and ensure that there is an election boycott in the South-East.

“The only cure to this Ekpa’s madness is for Buhari to allow Kanu, even if it’s a five-minute broadcast because Kanu has continued to say through his lawyers that these killings and insecurity in the Southeast should end.

"The activities of unknown gunmen instigated by Ekpa should end, and why there has been no effect on those messages is that the people doubt if those messages are from Nnamdi Kanu.

“So, in order to have a peaceful election, the Federal Government should give Nnamdi Kanu a five-minute broadcast to talk to the people of the Southeast; this would end Ekpa and his madness.”

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Obi may step down for Atiku, as campaign council considers option


BY WALE ADEDAYO

24 JANUARY 2023

Having realised that there is no path to victory in next month general election, the campaign council of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, is already considering how the former Anambra State Governor will step down for Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate.

Exclusive information gathered from top officials of the Peter Obi campaign team is that many of the associates of the Labour Party candidate and advisers have come to the realisation that the coming election is going to be a straight fight between APC and PDP.

Our correspondent gathered that key officers of Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council met on Monday at a top hotel in Abuja where they reviewed the state of their campaign so far and the prospect of Peter Obi following the emerging realities and lack of ground enthusiasm to Peter Obi from his campaign stops in the North and South West.

Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti-Ahmed have been welcome by almost empty stadia at his rallies so far which is a clear indication that his presidential bid lacks steam with real voters. The Labour Party candidate has carried on so far largely based on social media energy of many active young people on Twitter and Facebook.

Another top source who is in the know made it clear that apart from the reality of winning the election hitting home there is serious in-fighting in Obi’s camp where many of the vocal campaign officials are all jostling for relevance and protecting their territories.

At the meeting that took place in Abuja on Monday, our source revealed that Valentine Ozigbo, PDP candidate in last Anambra State Governorship election and Peter Obi’s protege and Ndi Kato, a Spokesperson of the Labour Party Campaign Council agreed that their party and candidate do not have the number to win with a state by state analysis of the electoral map.

The meeting analysed Atiku’s chances and the relationship of the PDP candidate and Peter Obi. The Labour Party candidate was the running mate to Atiku in 2019 Presidential election won by President Muhammadu Buhari and APC.

According to our source: “Peter Obi and his people are planning to align with Atiku in the coming election.

Key officers of Peter Obi’s team met yesterday in Abuja. They were analysing Atiku’s chances. There is some realization in the Obi camp that they can’t win and want to align. They mentioned how North-East will be split, that Sokoto Governor, the Director-General of Atiku’s Campaign Council won by his own second term election with 200 votes and can’t guarantee the state Atiku the votes from Sokoto. For them it is better to work with Atiku to win instead of dissipating South East votes which Obi can get on Igbo sentiments but will not be anywhere near winning the presidential election.”

The also also revealed that Obi’s team postponed the Labour Party rally in Adamawa State which is Atiku’s home state in view of the possible alignment talks between PDP and LP.

On the in-fighting within Obi’s camp, our source said Ndi Kato and Aisha Yesufu, an activist who gained national prominence on the back of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign and now one of Obi’s main backers don’t see eye to eye. The two women fell out over issues of money.

“Ndi and Aisha Yesufu are having very bad fight over money and some personal stuffs,” our source said.