₦airaland Forum

Men dressed in uniform of the Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, attacked Ogijo police station in Ogun State over an alleged assault on a soldier by some policemen.

At the end of the attack, the “soldiers”, who stormed the station without their name tag, set it on fire.

Many persons, including some policemen, sustained injuries during the attack.

There was pandemonium in the area as passersby scampered for safety all through the period that the attack lasted.

A source said the soldiers, who were from 174 Battalion Odugunyan in Ikorodu, Lagos, were on a reprisal following an earlier altercation between a policeman and a soldier.

The policeman was said to have stabbed the soldier on his chest during the altercation.

The soldiers were said to have been angered by the action of the policeman who later sought refuge in Ogijo police station.

“Our station is under heavy assault by men of the Nigerian Army from 174 Battalion Odogunyan. They have set the station on fire due to an earlier quarrel between a mobile policeman and a soldier. In fact, earlier today a soldier and the mobile policeman engaged themselves in physical combat, leading to the mobile policeman overpowering the soldier with a leather punch,” the source said.

It is yet unclear if police personnel were attacked, injured, and killed during the attack on the station

Responding to questions on the attack, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, on his official Twitter handle said. “We wish to clarify that the unrest is at Ogijo, Ogun State, though very close to Ikorodu, Lagos.

“Our officers are at alert and would not allow any breakdown of law and order within Lagos State.*

The military is yet to react to the report.

By Cletus Ukpong


A teenage girl in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, on Wednesday gave birth to a newborn baby and quickly buried her alive.

The girl, identified as Bright, 18, apparently did not want the baby after giving birth, and had to bury her in a shallow grave she dug in a garden inside a sprawling compound in Ifa Ikot Okpon community, Uyo Local Government Area.

She lives with her parents in a rented house inside the compound.

Bright told PREMIUM TIMES she did not know she was pregnant until the moment she gave birth. But from what her father, Okon Ekpenyong and others, who are familiar with the incident, said, it appears she lied.

‘I saw a baby coming out of my body’
“My body was paining me. All of a sudden, I now fell down here (pointing at the garden where she buried the baby), I saw a baby coming out of my body. I started crying,” she said, sobbing.

“The baby was dead. I was unconscious. I dug a small place to keep the baby until my mother comes back, so I can show her,” she added.

“Why didn’t you take the baby inside the house, is that a place where a baby should be kept?” PREMIUM TIMES asked Bright.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she responded.

“Can you sleep there, at that place?”

“I was in shock when I gave birth,” she responded, again. “There was no one to tell me what to do.”

In the garden where the baby was buried, there was a white piece of cloth stained with blood discarded at the edge of the tiny grave. Near it, there was a leaf from a plantain tree, which Bright had used to cover the baby while inside the grave.

Two people who witnessed the incident faulted Bright’s claim that the baby was already dead before she buried it.

A co-tenant in the compound, Matthew, said the baby was still alive before Bright buried it.

“The baby was crying,” he said.

Besides, Matthew said Bright dug the grave a previous day, not on the day she gave birth.

A midwife, Elizabeth Okon, who lives in the community, corroborated Matthew’s claim that the baby was still alive before it was buried.

She said a man who is the caretaker of the compound got attracted by the baby’s cry and called to inform her (the midwife) about the incident.

Mrs Okon said, because she was among the first responders, she took the baby out of the grave, cleaned her up a bit, and hurried to the roadside to take her to the hospital.

“Keke (commercial tricycle riders) refused to collect the old naira notes, and that kept us for several hours on the road until the baby eventually died,” she said.

“I had examined the baby before then, it was still breathing,” she added.

As of 2:30 p.m., the baby’s corpse was still kept in the compound which belongs to the late village head of the community. By then, curious residents had gathered in front of the gate because of the incident.


‘Didn’t know she was pregnant’ – Girl’s father

Bright’s father, Mr Ekpenyong, disclosed that his daughter ran away from home a few days ago when he and his wife suspected she was pregnant when they wanted to take her out for a checkup.

When PREMIUM TIMES asked Bright to respond to her father’s claim, she said she went to a church to look for a midwife who could help her with the pregnancy, clearly contradicting her other claim that she was unaware she was pregnant until the very moment she gave birth.

Bright said a man named Ezekiel, who lives in the community, was responsible for the pregnancy. She said her parents had been seeing the boy whenever he visited her.

Mr Effiong said he and his wife were unaware that their daughter was pregnant until some three days ago or so.

“It was on Sunday that I suspected she was pregnant. I noticed the changes in her body. She told me and the mum that there was nothing wrong with her,” said Mr Effiong, who said he works as a labourer on a farm.

Bright’s mother was not available in the compound when our reporter visited, she was said to have gone to work.


Gynecologist, police speak about incident

An Abuja-based gynaecologist, Taiwo William, told PREMIUM TIMES it was impossible for Bright to be unaware she was pregnant.

“Of course, with the baby in her womb, her tummy would protrude. And also, the baby moves and kicks inside the womb. Other persons might not know but the person who is pregnant would know,” he said.

Mr William said Bright must have experienced some discomfort usually associated with pregnancy but may have prepared herself emotionally to endure it in order not to expose the pregnancy.

“That is the difference between someone who is carrying a pregnancy that is desired and an undesired pregnancy. The one that you desire, you want to show everybody that you are pregnant, but the one you don’t want, you don’t want people to be aware of.

“So they hide some of those things. That is why it may look as if she didn’t go through any trouble. She might, but she might have tried to cover up and pretended as if nothing happened,” the doctor said.

He advised parents to avoid being judgmental in such a situation and rather visit a qualified medical facility to seek help because of the life of their pregnant daughter.

Police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko Macdon, said he had not yet been briefed about the incident and, therefore, would not comment on it.

“It’s a crime. Nobody has the right to bury somebody alive, even if it’s a child. That i, if it is true,” he said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is currently recirculating defaced, mutilated and stale N20 and N50 notes in the heat of the current cash crunch.

SaharaReporters observed in Yola, Adamawa State, for example that the defaced and mutilated naira notes originally kept in the CBN’s dump vault, meant for onward destruction, had now flooded many bank halls.

SaharaReporters learnt that in Yola, many residents are still stranded as banks no longer accept the N200, N500 and N1000 old naira notes.

Those affected were redirected by the respective banks to take the rejected currency to the CBN.

A CBN staff who confirmed the development to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity, said "The defaced and mutilated were re-issued to cushion the scarcity of naira notes in the state.

"To cushion the scarcity of naira notes the CBN in Yola resorted to issuing banks in the state damaged and defaced N50 denomination sourced from its dump vault where the notes have been designated for destruction to be re-issued to bank customers. But this measure is not in any way motivated by fraud because after the bank's vault dried up, we were caught between the devil and the blue sea.

“To rescue the situation, the bank had to resort to the re-issuance of lower denomination naira notes of N50 and N20 from our vault already designated for destruction otherwise the banks will have no money to issue to customers. Hence they would have been forced to close shop or not open for business."

As things are, banks no longer accept the old naira notes as confirmed by a staff of the United Bank for Afirca (UBA), Yola Branch.

He said the branch had been directed by the head office to stop accepting the old bank notes.

Explaining further, the banker, who pleaded anonymity, hinged the bank's decision on the apex bank's silence.

She said, "The CBN is quiet so we don't know what we are into, so the measure from our bank is to reduce risk because the CBN has been quiet."

Speaking on re-isuance of stale money, the CBN branch controller in Yola, Sanusi Sah, said "Only one out of a bundle of any of the lower denomination notes issued by the bank as far as I'm concerned may be defaced.

"It is not true that some of the notes to be destroyed are being re-circulated back to the public. Maybe one out of 100, of the notes in circulation is defaced. We want the public to be patient. All the banks would be able to dispense the new notes. You can see our vehicles now; we are going to bring money.”

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, said some non-state actors have their eyes on an interim government as an outcome of the ongoing presidential election process.

The governor spoke about the people and forces he characterised as elements whose patterns and conducts are consistent with plans to subvert or topple a civilian-to-civilian transition after the next presidential election.

“It turned out that some of the wildest stories of conspiracy to derail the transition at best for APC to lose, preferably for the whole system to result in no election leading to an interim arrangement began to rear their heads,” Mr El-Rufai told PREMIUM TIMES.

He came short of naming these “elements” who he insists are not worth the conventional Nigerian appellation of a political cabal.

The notion of a powerful cabal, according to Mr El-Rufai, admits a level of sophistication and discipline, which the group around President Muhammadu Buhari lacks.

“I have no problem naming them. I’m not afraid of anybody. But for me, naming them is giving them traction. They are nothing. They are not capable of winning elections. They have no idea of electoral or political legitimacy. They can only hide behind the likes of President Buhari to achieve their objectives,” he noted.

The Kaduna State governor also took time to address contentious issues around President Buhari and the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

When asked about the mixed signal perceived from the president’s lukewarm attitude to Mr Tinubu’s campaigns, he insisted there are no mixed signals.

“President Buhari considers the APC like a child he conceived and held in pregnancy for 18 months and gave birth to. He will never, I am ready to stake my neck and my life, President Buhari will never work against the APC. He will never work against the candidate of the APC even if the candidate is the devil himself,” Mr El-Rufai said.

He insisted that the president is “a party man and an establishment person whose support for Mr Tinubu is sure.”

He went further to paint a picture and illustrate the operational mode of some disgruntled power-hungry cliques within the party that he admitted was hurting the party.

“What is happening is that there are people around the president that had their presidential candidates. They had two candidates that they preferred to succeed Buhari – Godwin Emefiele from the South and Ahmad Lawan from the north – and they got neither.”

Mr Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had purchased the APC presidential form but could not contest in the primaries following public outcry. Many Nigerians had called for his removal as CBN chief for taking part in partisan politics.

Mr Lawan, the current senate president, took part in the primaries but came fourth behind Mr Tinubu, ex-transport minister Rotimi Amaechi and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

By Dennis Naku

Suspected members of a dreaded cult group have kidnapped and gang-raped to death a mother of two identified as Mrs. Chigbewejim Steward, in her community Abarikpo in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The suspected cult members allegedly belonging to the Iceland cult were said to have abducted the woman and wife of a pastor in the wee hours of Sunday and a few hours later reportedly gang-raped her to death.

It was gathered that her lifeless body was found at about 10am in the community with multiple injuries and blood stains in her private parts.

Speaking to newsmen, the deceased’s husband, Pastor Lawyer Steward, confirmed the incident, saying he was informed that a known cultist accused his wife of always gossiping with his name.

Steward stated, “I am the husband of Chigbejim, who was murdered yesterday by a group of boys. After raping her, they murdered her.”

Asked if he had problems with anyone prior to the incident, the cleric said he was neither a cultist nor had issues with anyone.

“I am not a cultist; I am an Assistant Pastor in charge of Evangelism in the Seventh Day Adventist Church Abarikpo. Everybody in my community knows I am not a cultist.

“She gave birth to three children, one is late. My daughter is seven, while the little one, a boy, is three years’ old.

“One boy, Sunday, a cultist, claimed he slaughtered my wife because she gossiped and spoke against him. That people told him my wife always spoke against him.

“That is the reason he murdered her. He is a cultist,” said the distraught man. He revealed that the Ahoada Divisional Police Officer visited the scene on Sunday evening.

Steward called on the law enforcement agencies and the government to apprehend the perpetrators and make them to face justice.

“I am calling on the government to help me find those boys that kidnapped my wife, raped and murdered her.

“Let the government and the police help to arrest them and make them pay for what they did to my wife,” the cleric stated.

Speaking, the Public Relations Officer of Igbu Akoh Clan Youth Congress, Ahoada East LGA, Ekeakita Chinem, also confirmed the incident, saying the community had been experiencing a series of killings in recent times.

“So, like we have been having a series of killings in Akoh. When they kill, nobody goes after the bad boys. No security person goes after the bad boys.

“Mrs Steward was kidnapped around 1am. Only for us to find out around 10am this morning that she was lifeless after being raped.

“She had bruises in her private parts, especially on her thighs. There was blood all over her body too.

“So, people are living in fear, nervous that no political leader or government agency goes after them. You report or don’t report, what will happen,” he said.

Asked if the matter was cult-related, Chinem answered in the negative, saying she was a married woman.

He recalled, ” Late last year, we witnessed 11 killings in that same community. A member of one of the cult groups went to their camp and collected the AK-47 of their master and ran away to their community at Abarikpo.

“Only for the cult leader to send his boys after him and innocent lives, about 11 persons were killed.

“And till today, there is no investigation, no action was taken by the police to fish out the perpetrators from where they are hiding. Nothing at all.”

Meanwhile, a group, the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, has condemned the abduction and rape of Mrs Steward, leading to her death.

The National Coordinator, Prince Wiro, called on the police to carry out proper investigation with a view to apprehending the culprits and making them face justice.

Wiro stated,” It is important that the police get to work. They must carry out a thorough investigation to ensure that the culprits are arrested so that the woman gets justice.”

Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, proved abortive, as she did not respond to calls put across to her.

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, had yet to reply to a text message sent to her mobile telephone as of the time of filing this report.

State governments and the police commands have begun clamping down on traders and supermarkets accused of rejecting the old naira notes.

Findings by The PUNCH on Sunday indicated that the authorities in Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bayels, Zamfara and Kwara states had issued directives to security agencies to deal with anyone who turned down the old N1000, N500 and N200 notes.

The development was sequel to the confusion caused by the failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria to issue directives to commercial banks on the extension or otherwise of the February 10 deadline for the currency swap following last Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling restraining the FG from enforcing the time limit earlier fixed by the apex bank.

This is as the Catholic Bishops declared the CBN policy as disastrous, stressing that it had turned Nigerians to beggars

On Sunday, the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje directed the acting Chairman of Kano State Consumer Protection Council, Dr Baffa Dan’agundi to shut down Wellcare supermarket for rejecting the old naira notes in violation of the directive of the state government that the currency remains legal tender.

The chairman of the council made the disclosure shortly after shutting down the supermarket, stating that legal action will also be taken against Wellcare Alliance Limited, the owners of WellCare supermarket.

He warned other businesses in Kano that the state government had not banned the use of old naira notes.

He threatened that any shop owner caught rejecting the old notes would be dealt with decisively, according to the dictates of the law.

Meanwhile, the management of Wellcare Alliance Limited has written an apology letter to Ganduje, seeking his immediate intervention to re-open the supermarket.

The letter was titled, ‘A plea for an immediate intervention to re-open Wellcare Alliance Limited and an apology letter.’

It read in part, “Sir, Wellcare has always had an outstanding reputation in the market within the state and beyond, equally has abided by every rule and regulation which directly affects the company or a regulator without hesitation.

“Due to the Federal Government policy on the new naira notes, we gave wrong instructions to our staff that from the 10th day of February 2023 that only the new approved naira notes are to be in circulation.

“On an expansive investigation with our bankers, they declined to receive old naira notes on our behalf, unknown to all parties that the state has a policy that the old notes are to be in circulation. On this basis, we sincerely apologize for our actions and deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused the state.

“We humbly plead that our business should be re-opened for deserving members of the public as we undertake to receive old notes as valid tender till when the state issues an otherwise directive. Please, do accept our regards and sincere apologies.”

Katsina warns traders

In the same vein, the Katsina state government has warned banks and traders in the state not to reject the old naira notes until the Supreme Court gives a final verdict on the issue.

The state government gave the warning in a statement on Sunday issued by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Home Affairs, Abdulkarim Sirika.

The government said it had come to its notice that banks and traders in the state were rejecting the old notes from residents, a development it said had led to severe hardships for the people.

The statement read: ‘’It has come to the notice of the state government under the able leadership of the Governor of Katsina State, Rtd Hon. Aminu Bello Masari that banks and marketers are no longer accepting the old naira notes.

“In view of this, His Excellency, the governor has directed that marketers and banks should continue accepting the old naira notes from now to the 15th February 2023 pending the final verdict of the Supreme Court on the matter.”

Meanwhile, Katsina residents have continued to bear the hardship imposed by the non-availability of the new naira notes.

Many ATM points in the state were not dispensing the new notes over the weekend while the few PoS operators still operating charged higher commissions ranging from N150 to N300 per every N1,000 withdrawal.

In Sokoto, the state police command has vowed to deal with anyone rejecting the old notes.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Sanusi Abubakar, who stated that the force has not received any complaint, however, called on residents to report anyone rejecting the old naira notes to the law enforcement agents in the state.

Abubakar said, ‘’I’m sure you know we can only react if there is a complaint against anyone rejecting the notes but so far, we have not gotten any report of such in the state. I can assure you that we are on top of the situation and we will do the needful if such a report is made.’’

Also speaking on the issue, the Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, asserted that the police had been given a directive to arrest any individual who sells or buys naira notes in the state.

Responding to an inquiry from The PUNCH, Okasanmi said, “There is a government directive to arrest anyone who messes up the naira notes, buy or sell the notes, but we have not been able to catch anyone in Kwara state. I want to advise people to abide by the government directive on both old and new naira notes so that they would not run foul of the law.’’

To mitigate the difficulties facing the residents, the state government disclosed that it has arranged palliatives to cushion the effects of the fuel scarcity and the currency scarcity in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, explained in a statement on Sunday that the palliatives would include cash transfer to widows, pensioners, transporters, marketers, smallholder farmers, and other vulnerable people.

He added that the programme would be carried out by the Kwara State Social Investment Programme for proper coordination and accountability.

He added that the governor had directed KWASSIP to work out the details and deploy the modest support as soon as possible.

The CPS also said that the government would soon deploy free buses along specific students’ routes in the state.

“The governor has also directed the deployment of free buses along specific routes used by students and staff of tertiary institutions in the capital city where the effects of the fuel scarcity have been most pronounced. Further details of this palliative will be released by relevant government departments/committees”, the statement said.

To curb the rising tension over the scarcity of new naira notes, the Bayelsa State Police Command said it had beefed up security around banks and ATM points.

The command warned miscreants against unlawful assembly and violence due to the new naira notes’ crisis.

This was contained in a statement issued by the spokesman for the command, Asinim Butswat.

Bayelsa police

He said, “The Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, Ben Okolo, has charged Divisional Police Officers, Tactical Commanders, and other operatives to closely monitor banks and ATM points to forestall any breach of the peace.

“The command understands the plight of the masses and we are hopeful that the new measures introduced by the CBN will improve the circulation of the currency in the coming days.

“Miscreants, under any guise, are hereby warned to desist from carrying out any unlawful assembly to unleash violence in the state as the command will not allow any person(s) or group of persons to truncate the relative peace being enjoyed in the state.

“The command is appealing to members of the public to remain calm and go about their lawful and legitimate businesses as the command is poised to guarantee public safety and security.”

When asked if those rejecting old naira notes would be arrested, Butswat said the command did not receive such a directive.

“They (residents) should still accept it, because it’s still a legal tender,” he advised.

In a related development, the Zamfara state Anti-thuggery and Criminal Offences Committee has vowed to arrest anyone who refused to accept the old naira notes.

The committee chairman, Alhaji Bello Bakyasuwa, who monitored the filling stations and other business centres in Gusau, the capital city, said the old currency remained legal tender in the state as directed by Governor Bello Matawalle.

He vowed to arrest anyone who did not comply with the governor’s directive.

“My committee will instantly arrest any person who refuses to accept the old naira notes. My governor has given a directive for the arrest of those who do not accept the old naira notes as legal tender,’’ he declared.

At the NNPC Mega station along Gusau-Sokoto bypass, the chairman directed motorists to pay with either the old or new naira notes.

A motorist who gave his name as Alhaji Nasiru complained that he could not buy fuel at the station because the attendants rejected the old notes.

He, however, expressed delight with the Anti-thuggery committee which directed the fuel attendant to serve him.

At Abarunat filling station in Gusau, a fuel attendant identified as Mohammed Mustafa took to his heels on sighting the committee members because he was not allegedly collecting the old naira notes.

But he was arrested and brought to the station where he was directed to accept the old notes from the residents.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria on Sunday came hard on the CBN over its currency policy which it described as a disaster.

The organisation observed that Nigerians have continued to live in a gloomy atmosphere of fear on account of the insecurity in the country.

The Catholic Bishops called on candidates to be decent, respectable, peaceful and honest with Nigerians, rather than engage in mud-slinging, acrimony, arson, buying and selling of votes, threats, intimidation and violence.

The President of CBCN and Archbishop of Owerri, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji, stated these in his address delivered during the opening session of its 2023 First Plenary Assembly, which was held at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Resource Centre, Durumi in Abuja, on Sunday.

The conference was themed, ‘Citizens’ participation in good governance.’

Ugorji called on politicians to focus on marketing their manifestos, insisting that the quest for votes should never be perceived as battlefield encounters or do-or -die affairs.

The cleric said, “Our collapsing national economy worsens the ugly situation. While the value of the naira continues to decline, the cost of basic commodities, including food items, continues to soar, with serious effects on the lives and livelihoods of our people.

“On account of long-persisting fuel scarcity, Nigerians spend endless hours in long queues under harsh weather conditions trying to buy fuel at exorbitant prices.

“The disastrous implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash swap policy, which resulted in a cash crunch, has added to the ordeal, anger and frustration of the masses.

“On account of the hard-biting economic conditions, many of our brothers and sisters are pauperized and go to bed without food. Many of them are resorting to crime and begging to survive. This situation is further compounded by the growing debt burden that is mortgaging our future and the future of generations coming after us. The future of the country looks bleak.”

The bishop further noted that insecurity had continued to haunt Nigeria as Boko Haram militia, Fulani herdsmen, bandits and gunmen continued to unleash terror in different parts of the country.

The CBCN President said hundreds of lives had been lost in very brutal circumstances, while many more had equally been maimed.

He noted, “Communities have been sacked and their inhabitants displaced on account of the activities of unidentified persons and some government security agents. Kidnapping for ransom is on the increase.

“Nowhere seems safe: highways, homes and even the sacred precincts of worshipping centres. Some of our church personnel have been victims of abduction and arson. Our people have continued to live in a gloomy atmosphere of fear and groan with anguished hearts. The government seems overwhelmed by the situation, despite its claim that it is on top of the matter. However, all hope is not lost.’’

He said the untold and undeserved suffering to which Nigerians have been subjected over the years was a good preparation for them to vote wisely in the coming election.

Amidst the scarcity of both new and old naira notes in the country, residents of rural communities have adopted the ancient trade by barter to survive, Daily Trust reports.

Petty traders of perishable goods have also opened a ledger for their customers who are unable to pay for what they buy, hoping that they would sort it out when the cash crunch improves.

Nigerians are experiencing scarcity of the naira following the introduction of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1, 000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which fixed February 10 as the deadline to phase out of old notes before some governors dragged the federal government to the Supreme Court that temporarily stopped the process of declaring the old notes illegal tender.

Borno, Yobe villagers resort to barter, Niger’s currency

Villagers in Buhari and Damasak towns in Yusufari and Mobbar local government areas of Yobe and Borno states have resorted to trade by barter and using Niger’s CFA franc to transact businesses as naira notes cease to exist in the areas in the last two weeks.

These villages are far into the desert, bordering Diffa Province in Niger Republic.

Residents of the towns said they were already benefiting from the telecommunication and hospital services of the neighbouring country.

One of the residents, Modu Buhari, told our correspondent that a week before the earlier old currency swap deadline lapsed, many people that had reasonable cash deposited the money into their relative’s accounts to avoid losing them.

He said the account owners promised to help them withdraw the new notes to continue with their businesses.

“Unfortunately, we are in the third week now but the relatives still couldn’t withdraw the cash.

“Last week, some of us went to Gaidam with our grains and livestock to sell in exchange for cash for our daily spending, but we got into trouble instead.

“The buyers said they would only pay through bank transfer and none of us have bank accounts.

“In fact, we became stranded because the driver did not have money to refuel the car back home as he was waiting for us to sell our goods and settle him.

“Luckily, one of our customers stood for us before the car was refuelled and we returned home. We are stuck here; nobody goes anywhere.”

He said the situation was worse in adjoining villages because provision stores were forced out of business.

“To get condiments is now a problem. Oil, seasoning, detergent, rice, sugar, salt, matches and other essential items are not available because traders don’t have the cash to buy them,” he said.

He said people in villages had resorted to trade by barter.

“Initially, we would just ask if someone had what you wanted and he would gladly give it to you, but as the situation persisted, we started the exchange of foodstuffs and condiments amongst ourselves, which for now, has brought succour to many of us,” he said.

Another resident of the village, Mohammad Barama, told our correspondent that some residents and traders in border villages started using Niger Republic’s currency (CFA franc) to transact business.

“This has eased our suffering. Unfortunately, we are totally neglected by the Nigerian government; no one considers the kind of hardship we would go through if this policy continues,” he said.


Trade-by-barter becoming popular in South too

Daily Trust observed that traders in most neighbourhood markets in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria, have decided to sell their goods on credit to customers owing to the scarcity of the old and new naira notes. Petty traders dealing in perishable goods are the most affected.

“We have decided to open debtors’ books for our customers. This is a neighbourhood market and we know customers who will pay when they have the naira notes,” Kafilat Ebiseni, a trader at Oto market, Agbara area of Lagos, said.

Ebenezer Ayantunde, who sells plantain at a neighbourhood market at the Ijoko area of Lagos, said he had to sell out the goods at a cheaper rate before they would get spoiled.

“I had no option but to sell the plantain at a reduced rate because it was almost ripe. I don’t have a bank account but I know the people that bought them. I was also lucky to get N1, 000 from one of them, who promised to pay the balance later.

“I needed N1, 000 to take home to my family,” he said.

In Bayelsa State, rural dwellers have adopted the oldest form of commerce by exchanging goods for goods owing to the scarcity of naira notes in their communities.

Daily Trust gathered that most residents in the rural and coastal communities exchange goods such as fish with garri, yam and pepper, among others, to have what to eat.

According to a local fisherman in the Ayama-Ijaw community, Austin Ebiere, since there was no money in circulation and customers hardly buy his fish, he rather used the fish for other food commodities with others who might not have the cash to buy.

He said, “It is a strategy for survival. They told us that the old naira note would not be used by the end of January, so we found a way and deposited what we had at the bank, but after the extension of the deadline, we could not even remove our money from the bank again.

“That’s why we think that instead of dying of hunger, let us use what we have to survive – if you have garri and I have fish, we can exchange part of it so that both of us will have garri and fish. Even if you want to drink it, it is better than eating fish alone.”

He lamented that there was no bank in the community, noting that they always travelled to the state capital, Yenagoa to access banking services.

“You can see how frustrating it would be if you used the little money you had to pay for transport down there and at the end of the day you would not be able to withdraw your money,” he said.

Another resident from Agu community in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Kingsley Taribowei, said that due to the scarcity of naira notes, he exchanged the plantain he planted at his farm with other food items to survive.

He said, “This is better for us because we use the little cash we have to pay bills while we source what we eat around our neighbourhood here.

“Our prayer is that this current situation would not lead to a crisis in Nigeria. People are really suffering.”

A civil rights activist, David-West Bekinwariy David, said that people were passing through hardship due to difficult procedures in getting their money.

He urged the government to intervene for the good of the masses.

He wondered why people could be rich in the bank and poor at home due to the policy of the CBN.

He said, “If those of us in urban areas can find it difficult getting our money, be it at Point of Sale (POS), Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or even at banking halls, imagine what those in rural areas are passing through. They are really suffering.”

Meanwhile, the CBN has been using agents to drive its cash swap policy in Bayelsa communities to ensure availability of the newly redesigned notes to rural communities.

The apex bank, which recently made arrangements with super agents, as well as mobile money operators, to swap the old N200, N500 and N1, 000 for the new redesigned notes under the policy, said they would sanction any operator that hoards the new naira notes.

According to the apex bank, they were expected to swap up to N10, 000 per person, while amounts above N10, 000 would be treated as deposits, an initiative aimed at increasing circulation of the new naira dominations, particularly in the rural areas.

A manager at the CBN, Abuja branch, Mr Nweke Jude, during a visit to commercial banks in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital to monitor compliance, said the critical part of the assignment was to actually assess the newly introduced cash swap policy introduced by the CBN to ensure that ordinary people and the under-banked, especially in rural areas, would also have access to new notes through super agents and the banks.

Nweke said the goal was to reverse the trend of having much currency outside the banking sector stashed in houses and other areas, which has impacted negatively on the economy, causing inflation in the process.

Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has said that the introduction of naira redesign policy by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduced significantly the rate of kidnappings in the country.

The AGF, in an interview with Radio Nigeria Kaduna, said there were positive sides of the policy which were not considered.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by John Okoro had restrained the CBN from banning the use of the old naira notes – N200, N500 and N1,000 – from February 10.

The apex court made the ruling in an ex parte application brought by three states: Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.

Reacting to the ruling on Friday, Malami said, “I told you the case is still in court, we will obey the court order but we also have right to explain to court the positive sides of the policy.

“If you see the negative side of it, you have to see the positive sides. If these governors told the court the hardships been experienced as a result of the policy, there are also some problems that the policy is solving.

“I gave you example of insecurity. Immediately this policy was introduced, the rampant kidnapping has drastically reduced. It also reduced rate of corruption, therefore we have right to go and explain to court these positive sides.

“The court gave order without listening to government side but it fixed 15 February to hear from the government.

“Everybody knows part of the reasons Nigerians elected President Muhammadu Buhari is to fight corruption, insecurity and boost economy. The policy was introduced considering these and we will ask court to look at both sides of it.

By Alao Abiodun


When Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele announced plans to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes last year, there were fears that fake notes will also be in circulation.

In the wake of the current naira scarcity, many Nigerians, unknowingly, may have fallen victim of fake currency because of their inability to differentiate between real and fake redesigned naira notes.

Recently, the Enugu police command said its operatives arrested two suspects with fake redesigned notes in Ibagwa-Aka community of Igbo-Eze LGA of the state.

The suspects, were caught at a filling station with fake redesigned N1000 in 180 pieces “where they used the notes to purchase petrol”.

There are tight differences between a real naira note and its counterfeit. These differences are not hidden; they are there only if you look well enough, even for an untrained eye.

In some quarters, there have been misconceptions about the quality of the new naira notes, but the CBN said that the banknotes are protected by some security features to enable the easy recognition of genuine notes.

The apex bank also urged Nigerians to disregard the rumours that the new redesigned naira notes do bleach, and to also look out for portrait watermarks and windowed metallic security threads, among others.

Basic tips

1. Use of mercury bulbs
There are some texts that are not visible to the unclad eye; they are only visible through the rays from a mercury bulb.

If the money is in a stack or bundle and you want to test for counterfeits, arrange the monies properly and subject a side of it to rays from the mercury lamp. Mercury bulb is available at shops where electrical materials are sold, this method is preferable for business owners or people who handle bulk cash.


2. Paper and colour quality
While counterfeits are made of ordinary papers, real money is made of a special kind of paper. Feeling the paper-quality of counterfeits, you’ll find out that it’s just like that of paper found on the streets. The colours of counterfeits also betray it.


Official tips

Some of the security features, according to CBN, which can help one to identify fake redesigned naira notes include:

1. Intaglio: This is when the image on the naira note is incised into a surface, and the incised line or sunken area holds the ink.

2. Portrait watermark: Watermarks are typically transparent, so those viewing the image can still admire it. The new naira notes’ watermark is in portrait form.

3. Optically Viable Ink (OVI): The light reflects off OVI security ink when viewed at an angle. The light makes the ink’s colour appear different compared to looking at it straight.

4. Kinegram: This provides quality identification and security features for the new naira notes. You’ll see an image of the Nigerian Coat of Arms in the original new N1000 note.

5. Iridescent band: [/b]A symbol at the top of the new N1000 note changes when seen from different angles.

[b]6. Engraved portrait: The picture of Nnamdi Azikiwe in the new N500 note is being carved into a surface. The portrait is painted or sketched on the right side to enable you to identify the original.

Meanwhile, Naira notes are also protected against photocopying. There are also features, which are visible under ultraviolet light; for example, the serial number on each banknote is black, but turns green under ultraviolet light.

The truth is, anybody can be a victim, but one must remain vigilant, watchful and smart.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Senator Francis Fadahunsi, has asked Nigerian students to reject the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this month’s general elections.

According to him, the students must be wise not to go for another eight months strike like that of last year.

The senator in a statement by his media team also mocked the Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new naira and cashless policies that have subjected the masses to pains.

The Supreme Court had Wednesday in suit brought before it by the governments of Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna states gave an interim injunction against the CBN and federal government to allow old N200, N500 and N1000 to remain legal tender beyond the February 10 deadline until the case is fully disposed.

Reacting, Fadahunsi hailed the Supreme Court for saving the Nigerian masses and democracy.

He however said Tinubu was silence over the issue, thinking the decision will favour his presidential ambition.

The statement read, “Sen. Fadahunsi describes the decision of Supreme Court as succour on hardship for the Masses.

“Fadahunsi who represents Osun East senatorial district opined that the law for the currency swap was done without considering the hardship on the Masses and its detrimental effect on development.

“The federal Lawmaker said any decision that put the common man in suffering must be banned since the policy is not bringing relief to the people;

“I told my fellow members at the National Assembly before we went on vacation that currency swap knew no level. With masses greatly suffering to get cash, we, the higher class, are stuck to get cash. Meaning, the decision is to suffer candidates and voters ahead of the forthcoming election.

“You can't go to cashless economy without educating the people since we are a democratic country where foundational policies must be properly addressed before far fetching. This development will teach federal government lesson to deal with commoners in polite way. The supreme court ruling is a great development for Common Man and must continue to stand with her decisions without sabotage."

“He described the fuel and cash scarcity as bad occurrence never experienced by Nigerians which has affected the All Progressive Congress APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who thinks the decision prior to implementation will favour his presidential ambition.

“Fadahunsi admonished electorates to vote for Atiku Abubakar and other People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in the forthcoming February 25, polls for economy revival. He said the PDP is committed to bring poverty to and end for the masses and also end hunger while ushering a season of enormous prosperity for all and sundry.

“Nigerians has been deceived in the last seven years of the APC led administration, bringing hardship without remedy. People's Democratic Party (PDP) is on verge to win elections in my senatorial district likewise other parts of the country. Our people must send APC packing in Nigeria by voting them out. In fact, Nigerian students must be wise not wanting to go for another eight months strike like that of last year, to vote out the broom party.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria, on Friday, listed money bouquets as a form of naira abuse.

The apex bank made this known in a flier shared on its Twitter handle that listed forms of abusing the naira.

Alongside money bouquet, other forms of abuse listed by the CBN are spraying, selling, squeezing and defacing.

Urging citizens to report the abuse of the naira, the CBN captioned the post, “It is your civic duty to protect the naira. Report naira abuse today.”

It also provided toll-free hot-lines through which the apex bank could be reached to report such activities

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had said it will arraign an actress and cosmetologist, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, who was arrested last Wednesday by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, for allegedly abusing the naira.

The 31-year-old was arrested after a video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned naira notes at a party surfaced online.

This was as operatives of the Lagos zonal command of the EFCC commenced an investigation into the matter, noting that it was an offence contrary to Section 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.

EFCC operatives also seized a Range Rover and iPhone belonging to the actress, as items recovered from her.

Section 21 (1) of the CBN Act reads that “A person who tampers with a coin or note issued by the Bank is guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 67 new broadcast licenses.

This brings the total number of approved broadcast licenses by Buhari to 473 with the number of functional broadcast stations in Nigeria rising to 740.

The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Malam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah disclosed this on Thursday at a briefing in Abuja.

Ilelah also said the monitoring of broadcast stations was on.

He said a Central Monitoring Committee has been set up to provide a rapid response to unethical practices.

He also appealed to broadcast stations yet to settle their outstanding dues to do so.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos, says Manir Dan’Iya, deputy governor of Sokoto, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The development comes hours after Aminu Abubakar, Iya’s spokesperson, told TheCable that his principal is still a member of the PDP.

The Sokoto deputy governor was responding to a viral letter circulating online which was allegedly written by him to his ward chairperson that he had resigned from the PDP.

Speaking at the unveiling of the 10,000 foot soldiers for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign, Sanwo-Olu said Dan Iya defected with 10 commissioners.

“I have this for all of us, the current deputy governor of Sokoto just decamped this morning to APC, and he did that with 10 commissioners,” Sanwo-Olu said.

On his part, Babatunde Fashola, minister of works, also said the Sokoto deputy governor has joined the APC.

“It is not that we will not beat them; it is how convincingly we can do that. In 2019, when the presidential candidates of PDP, NNPP, and LP were in the same party, the APC defeated them by 3.9 million votes,” the minister said.

“When they were together, they were not enough to challenge. How can a sum total of what wasn’t enough now be enough when you have broken it into three parts? The arithmetic doesn’t hard up. We have the largest number of registered voters. It must count.

“Just this morning, the Sokoto deputy governor defected from their party to APC. We are playing the game of addition and multiplication; they are playing that of division and subtraction.”

Oil marketers, on Wednesday, said the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, had not yet stabilise and this was why queues were still prevalent in many parts of Nigeria, aside Abuja where it had reduced.

Reacting to the statement of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, that fuel queues would clear in one week, the marketers expressed optimism, but insisted that it would be tough to enforce the N195/litre government-approved price on all filling stations.

This came as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria revealed on Wednesday that NNPC had promised IPMAN that it had set aside about 140 million litres of PMS for members of the association in a bid to address their fuel supply challenges.

Commenting on the remarks made by Kyari as regards clearing fuel queues, the Secretary, IPMAN Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, “We cannot just conclude now that the problem is over, but I know that we have to give it a week or there about, to see how the situation will be, before concluding.

“The NNPC boss is an authority and we are not going to dispute that, but we hope so, because it is our prayer that all these problems are resolved. I am not going to dispute his position, but as I speak with you, our members across the country are still not getting the product the way they should.

“And there are those who bought products at higher rates. Government is now telling them to sell at the government approved rate and that there will be enforcement, which, of course, is going to be difficult to implement. It is a challenge as far as we are concerned.”

Explaining why the queues in Abuja were subsiding, which was not the case in other states, Shuaibu said this was because the seat of government was in Abuja, adding that the government gave a marching order on PMS supply to the capital city.

“It is an embarrassment to the government for the queues to continue in Abuja. So it gave marching orders to douse the tension in Abuja. But most people are going to ask about why we still have queues and lack of products in Lagos, contrary to what we see in Abuja,” he stated.

The IPMAN official added, “However, I’ll say that I believe that this naira scarcity could also be a factor, because people hardly get money to go to the market and people are really going through hell right now.

“The cash crunch is affecting both the oil marketer and the customers of our products. There is no cash, you can’t travel to perfect some transactions, even the Internet services are not functioning as expected. You encounter difficulties when trying to make transfers.”

This came as the National President, IPMAN, Debo Ahmed, announced in a notice to his members that following a meeting held on February 7, 2023, between the National Executive Council of the association and the Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, the national oil firm promised to set aside 140 million litres of PMS for independent marketers.

The notice read in part, “NRL (NNPC Retail Limited) assured IPMAN that the over 4,000 tickets we paid for shall be loaded as soon as possible. That about 140 million litres of PMS have been set aside for our immediate load out.

“The MD, NRL apologised for their systems’ inability to accommodate differential payments as they were not configured to do so causing them to resort to a manual method which led to about 10 -12days delay in products evacuation.

“All marketers that paid through the old PPMC portals and are unable to access their payments or having their payments on dynamic mode, should submit all their details to their respective unit chairmen for onward transmission to the national secretariat of IPMAN for compilation and further action.”

Ahmed said the NRL had entered into a lot of through-put agreements with Private Depot Owners aimed at ameliorating the suffering of members in loading their products.

He said serious efforts were ongoing to transfer some PMS to Port Harcourt Refinery Depot in the nearest possible time if assurances of minimal losses were obtained by all stakeholders.

“A lot of PDOs have been engaged to solely load out IPMAN products already paid for. A guide will soon be worked out on how marketers can seamlessly navigate the NRL customers portal for new registration and update of their information like additional outlet(s),” the IPMAN president stated.

He added, “Marketers are expected to upload a valid NMDPRA permit or proof of payment of a permit on the portal when a provision is made for that by the end of this month to be able to access the portal afterwards.

“Marketers are enjoined to shun diversion, sell their products at government approved bands and avoid tarmac sale of tickets as defaulters will face the full wrath of the law.”

He urged marketers to kindly direct their depot reps at various loading depots to conclude all the processes of programming their tickets for loading within the 21 days window.

Ahmed said any staff(s) of NRL asking for any favour in whatever way(s) before attending to any marketers’ rep or batching their products should report immediately to their respective IPMAN unit chairmen who would relay to the national secretary or president for immediate action.

“All recognised IPMAN unit chairmen at our loading depots are empowered to ensure seamless batching and loading of marketers’ tickets.

“Finally, take this little available grace to dispose your old stock and do not buy another stock if you cannot sell at govt approved prices,” he stated.

Rashida Bello, the wife of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with alleged N3bn fraud.

Rashida was charged before a federal high court in Abuja alongside Ali Bello, identified as a nephew to the governor.

The EFCC in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the Bello was arraigned on Wednesday alongside three other persons on an 18-count charge “bordering on criminal misappropriation and money laundering to the tune of N3,081,804,654″.

The charge reads in part, “That you, Ali Bello, Abba Adaudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege, Iyada Sadat, Rashida Bello (at large) sometime in June, 2020 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court procured E-Traders International Limited to retain the aggregate sum of N3,081,804,654.00 (Three Billion, Eighty One Million, Eight Hundred and Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty Four Naira) which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful activity to wit: criminal misappropriation, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 18(a), 15(20)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday re-arraigned a social media influencer and comedienne, Adedamola Adewale alias Adeherself, for alleged of N7.9 million internet fraud.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adewale was charged alongside two others at large, on a three-count charge of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, attempt to obtain money by false pretences and retention of proceeds of a criminal conduct.

She, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge before Justice Mojisola Dada of an Ikeja Special Offences Court.

EFCC counsel, Mr Samuel Daji, informed the court that the case was re-assigned, and urged it to remand the defendant pending commencement of trial.

Daji argued that the case was new before the court and there was need for proper bail application by defence.

He said: “My lord, this case was heard before Justice Sherifat Solebo before she retired, and when it was transferred to this honourable court, I informed my learned friend that the case would be coming up on Jan. 25.

“He said he thought it was the day before.

“This is a matter that is starting afresh before your lordship, and we do not know if the sureties, who stood for her earlier, are dead or not.

“It is proper for defence to apply afresh for bail before your lordship.”

Defence counsel, Mr Kassim Molade, however, prayed the court to retain the bail granted by Solebo to the defendant, pending filing of a new bail application.

According to Molade, the defendant has not been absent from court and is ready to make herself available for trial.

“We passionately urge your lordship to allow the defendant to continue to enjoy the bail given to her by the sister court.

“The reason we were not here on Jan. 25 is that prosecution did not get back to me.

“I assure your lordship that before the close of today, I will rush to the sister court to get a copy on the ruling on the bail application,” he said.

The judge consequently retained the bail granted to the defendant by Solebo pending filing of a new bail application by defence counsel.

Dada also ordered the defendant to present her bank statement of account within three weeks.

She held that failure to do so would make the court to order her remand.

The EFCC alleges that the defendant with two others, Lasisi Adeleke and Sodiq Adeleke, still at large, with intent to defraud, attempted to obtain $6, 000 from one Mr Joseph Rumoro on the pretext that the money was meant for procurement of his passport and visa as well as tax payment.

The commission also alleges that Adewale retained in her bank account, proceeds of cybercrime to the tune of N7.9 million.

The alleged offences contravene Sections 8(a) and 1(3), 8(b) and 1(3) and 17 (a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences, 2006.

The case has been adjourned until April 18 for commencement of trial.

(NAN)

By Chinagorom Ugwu


The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has endorsed the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 25 February general elections.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Chiedozie Ogbonnia, on Tuesday, Ohanaeze said, apart from them, other regional socio-political groups also endorsed Mr Obi during their gathering at Wells Carlton Hotel, Asokoro, Abuja on Thursday.

The other groups which endorsed LP candidate during the gathering, according to the statement, included the Middle Belt Forum led by its president, Bitrus Porgu, the Pan Niger Delta Forum led by Edwin Clarke, the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, led by Ayo Adebanjo.

Ohanaeze said the groups separately acknowledged that Mr Obi has the needed capacity and competence to rescue Nigeria from its current woes and urged Nigerians to recognise and seize the rare opportunity which the LP candidate has provided.

“In unison, all acknowledged that Obi is the best thing God has done for Nigeria in this century; a game changer, soldier of morals, democracy archetype, the popular sentiment of Nigerian youths, an abundance philosopher, prudent resource manager, ethnic barrier-breaker and a quintessential audacious Igbo icon,” the group said.

It urged Igbos to remember that “politics is not always the art of the possible, but most times the art of choosing between the reasonable alternatives.”

The group suggested that it would be needless and counterproductive for residents of the South-east to continue their agitation against perceived marginalisation of the region and work against the LP candidate ahead of the general elections.

“Now that Nigerians are moving from a winter of despair to a summer of hope, through our son, Mr Peter Obi, is it sensible that agitations based on marginalisation and other forms of relative deprivations should continue?

“Is it sensible to turn the barrel of the gun inwards? And is it sensible for any noble Igbo son and daughter to embark on self-destruction such as the sit-at-home syndrome, destruction of public utilities, among others,” Ohanaeze stated.


2023: ‘It’s South-east’s turn’

Ohanaeze said although the group does not “wax eloquent on partisan politics,” it maintains the earlier stand that it is the turn of the South-east to produce a Nigerian president in 2023.

“It is to this end, that Ohanaeze insists that going by the political culture of sharing, zoning and rotation of power which have been in existence since the Nigeria came into existence, it is the turn of the South-east to produce a president for Nigeria in 2023,” the group said, insisting that the position is irrevocable.


‘PDP, APC machinations’

There have been calls from South-east leaders that the region should be allowed to produce a president for the first time in 2023.

But the ruling All Progressives Congress and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the two dominant political parties in Nigeria, picked their candidates outside the region during their separate presidential primaries in May.

The two parties subsequently ignored the region in the selection of their vice-presidential candidates.

Ohanaeze criticised what it termed “machinations” by the political parties against the South-east’s chances of producing a president in 2023.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo watched with keen interest, sadness and reproach the bourgeois cash and carry politics, conspiracy, cold intrigues, betrayals, hypocrisy, opportunism and other forms of machinations within the mainstream political parties, against the South-east, even from the least expected,” it said.


‘Obi’s formidable structure’

Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was among the presidential aspirants in the PDP in 2022.

He left the party a few days to the PDP primary saying there were practices in the party inconsistent with his “persona and beliefs.” He later joined the LP.

Since his emergence as the LP candidate ahead of the 2023 general election and subsequent picking of Yusuf Ahmed-Datti as running mate, there has been growing support for his candidacy mainly in the South-east and South-south regions of the country.

However, his opponents have repeatedly claimed the LP candidate would not win the 25 February poll because of his lack of political structure.

But Ohanaeze dismissed the “lack of structure” comment, saying the growing support for Mr Obi and his running mate, Mr Ahmed-Datti, has developed into the needed political structure for electoral victory.

“Students of political history will readily recall that it is the ideas from gifted men that develop concentrically into ideology, movements, revolutions and finally to a political structure. And today, the Obi-Datti movement has become an enviable irreversible, irrepressible and formidable structure in Nigeria,” Ohanaeze said.

Author Success Nwogu


The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), has identified some factors as having led to the current lingering scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol. MOMAN Executive Secretary, Mr Clement Isong, in an interview with New Telegraph, said the transition plan before the Petroleum Industry Act to its implementation were yet to be published. He noted that this had led to non-clarity in the downstream sector or the market.

He also noted that the suspension of an aspect of the PIA, which is the implementation of the withdrawal of subsidy of PMS by ‘fiat’ led to non-clarity in the market. He pointed out that global inflation affected operations in the importation and distribution of PMS, adding that smuggling of petrol had increased, thereby reducing the quantity available for local demand.

According to him, even some transporters that were supposed to transport petroL leum products, have surprisingly become traders themselves. He revealed that some of the drivers had bought the product at ex-depot price and sold it at exorbitant amounts to filling stations. The MOMAN Executive Secretary also identified panic buying as a causative factor.

He stated that as a result, demand increased but that the supply of petrol from the vessels to the mainland did not go up to meet the demand onshore, leading to an increase in the price of PMS. Isong said: “For me, the government passed the PIA in August 2024, We have gone for many months now, it is partially implemented.

Many things that are passed in the PIA are not implemented but there was no law that was passed to guide us through this transition period. “The PIA said that there will be guidelines to lead through the transition between what used to happen and the regime under the PIA deregulation. That transition plan was never published “So there is a lot of confusion in the market. As far as the law is, there is no authority that can set prices right now because what the law says is that pricing should be over market pricing. That is the current state of the law.

But that part of the law was suspended by the fiat. “So when you suspend it by fiat, what is the current position? Because that law also scrapped the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the laws that allowed anybody to set prices.

So all of a sudden, I have a situation where Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has brought products, and the bulk of that product that they have brought is offshore. That product, if it is to be effective, should be not just at the depots but at all the filling stations across the country. “So in a world in which we are supposed to be living and working in the old template and of the old pricing and the costs have gone up due inflation.

This is inflation is not local, there is worldwide inflation due to high logistics costs. It is not just in Nigeria. Freight costs have gone up all over the world. Marine freight cost and land freight cost, those costs, if you do not provide for their recovery, no entrepreneur, no businessman, except exceptionally bold ones will incur those costs.

“So we are in a world where NNPCL by itself can not bring all the products onshore alone by itself. It needs entrepreneurs to hire vessels and take the product to their depots and distribute the product from their depots. But many of these entrepreneurs are stopped from doing that because there is no framework for price recovery.

“The ones that are doing it are doing it and are charging exorbitant prices to cover their risks which is what led to very high ex-depot prices because NNPCL was bringing it all alone. But I do not think NNPCL can bring in more than 30 to 50 per cent of the country’s demand. Meanwhile, the demand has gone up, in my opinion, for two reasons.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it uncovered an alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders led by its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to exchange N22.5 billion stashed old Naira notes in Kano State for new ones to carry out vote buying during the general elections.

The PDP in a statement by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, said information available to the party revealed that the criminal act by the APC was responsible for the biting cash scarcity and was being coordinated in the North-West region by two APC state governors.

The statement reads: “The PDP has been made aware that the N22.5 billion in old N1000 notes was allegedly kept in a Kano State Government facility before being moved to a particular old generation and a certain new generation bank where the regional heads were contacted by the APC Presidential Campaign to swap the old notes with new ones.

“Further information revealed that the cash is being warehoused by the Tinubu Campaign for vote buying in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Jigawa and Sokoto States. A particular APC State governor is reported to have taken delivery of N500 million new Naira notes to actualize the vote buying plot.

“Also, there is intelligence that arrangement has been concluded by APC leaders to move a substantial part of the old naira notes from Kano to Lagos State between today and tomorrow for the purposes of swapping them with new ones.

“It would be recalled that the PDP had earlier alerted Nigerians that corrupt APC leaders are compromising the system to mop up the new bank notes for their selfish vote-buying plans ahead of the February 25 presidential election.”

“The party alerts the security agencies and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of this nefarious activity by APC leaders which is bringing untold hardship to Nigerians,” the PDP statement added.

The opposition party demanded that the APC stop "this criminal act," recover the money, and make the new Naira notes available to the public.”

The PDP urged all Nigerians to stand firm against the APC's heinous attempt to buy their conscience and subject them to another harrowing tenure of killings, violence, kidnapping, and economic hardship that has become the APC administration's hallmark over the last seven and a half years.

The President of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said, “The challenge we are facing in the downstream oil sector centres around the limited supply of petroleum products. The government should make this product available by trying to eradicate these supply.

challenges in order to ameliorate the plights of the masses. For how long are we going to continue like this?”

Also speaking, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Debo Ahmed, said PMS supply by NNPC was not enough, as he urged the government to increase its output.

As the fuel and currency scarcity slowly paralysed socio-economic activities across the country, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has come under pressure to find a solution to the crises which have subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.
Nigerians, including senators, governors and youths on social media, are insisting that the President must immediately resolve the new naira note crisis, which sparked violent riots in Edo and Oyo states last week.

The All Progressives Congress governors had on Friday met the President with a view to persuading him to end the new naira notes crisis.

On Sunday, Kunle Somorin the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said his boss and other APC governors were in serious talks with the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, over the new naira notes scarcity.

According to him, Abiodun is fully in support of other governors on the issue of the new notes.

Somorin said, “He (Abiodun) said he has taken it up with his colleagues at the highest level. They are discussing with the CBN governor and the Presidency with a view to having a lasting solution and in the next few days if not hours, relief will come our people’s way. He was with other APC governors in Abuja. He is with them on the issue.”

Speaking further, he said, “That is why the governor has suspended his campaign because it does not make sense for him to be dancing while people are complaining about lack of fuel and inadequate access to exchange the old notes.”

Also, with few days left out of the seven-day period requested by Buhari to solve the new naira crisis, Nigerians on social media urged him to come up with a solution before the expiration of the period.

Buhari had on Friday appealed to Nigerians for a seven-day period to solve the crisis brought about by the naira swap policy.

A poll conducted by The PUNCH indicated that 68.3 per cent of Twitter users demanded an immediate solution to the crisis before seven days while 31.7 per cent backed the full seven-day period.

One Twitter user, @tulugolota, said even if Buhari was “given 10 years, he will still fail to do anything just as he has been failing since.”

On Instagram, @validator444, said “Seven days for what? After the pain and suffering, he has caused Nigerians?”
On his part, @officialmeri_madeinheaven said seven days “makes absolutely no sense with all that is happening in Nigeria at this time.”

Waiting seven days is a “sign of ineptitude and uncaring leadership,” said @adeyemi78ngus.@

In a tweet, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, described the current crisis as criminal and urged Nigerians to resist it.

“The criminal currency crisis was engineered by @mbuhari and @Emefiele to attack the existence of Nigerians. It must be resisted by all! #Revolutionnow #Wecantcontinuelikethis,” he wrote.

On his part, the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, ordered the opening of branches of the state-owned microfinance bank in the 17 local government areas of the state to enable the citizens to have access to financial services.

He posted on Facebook, “As a government, it is our responsibility to look into all possible solutions to help our citizens access financial services. To achieve this, I have directed that the state-owned Yobe Microfinance Bank opens branches in each of the state’s 17 local governments.”

When asked if Buhari should intervene in the fuel crisis, 81 per cent of respondents on Twitter voted Yes while 19 per cent voted No.

One Twitter user, @Bq_rhymez, asked, “Isn’t it the petroleum minister’s duty to ensure that Nigerians don’t suffer fuel scarcity? Now we have to take a survey for people to know what their duties are. what a shame.”

Oke Umurhowo who identifies himself as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party also tweeted, “Buhari, Focus on using the last few months of your administration to resolve the lingering fuel issue, naira scarcity, hardships and insecurity.“

Also on Twitter, a Nigerian, Utitofon Jeremiah said, “Muhammadu Buhari, pls stop these fuel queues and high cost, with the scarcity of money due to Emefiele’s mismanagement of the Naira redesign. Citizens are starving sir.

No money, no fuel. Just imagine the hardship.

Things going bad.”

‘Yobe problems serious

On his part, Mamman Mohammed, the spokesman for the Yobe State governor, told The PUNCH on the phone that continued usage of old naira notes beyond the February 10 was not an issue in the state.

He stated, “The persistence of the problems associated with new banknotes; whether the February 10 deadline is realistic or not; and whether the governor stands by the position of his colleagues, do not constitute our problems here.

“Our problem as a state ravaged by insurgency is wider and more serious than all these. We are in a peculiar situation and, therefore, have a peculiar problem.

“We have an acute shortage of banks across the state where proper banking services that can ensure a smooth bank-customer relationship can be guaranteed.

“You need to have enough banks where services can be provided before you begin to talk of continuation of the usage of old notes or any problems associated with the new notes.”

The Special Adviser to Gombe State Governor, Ahmed Shuaibu-Gara Gombe, told one of our correspondents that the challenges brought by the new notes had not ended in the state.

He said, “The few ATMs dispensing the few new naira notes are jam-packed by the middle class. The lower class is suffering innocently.”

Also, some National Assembly members, who spoke to The PUNCH, urged the President to intervene, adding that the fuel and new naira notes crises were affecting turnout at campaign rallies.

The senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Nicholas Tofowomo asked Buhari to sack the CBN governor and prosecute him for disobeying the resolution of the senate directing the extension of the deadline for the old N1,00, N500 and N200 notes to May.

Tofowomo, in a statement on Sunday by his media aide, Mr Olumide Akinrinlola, said Emefiele’s alleged disobedience to the senate resolution had caused hardship and resulted in protests over the scarcity of the new naira notes in parts of the country.

He said, “By now, the CBN governor should be in prison for disobeying the senate and dishonouring its resolution and causing naira scarcity.

‘’Imagine the scarcity of petrol and the rising inflation in the country, we still find it very difficult to have access to cash because Emefiele is lawless and very stubborn.

“As a sitting senator, I was in the bank on Friday to apply for a little cash, but I didn’t get anything. My cheque was returned to me because the bank didn’t have enough new naira notes to pay customers.

‘’They told me they had paid out what they had for that day even though many customers were still inside the banking hall stranded and shouting.

“In my senatorial district, there are many unbanked residents. More than 300 communities do not have access to commercial banks. For the few with bank accounts, they will need to travel far to locate a bank.

‘’Thousands of residents are suffering now because they don’t have access to cash to feed their families and transact business. They submitted their old notes in line with the CBN directives by all means, but now, the CBN has failed to fulfil its part by providing new notes for them.’’

The Chairman Senate committee on Media and Public Affairs and the Senate spokesperson, Ajibola Basiru, explained that the CBN policy was beginning to affect the turnout at campaign rallies.

“We transfer money electronically to our suppliers but the feedback we get from our constituents is that the public is not happy about the way the policy is being implemented.

ATM queues

“The masses are constrained; some cannot even attend our rallies because they are either in bank or ATM queues,’’ he noted.

He insisted that the President must intervene and let the CBN do the right thing.

He said, “This is not the first time in the world that a currency is being changed. It has been done in a way that didn’t inflict hardship on people. But the way the CBN is handling the redesign is inflicting hardship on the people unnecessarily.“

The senator noted that from his observation, he was not sure that the CBN had put out enough money even for the minimum threshold that it set.

He said, “The new policy states that a person is entitled to a cash withdrawal of N500,000 a week. I am not sure even the banks get up to N1m to serve the entire community.

“This is a failure on the part of the CBN and the President needs to immediately attend to the issue. He doesn’t have to wait for the seven days he spoke about. If he delays further, the issue may escalate into further consequences across the country.”

Also, the senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi complained that the lack of cash had been tough and had somewhat slowed things down.

He said, “It’s a bit hard to get money for our logistics, but we are surviving. It’s something we have to pass through. We have been devising means by paying for our purchases through electronic means.’’

He also mentioned the low turnout of people at the campaign rallies because they had to queue for money.

He said, “The people haven’t been forthcoming at rallies because they have to go and look for money. People need money to survive. It is hard for now but with time it will get easy. People should just endure for a while; it’s for our utmost good. It will become better. “

A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulrazak Namdas, (APC/Adamawa), stated, “The policy is affecting everybody, it is not only the politicians. It is not even affecting just a party but everybody.

‘’Whoever is thinking that they are going to benefit from this, at the end of the day, they would realise that this policy is likely to affect every one of us. There is no market that says if you are APC, you can queue here and buy without cash. All of us require cash.”

Another member of the House, Babatunde Hunpe (APC/Lagos), also lamented the cash scarcity, which he said made it difficult for him to mobilise farmers and fishermen who constitute the majority of his constituents.

Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna State chapter, has demanded the probe of banks hoarding the new naira notes just to inflict pain on Nigerians.

The CAN Chairman, Rev. John Hayab in a statement in Kaduna on Sunday, called on the CBN ‘’to do everything possible within its power to ensure that the new notes circulate to end the stress being faced by the Nigerian masses in accessing the new notes.’’

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said the federal parliament would have no option but to reconvene before the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25 if the CBN to address the hardships Nigerians face due to its currency swap policy.

Gbajabiamila noted that the House would continue to closely monitor the CBN’s implementation of the policy, following the Green Chamber’s meeting with Emefiele on the issue.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, quoted Gbajabiamila to have made this known at a town hall meeting with some ethnic groups in Surulere, Lagos.

‘Policy affects citizens’

The Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Idayat Hassan, said the policy was hard on citizens, adding that it was the government’s job to serve citizens, and not make life difficult.

On his part, the Executive Director of the United Global Resolve for Peace, Olaseni Shalom, said “It is a pity that we have spineless political leadership in the country. When you feel the heartbeat and the pulse of your citizens as regards a policy, to make a U-turn in policy implementation is not a weakness at all.’’

A group under the aegis of North-West Tinubu/ Shettima Campaign Support Group said the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai was right in his claims that some elements in the Presidency were behind the crisis in the country aimed at thwarting the chances of the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25 poll.

Briefing journalists in Kano on Sunday, the Director of the group, Bappa Babba-Danagundi, said, “The change of the currency has put people in hardships. What sort of country is this?’’

Regardless of the reason for the policy, Danagundi admonished the authorities to make the new naira notes available, especially for salary earners and owners of small businesses to ease their pain.

This is as an unknown group, Sunday, shared fliers of a planned ‘Buhari Must Go’ protests on the popular microblogging platform, Twitter.

It called for protests across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory on Monday (today).

“Protests in all major cities on Monday, February 6, 2023. No fuel, No naira APC administration,” it stated.

But despite the challenges occasioned by the naira redesign, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has urged Nigerians to bear the pain and inconvenience.

He said the policy would bring significant long-term economic and social benefits if sustained.

Obi in a statement on his verified social media handles said: “The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain, but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits.

Meanwhile, the South-West zone of the National Association of Nigerian Students has said it would sustain protests till the government acted on the fuel and naira notes scarcity.

Speaking with our correspondent, the Coordinator of NANS, South-West, Olatunji Adegboye said, “We will soon make our plans known but we are planning protests across our zones. It’s not going to be a one-day protest. We are going to sustain it till the fuel scarcity ends and naira is made available.”

“President Buhari, seven days is too much for a decision to be taken on a crisis that is already threatening our national security and economy. The more time you take, the more saboteurs have a hold on turning it into a bigger crisis. Consult properly and make a decision now.

As both the new and the old naira notes remained scarce around the country, Point of Sale operators have developed new strategies to access naira notes.

The PUNCH learnt that the agents had been getting cash from filling stations, supermarkets and hotels.

Andrew, who operates in the Lugbe area of the FCT, claimed he paid N2,000 commission to get N20,000 from a filling station in the Central Business District.

Another operator, Chika, stated, “As of today, I don’t give customers more than N1,500. That is the maximum amount. I suffered to get this money and it is not easy. I got it from a filling station. The fuel attendants are extorting us.

“This has also affected my charges. I now charge N150 for every N1,500 withdrawn. Customers have to understand because it is not easy at all.”

Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday in Laos, Oluwaseyi Efuwape, a POS operator, told our correspondent that he had resorted to buying cash from restaurants, sellers, and hotels as well as filling stations to continue to stay in the business.

According to him, the cash available at the commercial banks was not enough to carry out his daily transactions.

He said, “I buy cash from food sellers, meat sellers as well as from fuel attendants. Sometimes, I visit hotels to get some cash too. I buy it from whoever has enough cash.”

He told The PUNCH that there was no fixed charge on the notes in the black market, noting that the rate depend on the seller of the currency and that the price could go as high N20, 000 per N100,000.

He said, “For instance, on N50,000, I could pay N5000. And sometimes other people could charge N20,000 on N100,000.

“If you are lucky enough, some of these places may collect very small charges from you but others will place exorbitant prices on each transaction.”

A similar occurrence was recounted by Bisi Adeyi, a POS operator in Berger, according to her, she travelled as far as the island to buy her the naira.

She said supplied other operators who need the cash for their daily transactions.

Adeyi further disclosed that she visit marketplaces to enquire who had enough cash from market women and filling stations.

She said, “I have bought as much as N100,000 with a charge of N10,000 from a market woman who wanted to sell.”

When our correspondent visited God’s Decision fuel station located at Ikotun area of Lagos state on Saturday, it was observed that the fuel attendant directed customers to a PoS operator for the collection of money.

It was also observed that the fuel stations added extra charges added to the actual amount a customer is supposed to pay.

“Please sir, you have to add an extra N100 for the PoS charges if you want to pay through that means unless you want to give us cash.”

When our correspondent queried what the money was for he said, “The extra charge is for the withdrawal of the money paid into the PoS. If you pay with cash there is no extra charge.”

Our correspondent also observed that the use of the PoS caused a very long queue chaos at the fuel station as customers will have to wait for confirmation of alert from the PoS operator before the product can be sold.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has reportedly uncovered N6m new naira notes in a bank along Bank Road, Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

This was revealed in a video which is trending online and sighted by correspondent

In the video, a CBN Deputy Director, Oluwole Owoeye, uncovered the newly redesigned currencies in N200 denomination in the bank while leading a team of officials of the apex bank on monitoring exercise in the state.

Owoeye said the bank had no excuse to keep the new banknotes it had collected from the CBN for almost two weeks.

He said, “They have six million naira which they have collected from the bank (CBN)for almost two weeks. They have not dispensed any. They said they are yet to configure their ATM.

“I don’t know why. I have brought their attention to the penalty clause of one million per day. They have five ATMs. They don’t have any reason for keeping this money”.

According to him, the zonal service manager of the bank said that the money would be loaded to ATM “by 10am latest tomorrow, because I told him by latest 10:00am I’ll be here and I want to see the machine dispensing this money”.

But an official of the bank, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the incident happened when the redesigned notes newly got into circulation weeks ago.
He said, “The bank’s ATMs have been dispensing new notes since. The bank did not hoard the money, The incident happened some weeks ago when the redesigned notes newly got to circulation. That was before the bank reconfigured its ATMs.”

In a related development, as the fuel scarcity bites harder, operators in the oil and gas sector have called on the President to resolve the challenge by directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase the volume of petrol being released to marketers.

Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a 30-year-old man, Michael Ogundele for shooting and injuring Tobi Olabisi for having love affair with his younger sister.

The command’s spokesman, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi in a release revealed that the suspect was arrested following a report lodged at Idiroko Divisional headquarters by one Alpha Akeem a community leader in Ihunbo town, who came to the station with the injured victim and reported that the suspect who has been warning the victim to stop having love affair with his younger sister fired a gunshot at him, but the victim narrowly escaped death.

Upon the report, the DPO Idiroko division, CSP Ayo Akinsowon quickly mobilized his detectives to go after the suspect and he was subsequently arrested.

“On interrogation, the suspect claimed to have warned the victim to desist from dating his younger sister but refused.

According to IPOB, the plan is to assassinate the PDP candidate in the South-East region of Nigeria.

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has claimed that its intelligence unit has uncovered a plan by some unscrupulous politicians to attack and assassinate the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

According to IPOB, the plan is to assassinate the PDP candidate in the South-East region of Nigeria.

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, alleged that the plan is to use the attack to blackmail the separatist group (IPOB), its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, popularly known as Obidients.

The pro-Biafra group said its intelligence unit, the M-Branch “uncovered a plan by some unscrupulous politicians to cause a crisis in the country against IPOB and Ndigbo all over the country”.

“This group is planning to assassinate Atiku Abubakar in the southeastern part of Nigeria and claim it is done by unknown gunmen, ESN/IPOB, or the Obidient group,” the statement also said.

According to IPOB, the assassination will lead to a revolt against the people of the region and riots against the Southeasterners in the northern and western regions of the country.

IPOB said, “Ndigbo will be massacred mercilessly, and their properties will be destroyed. Even the supporters of Peter Obi will not be spared in these areas.

“We are drawing the attention of Biafrans around Nigeria to be very careful and cautious of this evil plot primarily targeted at Peter Obi and IPOB.

“Their plans are to turn other ethnic groups in Nigeria against Ndigbo and possibly thwart the proposed selection process called 2023 election.

“The Agendists are jittery about losing the election or Nigeria breakup against their political and economic gains.

“Ndigbo in Lagos and many major cities in Nigeria should be on alert. Plans to attack them have been perfected, and it may consume a lot of people, and many properties may be destroyed.

“The hatchet plan will be done in such a way that the International Community will blame Ndigbo for the crisis.

“We advise every Igbo person to stay alert and take all precautionary measures to defend and protect himself and herself. The plan of these agendists is to create confusion and pandemonium in every part of the country to scuttle the upcoming election.

“We are warning the genocidists to stay off because their evil agenda will bounce back and destroy them.”

The secessionist group further stated that it will soon mention the names of those involved in the assassination plan if they don't toe a different path.

It said, “Our intelligence through the M-Branch is fighting tooth and nail to uncover their next move. Many top politicians are involved in this agenda to cause a crisis in Nigeria.”

IPOB also accused Ebonyi state government and its security militia Ebubeagu of “collaborating with the Nigerian security (agencies) to jointly attack the All Progressives Grand Alliance governorship candidate, Professor Bernard Odoh in Ebonyi state and the Executive governor Dave Umahi must watch the crooked and evil activity of Ebubeagu attacking and assassinating political opponents of APC party in the region”.

It added, “We advise them to stop this job or we'll come for them. Dave Umahi must stop their act, we are aware that Ebubeagu security militia has assassinated numerous politicians in Ebonyi and Imo states. The attack must be linked to the government of Ebonyi state.”

Following the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria for the swapping of old naira notes to new notes, Nigerians have begun to lament the challenges involved in the process despite the extension to February 10, 2023.

Checks by The PUNCH showed that the people are not only experiencing challenges in swapping the old naira notes to new ones in the banks alone but are also faced with bank application failures and unavailability of cash from the Point of Sale operators across the country.

According to some bank customers who spoke with our correspondent, since the beginning of the week, the major banks are mainly affected.

Nigerians have now become stranded due to the non-availability of cash in the ATMs and even Over-the Counters, while transactions over the apps have become a nightmare.

While in many cases, the apps do not open at all, in cases where they open, making a transfer becomes impossible. In other instances where the customer can transfer, the intended receiver does not get credited and this becomes a problem.

Speaking with an Ogun State bank customer, Annie (not real name), said, “My two bank apps are currently experiencing problems. They are bringing error messages. And sometimes, the request take too long to process.”

“My attempt to get money from the PoS attendants on the street is the same thing. Many of them have shut down due to their unavailability to get cash from the banks,” she added.

Another customer, Obe Comfort, who resides in the Gbagada area of Lagos State, lamented how the PoS attendants were taking advantage of the situation.

Comfort decried the hike in charges by the PoS operators being patronised by customers, adding, “They now charge as high as N300 on a N1000 transaction.”

“I would have washed plates yesterday if someone hadn’t paid my bills after eating in a canteen. My hopes were high that I would do a transfer after patronising them not knowing that bank apps were currently down.

“It is a serious issue that needs urgent attention,” she added.

Meanwhile, an Ibadan-based trader, Mrs Tajudeen Abike, said she had closed down her shop as a result of the scarcity of naira and the challenges the bank apps were currently encountering.

She appealed to the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the issue as things were going out of hand.

The situation seems worse in other remote areas as traders who usually come to the popular markets in the Mile 12 area of Lagos bitterly expressed displeasure and challenges faced in doing business.

One of the women, Mrs Adefilani Sumbo, who volunteered to speak on their behalf, said their efforts to get cash to buy goods had been futile despite thinking that Lagos would not be experiencing the same problem because of the large number of banks in the state.

“We have queued at the ATM stand since morning despite the large crowd, thinking that we would get money to buy our goods.

“Out of the four ATMs here, only two are dispensing. We have spent all the money on us and are not sure if we will be able to get the goods we came here for, before going back to our towns,” she lamented.

Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announcing a 10-day extension to the deadline to phase out the old currency, the scarcity of the new naira notes persists.

On Thursday, the apex bank directed commercial banks to start the issuance of the new naira notes in the banking halls.

While the CBN continues to claim it released more than enough new notes to the Deposit Money Banks, the reality on the ground points to the opposite.

Ayodele Oluwafemi


Aisha, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, has shared a video clip of an interview featuring Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, on her Instagram page.

Earlier on Wednesday, el-Rufai, in an interview on Channels Television, said there are persons in Buhari’s administration working to ensure the All Progressives Congress (APC) loses the presidential election.

“Most of the people in the villa are not members of our party. I believe there are elements in the villa that want us to lose the election because they didn’t have their way,” el-Rufai had said.

“They had their candidates, and their candidates didn’t win the primaries and I think they are still trying to get us to lose the election and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right.”

Hours later, the first lady took to her Instagram account to share the video clip of el-Rufai speaking about the “elements” in the presidential villa, with the caption “#longlivethefederalrepublicofnigeria”.

Aisha is the grand patron of the Tinubu/Shettima women campaign team and she has equally shown public support for Tinubu’s candidacy.

Meanwhile, on several occasions, the president’s wife had publicly complained about fifth columnists in the presidential villa.

In October 2016, Aisha said she might not support Buhari’s re-election bid on the grounds that the president was being controlled by some persons.

In December 2019, she had said “bad people” have taken over the country from people who are “supposed to be in charge”.

The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday, asked the Central Bank of Nigeria not to grant a further extension after February 10 deadline for naira swap.

This, he said, had become imperative to ensure the purpose and objective of initiating the redesigning of the currency are not destroyed.

In a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday from his campaign office, Atiku urged the CBN to immediately review the measures it has put in place for ensuring the seamless circulation of the new naira notes.

“The additional ten days will enable our people in the rural areas and ordinary people across the country to take the naira in their possession into the banks. It will also enable the CBN to further circulate the new currency notes among banks so that people can have easy access.

“Within these ten days, I urge the CBN to initiate measures that will alleviate the problems being encountered by the people in exchanging their old naira notes for new ones and getting more new notes into circulation. The CBN may have to consider printing more currency notes to eliminate the current scarcity among ordinary people, especially rural dwellers who need them for their daily transactions.

“If the CBN thinks its officials and banks must operate at the weekend in order to address the needs of the ordinary people and rural dwellers, it may have to consider this option, after all the amount these people require is not huge. The essential element here is ensuring that the new currency goes around and is well distributed to the points where people can easily access them. Every good policy must be people-centred and must not bring an avoidable difficulty to the people.

“However, the CBN should be wary of the elite whose motive for crying out about more postponement of the deadline for the tenure of the old naira notes is sinister and far from being altruistic. I am totally in support of building a cashless economy and reducing the amount of cash in our economy.

“The cashless policy and reduction of the cash in circulation has many advantages and every patriotic Nigerian should support the CBN on this. It will help to reduce the flow of illicit funds in our economy. It will help to defeat the funding of terrorism and deter the circulation of drug money in our economy. It will help our fight against corruption.

“More importantly, a cashless economy will help to save and grow our democracy. Those who have devised several means of buying votes in the coming elections and using money to corrupt the electoral system as well as destroying the principle of one man, one vote and the goal of a credible, peaceful, free, and fair poll are the ones shouting against the cashless policy and naira redesign.

“The anti-democratic elements who are pretending to be democrats are the ones ganging up against the CBN because of the currency redesigning and the cashless regime it seeks to enthrone. They have been scheming and lobbying day and night to frustrate the policy. Now, their new measure is to lobby for a second postponement of the deadline for the change of currency. I urge the CBN and the government to ignore their antics. The CBN should not succumb to the current pressure.

“There should be no further postponement of the new naira regime after the expiration of the February 10 deadline. The vote riggers are seeking to push the CBN to extend till after the election when they would have achieved their evil plots. The CBN and the Presidency should be steadfast. The merits of the new naira policy far outweigh the little inconvenience we are experiencing.

“This is one policy that will benefit the country in the long term. We should not allow those selfish, parochial people with the narrow vision to derail it,” the statement read.

The All Progressives Congress Campaign Council on Wednesday kicked against the report by a section of the media indicting the APC presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu, of ridiculing the presidency at the APC rally in Cross River State.

A statement issued by the PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday afternoon, disclosed that their principal did not at any point cast aspersions on the character of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the venue.

Onanuga stated that Tinubu addressed the mammoth crowd of party supporters and people of Cross Rivers State at the U.J Esuene Stadium not to vote for the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, because of their litany of failures while in power for 16 years.

While defending his principal, the PCC media director noted that the former governor’s reference to exchange rate was not in any way an attack on the Muhammadu Buhari-led regime but an attempt to capture how the economic mismanagement of the PDP created forex crisis in the country since 2015.

The statement partly read, “We find it important to correct the misrepresentation of the statement of our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the campaign rally in Calabar yesterday by a section of the media, especially ThisDay Newspaper and its broadcast arm, Arise News.

“Anyone who followed the entire sequence and context of what Asiwaju said at the rally in Calabar will know he directed his missiles against the PDP and Atiku. Lest we forget, the PDP left the forex reserve at $28 billion by May 2015 when Buhari took over, despite unprecedented revenue from crude oil.

“Even with the massive oil theft and low price of crude, until recently, President Buhari had built up the reserve to about $38 billion. The PDP in 1999 met the exchange rate at N85 to one US dollar in 1999 and left it at N230 in 2015.

“The futile attempt to misrepresent Asiwaju Tinubu by the mischievous PDP media did not detract from his central message. Our candidate explicitly said the people should not follow the PDP and Atiku because they don’t know the road.

“Asiwaju Tinubu could not have meant President Buhari does not know road, having celebrated, numerous times, the achievements of the Buhari administration. Tinubu had also said at campaign fora he would build on the achievements, when elected on 25 February.

“It is simply illogical that the same Asiwaju would attack the Buhari administration of not knowing the road. In contrast, throughout this campaign up till now, Asiwaju Tinubu has consistently said the PDP and all the opposition parties put together do not know the road to prosperity for Nigeria. He also said the competing candidates do not have the track record he amassed as governor of Lagos.

“As the frontrunner in the race, he has promised to implement his robust Action Plan that will bring socio-economic prosperity to our country. We are not unmindful of the antics of ThisDay and Arise News to deliberately misrepresent our candidate and accentuate anything they think will project Asiwaju Tinubu in a bad light since the beginning of this electioneering circle.

“We want to state categorically that all the machinations of the opposition elements to put a wedge between President Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu will fail. The APC, its leadership and President Buhari are strongly united behind our presidential candidate.

“All the sponsored innuendos, invented and imaginary discord in APC which the failed PDP and their media organs hope to cash on to win the coming election will blow up in their faces.”

By Zahraddeen Yakubu Shuaibu


Malama Khadija, a Kano State woman who married her daughter’s boyfriend, has vowed that she will not reverse her decision because of what people are saying, noting that since she has not offended the Almighty God she is okay with whatever opinion people hold about her action.

City & Crime reports that the story of Khadija’s action has continued to generate controversy in Kano, as many people keep wondering whether it’s true, while others argue on the legitimacy of the marriage in Islam.

Recall that Khadija gave reason for quitting her initial marriage to marry her daughter’s boyfriend as an action that both she and her daughter didn’t lose the handsome man.

Speaking on the controversy generated in her family and the state, Khadija said she had no regret.

She said, “I wonder why people are after my marriage. I made the decision by myself. Nobody forced me. My daughter rejected the man, and I felt like we can’t lose him. We are happily married and I am enjoying my stay with him.

“I want people to know that I asked clerics about the legitimacy of this marriage and they said there is no problem with that. So, I will not reverse this marriage. I am there to stay; I don’t need any advice.”

On the allegation against the Hisbah Commandant of Rano LGA, Khadija said he didn’t force her to marry.

However, the state’s Hisbah command has constituted a committee to investigate the matter.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will monitor bank’s strong rooms in Rivers State as a way to checkmate banks that hoard the new naira notes and make it difficult for Nigerians to access.

The Rivers State Branch Controller of CBN , Mr Maxwell Okafor , disclosed this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, after monitoring the CBN cash swap in Port Harcourt and Igwurita in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State, on Sunday.

Mr Okafor said many residents, especially the POS operators, are finding it difficult to access the new naira notes, thereby making it hard for the money to get to the areas where banks do not exist.

He said POS operators were passing through difficulty to get the new notes, saying many get discouraged from going to the banks because of the stress of staying for several hours.

He said monitoring of bank’s strong room will put an end to hoarding of the notes ny defaulting banks.

“It took us lots of time for us to enter bank hall to assist POS operators get the new naira notes. If Nigerians can experience this type of thing in our presence how much more when we are not around. Banks should make the process of cashing money easier for Nigerians so that they can access the new naira notes, especially the POS operators”

[b]“The POS operators takes money to many of the places where banks do not exist as they can push the money to every nooks and cranny of the state. As for hoarding of the new naira notes, we have to do further exercise as to ensure that money is distributed to the people . It means we have to get to their strong rooms. We will check how they disburse what they have , what they have in the ATM,” [/b]he said.

He said the apex bank will visit other banks outside Port Harcourt to ensure compliance with the disbursement of the new naira note and appealed to banks to assist CBN make the process easy.

The national youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Dayo Israel, in a tweet recently decried the current fuel scarcity in the country, stating that in the last seven years, Nigeria had always enjoyed sufficient fuel supply during Christmas.

The APC national youth leader on his Twitter handle, @dayoisreal, alleged sabotage in the current fuel scarcity, claiming that it was deliberately targeted at ruining the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections.

He wrote: “Over the last 7years, we have always had fuel availability every Christmas. It was even a major scorecard that December fuel crisis came to end. How come the December before election, suddenly fuel became scarce, reason am! To make APC look bad to Nigerians? INTERNAL SABOTEURS,”

As at the time of this report, the tweet had garnered over one million views and over 3000 quote tweets.


Verification

Findings by Daily Trust showed that in the last seven years of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, Nigeria had experienced fuel scarcity across the country especially, during the 2017 Christmas period.

Recall that during the Christmas of 2017, many Nigerians were left stranded at filling stations as the fuel scarcity worsened across the country.

Thousands of motorists were queuing up to buy fuel till early hours of Christmas day, as many filling stations did not sell petrol and the few that sold did so at exorbitant prices.

This is despite the repeated assurance by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now NNPCL) to Nigerians that it had and was distributing more than enough petrol for local use.

But transport fares were hiked while many motorists were stranded without vehicles to travel that year.

As the fuel crisis worsened, many Nigerians accustomed to travelling to their home states for Christmas were stranded at motor parks. Most Nigerians couldn’t afford the almost 100 per cent increase in transport fares or had to cancel their journey for insufficient transportation.

Subsequently, while fuel scarcity persisted three days to the 2017 Christmas, the NNPC and marketers traded blame over the acute commodity shortage.

While the NNPC said marketers hoarded products following alleged plan to increase pump price, the marketers accused the oil giant of making the commodity available in short supply.

However in a statement the then NNPC Group Managing Director, Late Maikanti Baru, claimed some marketers, in their quest to cash in on the situation, suddenly started hoarding products.

The statement signed by the former NNPC spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, said, “We swiftly swung into action by doubling our supply nationwide. At the time the rumour started, we had about 30-day sufficiency.

“The normal daily supply to the nation is 700 trucks, equalling about 27-30 million litres per day.”


Verdict: False

Background

The APC national youth leader is not the only person alleging sabotage in the current fuel crisis as the party’s presidential candidate had also made the same allegations.

During a campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Wednesday, the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the scarcity was perpetrated by powerful forces in government to sabotage the elections.

Conclusion:

Findings by Daily Trust showed that Nigeria had experienced fuel scarcity during the Christmas period in the last seven years. Thus, the claim by the APC national youth leader is false.

A 71-year-old man collapsed and died during a steamy session with a 22-year-old woman at a lodging in parklands, Nairobi.

The deceased is said to have checked into the room with the young lady at 4 pm. Two hours later, the deceased started gasping for air as he complained of chest and back pains.

Within seconds, his hands and legs went numb, prompting the woman to call for help from a taxi driver who was standing at the gate of the building.

Hurriedly, the two rushed the deceased to the Agha Khan hospital using his car. However, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The body of the deceased was moved to a nearby morgue pending an autopsy.

The latest comes barely months after a 62-year-old man died in a lodging in Runyenjes town, Embu east.

In the incident, the man is said to have entered the castle bar and restaurant accompanied by a lady only for his lifeless body to be discovered later n the evening.

Prior to his death, the man had ordered some drinks from the bar and carried them to his room.

However, in an hour's time, the lady is said to have walked out of the room to an unknown destination.

The man's body was discovered sprawled on a bed after what is suspected to be a result of one hour's action, packed with the woman.

He had his clothes intact while lying lifeless on the bed. The room had the door locked from the inside.

"We received information from village castle bar and restaurant that one man had booked a lodge at the facility around 1300hrs in the night in the company of an unidentified woman and today as they were doing cleaning, they found the room locked from inside and the body of the man was lying lifeless on the bed," Embu East Sub-county deputy police commander Monica Mwarania said.