Category: News

The Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council has denied allegation of forgery of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate against its governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, describing it as the conjecture of an indolent opposition and the last kick of a dying horse.

The Campaign Council said the opposition in Enugu had since come to terms with the fact that they had no prospects in the 2023 governorship election and therefore resorted to smear campaigns.

In the statement issued in Enugu on Monday, the Director of Public Communications and Spokesperson of the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council, Nana Ogbodo, said, “there is no truth whatsoever to the allegation”.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a press conference by a faceless group in Abuja, which claimed to have conducted a check at the NYSC under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, which purportedly showed that our governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, submitted a forged NYSC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“We make bold to say that Dr. Peter Mbah was duly mobilised for the one-year mandatory national youth service in Lagos in 2002, duly completed the exercise and was issued with an NYSC discharge certificate.

“We state unequivocally that these purveyors of malicious falsehood are the real forgers, as everything about the letter they claimed to have emanated from the NYSC bears all the imprimaturs of forgery; the language too inelegant and unofficial to have emanated from the NYSC.

“We have equally observed that the said malicious press statement was not signed by any official of the faceless group.

“We call on media organisations and interested Nigerians to approach the NYSC to confirm the veracity of the purported letter”.

“We are however taking steps in accordance with the provisions of the law to bring the perpetrators to book”.

The Enugu PDP Campaign Council recalled that the opposition had tried their hands in other malicious and criminal falsehoods, including forgery of court processes to malign and bring down Dr. Peter Mbah.

“Rather than present and market their manifestos to the Enugu electorate, they had earlier forged court processes and also filed frivolous and malicious lawsuits claiming that Dr. Mbah had entered into a plea of guilt and plea bargain, hence not qualified to stand for election.

“We call on the Nigerian public to disregard this latest perfidy as the umpteenth mischief by an indolent opposition and last kick of a dying horse”, the statement concluded.

Worried by the effects the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their states, the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara have dragged the Federal government before the Supreme Court, seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the policy.

In a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), the three northern states are urging the apex court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.

The Plaintiffs in the suit are the three Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is the sole Respondent.

The Plaintiffs say that since the announcement of the new naira note policy, there has been an acute shortage in the supply of the new naira notes in Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States and that citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes have increasingly found it difficult and sometimes next to impossible to access new naira notes to go about their daily activities.

They also cited the inadequacy of the notice coupled with the haphazard, cack-handed manner in which the exercise is being carried out and the attendant hardship same is wrecking on Nigerians, which has been well acknowledged even by the Federal Government of Nigeria itself.

The Plaintiffs further maintained that the ten-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges bedeviling the policy.

Recall that over the weekend, the CBN Governor at a press conference held in Lagos insisted that that the apex bank will not extend the deadline for swapping old naira notes with the newly redesigned ones.

In the suit filed at the apex court, the Plaintiffs have also filed a motion on notice to abridge the time within which the Respondent may file and serve his Counter-Affidavit to this Suit and an order for an accelerated hearing of this matter.

The states are seeking a declaration that the Demonetization Policy of the Federation being currently carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and actual laws on the subject.

They are also asking the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the expiration of which will render the old Banknotes inadmissible as legal tender, is in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 which specifies that Reasonable Notice must be given before such a policy.

The Plaintiffs are also urging the court for a declaration that given the express provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, has no powers to issue a timeline for the acceptance and redeeming of banknotes issued by the Bank, except as limited by Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007. The Central Bank shall at all times redeem its bank notes.

The Plaintiffs further want the court to direct the immediate suspension of the demonetisation of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until it complies with the relevant provisions of the law.

In an affidavit filed in support of the suit and sworn to by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kaduna State, Aisha Dikko, she averred that although the naira redesign policy was introduced to encourage the cashless policy of the Federal government, it is not all transactions that can be conveniently carried out through electronic means.

She maintained that several transactions still require cash in exchange for goods and services hence the need for the Federal Government to have sufficient money available in circulation for the smooth running of the economy.

Dikko also pointed out that the Federal Government has embarked on the policy within a narrow and unworkable time frame, and this has adversely affected Nigerian citizens within Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States as well as their Governments, especially as the newly redesigned naira notes are not available for use by the people as well as the State Governments.

“That the majority of the indigenes of the Plaintiffs’ states who reside in the rural areas have been unable to exchange or deposit their old naira notes as there are no banks in the rural areas where the majority of the population of the states reside.

“Most people in rural areas of the Plaintiffs’ states do not have bank accounts and have so far been unable to deposit their life savings which are still in the old naira notes.

“There is restiveness amongst the people in the various states because of the hardship being suffered by the people, and the situation will sooner than later degenerate into the breakdown of law and order.

“The Plaintiff State Governments cannot stand by as they are duty-bound to protect citizens in their states and prevent the breakdown of law and order.

“I know that if the Federal Government of Nigeria had given sufficient and reasonable time for the naira redesign policy, all the current hardship and loss being experienced by the Plaintiffs’ State Governments as well as people in the various states would have been avoided.

“I know that the 10-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges bedevilling the policy. I also understand that the Federal Government cannot bar Nigerians from redeeming their old naira notes at any time, even though the senior notes are no longer legal tender.

“Unless this Honourable Court intervenes, the Government and people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara State will continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great loss as a result of the insufficient and unreasonable time within which the Federal Government is embarking on the ongoing currency redesign policy,” she stated.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

(Channels TV)

The presidential campaign council of the APC has dismissed a poll by Nextier that said Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, is the candidate to beat in the 25th February election

The election, Nextier said, will go into a run-off to determine the eventual winner.

No presidential election in the history of Nigeria’s electoral democracy has ever gone into a run-off.

Even the 1979 election that was too close to call was eventually resolved in favour of the candidate of the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NPN), Shehu Shagari, by the Supreme Court to the chagrin of his main challenger in the election, Obafemi Awolowo, of the Unity Party of Nigeria(UPN).

The APC campaign council described the Nextier poll as laughable and advised Nigerians not to take it seriously.

A statement signed by Bayo Onanuga on behalf of the campaign council which was released to journalists on Sunday in Abuja said the pollsters who conducted the poll were members of the LP presidential campaign council.

The statement further noted that any poll conducted by such an intensely partisan and tainted organisation should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The sample size of the so-called poll and methodology employed cannot stand any integrity test, the statement noted.

Some polls conducted in the last quarter of 2022 by organisations such as ANAP Foundation and Bloomberg also called the election for Mr Obi, a former PDP chieftain and two-term governor of Anambra State.

“We want to state categorically that Peter Obi is not a major contender in the coming presidential election in Nigeria and no fantasy and fairytale poll can change the material facts,” the statement noted partly.

Read the full statement below:

NEXTIER, PETER OBI AND THE FARCICAL ELECTION POLL RESULT

We are constrained as a matter of public record to react to another farcical Presidential Election Poll result released by an organisation that calls itself Nextier, a public policy advisory firm that overnight turned itself into a Nigerian Gallup Poll or Ipsos.

We are reacting for the sake of unsuspecting Nigerians, so that they are not misled by the Patrick Okigbo-led organisation, which appears to have the agenda to create confusion and chaos in our country.

For a start, Nigerians should know that promoters of Nextier are members of Mr. Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign Council and active campaigners for the Labour Party Presidential Candidate.

Any poll conducted by such intensely partisan and prejudicially tainted organisation should be taken with a pinch of salt.

This is apart from the fact that the sample size of the so-called poll and methodology employed cannot stand any integrity test.

It is quite ludicrous that Nextier Poll that projects a clean sweep of the South East Region at over 90% of registered votes also puts Peter Obi ahead of APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the six South West States including Lagos.

Assuming without absolutely conceding that Peter Obi will enjoy home advantage in his part of the country, we then wonder why the pollsters at Nextier, if they have any modicum of respect for the intellect of Nigerians, thought the factors that will propel landslide victory for Obi in South east will not work for the APC candidate in his own South West base.

Nextier Pollsters also put Labour Party ahead of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party Candidate in his home  state of Adamawa.

How more ridiculous can Nextier Pollsters get?

Nextier Pollsters called the entire South South Region for Labour Party at 60% in Akwa-Ibom, the base of Chairman of PDP presidential campaign council.

The partisan pollsters gave Bayelsa 62.9% to Labour Party and also claimed LP would win Delta 65.9 %, home of PDP Vice Presidential Candidate.

The jesters in Nextier also claimed Obi would win Rivers by 77.8%, Edo 76.9% and Cross Rivers 63.2%. It did not matter to them that in these states, Labour Party has no serving councillor in any ward.

The summary of Nextier’s so-called face-to-face nationwide poll is that Peter Obi is the preferred candidate of 37% of Nigerians with a conclusion that the Presidential election will go into a run-off.

We make bold to say this is wishful thinking without any basis in fact and reality.

It is important to alert Nigerians and the international community that the Pollsters at Nextier are working for the Labour Party and their poll results are all cooked up, far away from reality.

We suspect that their first and second fallacious poll results are pretext to cause political crisis and riots in Nigeria after the February 25. They may be preparing ground for violent protest by Obi supporters who will allege rigging when their candidate is roundly defeated at the election, in which he is not likely to even come a distant 3rd.

We want to state categorically that Peter Obi is not a major contender in the coming presidential election in Nigeria and no fantasy and fairytale poll can change the material facts.

We want to put it on record that Nextier Poll is useless for three reasons:

First, the sample size of 3,000 is statistically too insignificant in an election with over 93 million registered voters and admits greater margins of error than claimed.

Second, the distribution of the sample neither reflects voter demographics nor variations in voters turnout across states.

Third, the main objective of Nextier Poll is to report a predetermined conclusion so that when Labour Party loses by wide margin, its rabid supporters can embark on another violent protests, similar to the destructive #ENDSARS riots of 2020.

(Premium Times)

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Federal Government over the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 naira notes saying the policy would bring significant long-term economic and social benefits if it is sustained.

Obi in his tweet on Sunday morning said he urges Nigerians “to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms. 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. Even though there are improvements that can be made.”

Obi further advised CBN and commercial banks to “Expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas ”

(Arise News)

Chetanne Chinelo, Enugu

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, has called on the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria to swiftly address the twin issues of PMS (Fuel) scarcity and difficulty in accessing naira notes due to the redesign of the 200, 500 and 1000 naira denominations.

This was contained in a brief statement made available to newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, February 5, 2023.

Empathizing with ndi Enugu in particular and Nigerians at large, the CEO of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, a major player in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, said although the situation was thoroughly inconveniencing, there was a need for citizens to remain calm.

He reiterated his resolve to ensure that all Pinnacle filling stations continued to sell the product at the official price.

His statement reads: “I’m aware of the number of inconveniences bugging our people at this time, especially that of fuel scarcity as well as cash scarcity occasioned by the Naira redesign.

“As I call on the CBN and FG to swiftly address the situation and ameliorate the plight of our people, I urge everyone to remain calm and understand that the situation is ephemeral and would ultimately be for the benefit of all of us.

“On my own, I will ensure that Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd filling stations in Enugu will continue to dispense petroleum products at the official prices”.

Recall that since the January 31 deadline of the CBN to phase off the use of old naira notes, Nigerians have been thrown into panic and difficulty, especially in depositing the old notes and getting the redesigned ones which appears to be in short supply.

As the new February 10 deadline granted by President Buhari approaches, the CBN has insisted that no more extension of the deadline will be considered. This is also as President Buhari asked Nigerians to give him seven days for a major decision on the currency redesign after he was visited by the Progressive Governors Forum.

…says help is on the way

Frank Nweke Jr, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Enugu State, on Thursday in an interactive radio program, Urban Prime Time, on Urban 94.5 FM, Enugu, empathised with fellow Ndi Enugu over the dire situation currently being experienced in the state and across the country.

Nweke noted the difficulties of accessing the new Naira notes resulting in queues and chaos at the ATMs, bank halls and with POS operators. He highlighted that the queues also continue at the fuel stations where a litre is sold as high as N500 while many are also on queues to retrieve their Permanent Voter’s Card from INEC offices.

“These are in addition to the suffering that was already in existence. In Enugu, we still don’t have good water or power supply, the roads are still bad, healthcare has not improved, workers are not paid as they should be and a host of other problems. I hear all these as I travel across the State on my campaign tours. People are suffering and exhausted.

“With these new situations of people being unable to access their already meagre funds, Nigerians are not even allowed to ‘suffer in peace’. Just when you think it cannot get worse, the government does something else that throws citizens into more hardship”

Emphasising that he is not against the redesign of the naira notes and the intended goal of monitoring the funds in circulation, he maintained that public policy must be for the benefit of the masses.

“Any policy that undermines the well-being of the masses is unacceptable. It is important that the consequences of every policy action and the timing of implementation are properly taken into consideration. If the objective is to curb money politics, there are other ways to target the people directly involved without inflicting more hardship on our people.”

Responding to a question on the need for a cashless economy, Nweke explained that the majority of Nigerians are unbanked and without access to the digital services required to operate in a cashless environment. He insisted that the infrastructure required is not yet available and the effect of the ongoing cash scarcity as a result of the Federal Government’s policy is most felt by the poor, not the supposed targeted elite.

“The same applies to the policy on fuel subsidy. It does not make sense to have an average of N2 trillion allocated to fuel subsidy per year while more critical issues like work and housing, education, healthcare and other things that directly affect the people are ignored. The fuel subsidy is sustained by corruption and pilfering at the highest levels. It needs to be removed completely and the funds redirected to these areas that improve the lives of the people.”

At the state level, Nweke stated that as a sitting governor, in consideration of the hardship being experienced, he would show leadership by ensuring open and honest communication with the people to give a true account of affairs, while pursuing solutions with the direct stakeholders. He declared that he would have had meetings with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Petroleum Marketers immediately to work out possible solutions to ameliorate the suffering.

Nweke used the occasion to call on INEC to improve the PVC collection process, saying that all officials who insist on bribes for collection must be punished.

He appealed to Ndi Enugu to be resilient and steadfastly refuse to accept cash from randy politicians as instant gratification for the untold suffering.

“My heart goes out to the entire people of Enugu who are suffering today. I see it everyday and it is exhausting. Please, do not give up, insist on picking up your PVC regardless of the bottlenecks and do not sell your votes to politicians who want to take advantage of your suffering. I assure you of my word to restore your trust in the government when elected as the Governor of Enugu State” he stated.

Residents of Uvwie and Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, on Friday took to the street to protest against lack of access to the naira.

The protest forced some banks to suspend activities.

Scores of market women barricaded the Warri-Sapele Road and NPA Expressway, ground activities in the areas.

The protesters also laid siege to the United Bank for Africa and Union Bank located near Main Market, Warri.

Traders who bore placards and leaves lamented the inability to sell their goods in the past few days.

As part of the protest, they burnt tyres along the ever busy roads.

Rejecting the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, they demanded that commercial banks release money to enable them carry out their legitimate businesses.

Echoes of “our fish dey spoil o”, our foods dey rotten” were heard as the women protested from the Main Market axis of Warri Sapele Road to Delta Broadcasting Station located at the Edjeba axis of NPA Expressway in Warri South Local Government Area.

Security operatives tried to pacify the aggrieved traders but they insisted on collecting their money from banks.

One of the traders lamented that she stayed in shop all through Thursday without making a dime.

“Our children are hungry, we cannot sell, we cannot do transfer, we cannot withdraw our money. I stayed in shop throughout yesterday and sold nothing. People who want to buy things tried to transfer money but could not,” she said.

Bank Vandalised As Protesters Take To Streets In Ibadan

A Wema Bank branch in Ibadan, Oyo State, was vandalised by irate mob protesting naira scarcity, on Friday.

The protesters barricaded major roads across the state capital and chanted anti-government songs.

Affected routes include; Iwo road, Gate and other routes in Ibadan North East local government area.

Some of the angry youths were heard shouting out of frustration in Yoruba language: “lori owo wa” which translates despite being our money.

Many civil servants inside the government secretariat panicked as many were seen hanging around different spots in case of unforeseen eventuality.

Tyres were burnt in front of the secretariat by the angry mob to register their anger.

In a chat with journalists, Executive Assistant on Security to Governor Seyi Makinde, CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd), condemned the act, saying the situation in the country affects everybody equally and should not be the reason anybody should hide under such to destroy or vandalise government property.

In October last year, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, announced the plan to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, and asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023 when they would cease to be legal tender.

Although the deadline has been shifted to February 10, many Nigerians have found it difficult to obtain the new naira notes.

The reporter reports that Point of Sales (POS) operators have also unofficially put their charge rate of N5,000 between N500 and N1,000.

Recall that Pacesetter reported similar protests in parts of Enugu on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

Daily Trust/Pacesetter