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Police chief orders arrest of naira racketeers

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Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba has ordered the nationwide arrest and prosecution of Nigerians caught selling the country’s currency.

The order to arrest and prosecute was issued to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Intelligence Bureau.

In a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on February 3, the IGP asked that officers be placed across the nation on high alert to carry out the arrest.

Mr Baba said that the move to arrest sellers of the naira across the country was “In furtherance of the Federal Government’s policy and drive to uphold the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, and dignify Nigeria’s currency”.

The IGP similarly “charged all supervisory Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and Commissioners of Police in charge of police commands and formations” to carry out full enforcement of the provisions of Sections 20 and 21 of the CBN Act, 2007

The sections criminalise the “hawking, selling or otherwise trading, spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira notes, falsifying or counterfeiting of bank notes, refusal to accept the Naira as a means of payment, tampering with the coin or note issued by the CBN.”

The IGP reiterated the mandate of the police to “enforce all laws and regulations without any prejudice to the enabling Acts of other security agencies”.

Mr Baba called for cooperation with the police “as it brings the long arm of the law to bear upon all violators of the provisions of the CBN Act, and other extant statutes in Nigeria, with a view to having a well-policed society in all ramifications within the country.”

Obi’s campaign chief Osuntokun disowns viral letter

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[Campaign Briefing]

Akin Osuntokun, the head of the Peter Obi/Datti Baba Ahmed Campaign Council has said that a letter purportedly writen to the campaign council by the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, is fake.

In a statement issued by Mr Osuntokun and seen by the Business Daily, Mr Osuntokun said:

"My attention has been drawn to a letter addressed to me, purported to have originated from a UK agency called *National Crime Agency (NCA)* , and titled; *Pre-Action Notification In Relation To Falsified Documents* , being circulated across several social media platforms.

It is ironical that the first time I would learn of a British security agency called National Crime Agency (NCA) is through a hoax and a delinquent one at that. This is the first time I will encounter a British government agency with no address. It is equally the first time I will come across an unsigned letter from anyone, let alone a government agency.

Again, since 1st October 1960, the British government ceased to have jurisdiction over Nigeria, hence, I’m not answerable to the British government. Were any Nigerian to commit such infraction, it is elementary logic that this supposed British outfit should have employed the good offices of its Nigerian counterpart to take action.

I thought nothing of this infantile hoax, until I received a telephone call from Mr. Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson of the Tinubu campaign team, to inquire of its wherewithal. It was from him that I also learnt of the contents of the "falsified document". It was at this stage that I decided to seek the intervention of the British High Commission. Here was the response of the Political Counsellor at the British High Commission:

*"Hi – unfortunately there are several hoax letters circulating at the moment. If you have questions from media you can refer them to NCA press office, which is +44 (0)20 7979 5835, (including the one you attached – it’s not genuine)".*

This, I believe, has provided the needed explanation to all well-intentioned Nigerians, and has equally halted the malicious schemes of the darkroom elements towards me and the Obi-Datti presidential campaign council.

I urge our supporters to discountenance the ruse and remain focused on our objective of birthing a new Nigeria where progress is POssible!

PDP presidential campaign group accuses Tinubu of undermining democracy

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PDP presidential campaign organisation has accused the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of sending his campaign officials to unleash hate speech against prominent leaders in the north and other parts of the country in a desperate bid to incite Nigerians, cause insurrection and disrupt the 2023 general elections.

A statement issued by the Kola Ologbondiyan, the campaign’s spokesperson and seen by the Business Daily, reads in part:

Nigerians have noted how Tinubu, who is heavily agonized by his looming defeat in the 2023 general elections, having been rejected by Nigerians, has now resorted to incendiary statements as well as deploying top members of his campaign, including a serving governor, to insult and condemn prominent Nigerian leaders as a ploy to trigger crisis in the polity.

Our Campaign invites Nigerians to note how notable arrowheads and supporters of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign have been moving around various media houses to spew hate speeches and promote blackmailing narratives apparently with the view to undermining our national unity and derailing the electoral process.

Such top officials of the Tinubu Campaign are also reportedly instructed to attack peaceful and well-meaning Nigerians, issue threats, incite mob actions, promote riots and violence in various parts of the country in furtherance of Tinubu’s unrelenting incitement to his followers to deploy violence, fight and snatch power by all means in the 2023 general elections.

Nigerians can still recall how Tinubu recently in London declared to his followers that “political power is not going to be served in a restaurant, it is not served a la carte. It is what we are doing; It is being determined; you do it at all costs; fight for it, grab it, snatch it and run with it”.

Also, Nigerians can recall how Tinubu, in APC Campaign Rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, made very wild allegations, incited his followers to see the February 25, Presidential election as a “revolution”.

It is therefore not in doubt that having failed in every parameter of assessing a credible presidential candidate and having realized that he cannot win in the election, the APC Presidential Candidate is desperately seeking to cause anarchy, mayhem, bloodletting, violence and a forcible overthrow of our democratic system not minding the lives and safety of millions of Nigerians.

It is clear that Tinubu is pathetically being driven by an entitlement mentality, and as such, he does not care about the unity of our country. In any case, Tinubu had since announced that he does not believe in Nigeria as a nation. It is therefore obvious that he is in the Presidential race for purposes that are not for the wellbeing of Nigerians; thus his readiness to set our nation on fire for his selfish purpose.

It is however pitiable that a two-term governor, who has been spewing divisive insults on the leaders of our nation, can make himself a willing tool just because of personal aggrandizement.

Our Campaign calls on Nigerians to be wary and firmly resist the evil machinations of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign against our nation.

Tinubu and his co-travelers must come to terms with the reality that Nigerians across ethnic, religious and political divides have made up their minds to elect the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, as the next President and not even their predilections to violence, hate speech and blackmail can detract from this resolve"

Court grants Umeh permission to serve papers on Ekwunife

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The Awka Division of the Court of Appeal has granted Victor Umeh, Anambra Central Senatorial Candidate of the Labour Party, the permission to serve his Notice of Appeal on Senator Uche Ekwunife of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through substituted means.

Alex Ejesieme, counsel to the appellant in a motion experte with Appeal No. CA/AW/24/2023, told the court that the bailiff had made several efforts to serve Ms Ekwunife directly without success.

He accompanied the motion with a 13-paragraph affidavit to support his argument, as well as a bailiff affidavit of attempted service.

Mr Ejesieme described the trial court judgement as “rather unfortunate“ in the light of the numerous decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court on the subject matter.

Justice Hannatu Sankey, Presiding Judge of the Appeal Court, granted that the Notice of Appeal should be posted at the entrance gate of Ms Ekwunife’s Campaign Office situated at the Uche Ekwunife Event Centre, Awka.

Ms Ekwunife and the PDP had gone to the Federal High Court, Awka, to contest the validity of Mr Umeh’s nomination in the Labour Party.

CBN advises Nigerians to open savings accounts and use POS machines

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday advised Nigerians to exchange their old naira notes at Point of Sale (PoS) machines and open savings accounts.

This is as Nigerians continue to groan over steep charges ( at least 10 per cent for each withdrawn amount) imposed by PoS operators across the country.

Rasheedat Mangunu, the bank’s director of protection, gave the advice during the monitoring exercise of some PoS super-agents in Ilorin.

The CBN said it distributed PoS to 30,000 super-agents, with a cash sum of N500,000 each, to ease the naira cash swap on January 25.

Ms Mangunu said that in the last week, there had been progress in the money swap due to their enlightenment talks and accredited PoS agents.

She called on the people of Kwara, especially those in rural areas, to make judicious use of the super-agents and open a bank account with less stress.

“People can easily open a bank account through the PoS super-agents, with just a National Identity Card and save their old money in their accounts, without stress.

“Our super-agents will deposit all your old Naira notes with no charges and your money will be secure in your various bank accounts,” she said.

At one of the PoS centres visited in the Osere area, Ilorin, Sadiq AbdulRasheed, a user, said he was able to exchange his old naira notes without charges.

However, at Isale Bani, the Alore area of Ilorin, many residents complained of the inability to exchange their notes due to the unavailability of new notes.

An agent in the area, Saheed AbdulRazaq, explained that he had been exchanging notes with the residents since last week, but could not meet up with their demands.

“I started exchanging the notes with the sum of N500,000 given to me by CBN last week and continued since then, but all the people in the area are clamouring for more new notes.

“Their demand for new notes is more than the capacity that I can withdraw from the bank. I urge CBN to give more directives to commercial banks to be able to withdraw more,” he said.

Responding, Ms Mangunu assured that all financial institutions would be engaged and all agents would get enough cash for their operations.

She said enough money had been allocated to all financial institutions in Ilorin and people should be rest assured to have access to their money.