Cash and other woes
Two weeks to the general elections! And we’re living in hell still.
In this edition:
More Naira notes confusion
Emefiele admits they’re not printing enough notes to meet demand
Kogi government corruption: a family affair
Wordcount: 1,230 words (approx. 5 min read)
Naira drama
If you’re planning to give (or take photos of you giving) a “money bouquet” as a valentine’s day gift, the CBN says don’t do it.
The bank recently declared that money bouquets (arranging money in a decorative way), are abusive to the Naira and punishable.
Spraying notes, squeezing, selling, and defacing them are also punishable. I’m not sure what they expect us to do when we attend weddings.
The new naira deadline is looking hazy
At the start of the week, Buhari told Nigerians to give him 7 days to resolve the money scarcity issues. 7 days later, there’s no change. It’s still a mess.
The central bank governor has apparently admitted that they don't have enough resources to print the quantity of notes that Nigerians need.
Last week, CBN extended the discontinuation of old naira notes to the 10th of Feb, but before the date hit, Nigeria’s Supreme Court vetoed CBN’s plans.
The Supreme court instructed CBN, the FG, and commercial banks to halt any plans to ban the use of the old notes or stop accepting them.
This ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi States.
The supreme court’s ruling said the ban should be paused indefinitely until everyone comes to a convenient agreement.
The FG via the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami objected to the court’s ruling. Malami and his group said the court does not have the necessary jurisdiction to make such a decision.
Malami filed an objection to the rule and asked the supreme court to dismiss the states’ lawsuit.
But 24 hours after all his drama, Malami said in an interview that the FG will uphold the supreme court’s ruling
Malami said they’ll obey the supreme court, but they do intend to challenge the ruling.
My question is will the streets take my old money? Answer: no.
Many store owners and market sellers have been rejecting old notes. They’re saying they don’t want to suffer the stress and uncertainty of holding old notes: bank queues to exchange, banks turning them away, etc.
Politics
On Friday night, two people were killed when gunmen attacked the home Suleiman Tambaya, a Labor Party House of Representatives candidate in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
The attack happened while Tambaya was at a political meeting in the state capital.
Tambaya reported the incident to the police, but there has not been any official confirmation from the police or the government yet.
The court of appeal in Kano has removed Mohammed Abacha, the son of the late head of state Sani Abacha, as the governorship candidate for the PDP in the state.
Abacha and Sadiq Wali were both chosen in separate PDP primary elections.
INEC recognized Wali as the official candidate and Abacha sued INEC, Wali, and the PDP.
In December 2022, a federal high court in Kano said that Abacha was the rightful candidate. However, the court of appeal has now overturned that decision and ruled that Wali should be recognized as a valid candidate. The appeal court ruled that Abacha did not have the right to challenge the primary election that produced Wali because he did not participate in it.
Fraud
In Kogi
Rashida Bello, the wife of Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, has been charged with fraud.
The EFCC is charging Rashida with 18 counts of criminal misappropriation and money laundering. She’s accused of stealing N3,081,804,654 in collusion with one of Yahaya's relatives, Ali Bello.
The charges against them state that they used a company called E-Traders International Limited to launder money to an account in the US.
The accused pled not guilty so the case has moved to trial, set for the 13th of February
Rashida is currently MIA. She wasn't at her trial
In Imo
The Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged a former governor of Imo and current senator for Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, of fraud charges of N2.9 billion the EFCC filed against him - Premium Times.
The charges were dismissed because, according to judge Inyang Ekwo, the EFCC “violated a section of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act that gives the Attorney-General of the Federation the power to recall a case”.
The ruling was based on an application from Okorocha and was imposed before the EFCC had a chance to defend its findings or bring witnesses.
The judge said that the AGF's directive to the EFCC to forward the case file for consideration and review was binding and the EFCC was required to comply.
The judge also said that from the moment the AGF gave the directive, the EFCC ceased to have the legal authority to prosecute the case.
Background: There was a guy named Mr. Okorocha was the governor of Imo State in Nigeria from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, the EFCC said they received a tip that pointed to some of Okorocha’s illicit activities, The tip also detailed abuse of power and money laundering, and using money from the government for his own personal gain.
EFCC investigated the report and found it to be true, so they filed 17 charges against Okorocha
Okorocha was arrested, but almost instantly he paid his bail of N500 million.
Once out, Okorocha filed an objection against the charges against him, saying that the suit was "unlawful, baseless, oppressive, and a gross abuse of the process of the court." The EFCC countered his objection and said that his motion was "misleading and untrue”.
They were hoping to prove their case against Okorocha, but apparently, the AG, Abubakar Malami, wants to see it first.
Insecurity
A terrorist attack in the Bakori Local Government of Katsina state, Nigeria, resulted in the deaths of 102 people, according to local residents.
The victims were members of vigilante groups who were pursuing the terrorists after they rustled livestock from the community.
The police reported that 41 people were killed in the ambush, but residents said the number was much higher.
A leader of one of the vigilante groups, who was also part of the clash, told BBC Hausa that the terrorists overpowered them because they were better armed.
Residents said they tried to contact security agents during the attack, but they did not arrive until the following day when the attack was over.
Awful earthquakes in Turkey and Sirya
There have been multiple very bad earthquakes in Turkey and Syria recently. Over 20,000 people have died and many more are now homeless. The rescue efforts are being made difficult by the cold weather and the aftershocks of the earthquake.
Other news
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has disclosed that the Federal Government is working on halting the brain drain in the health sector by improving conditions of service - Guardian NG
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Musa Bello, has ordered the arrest of some Federal Housing Authority (FHA) officials and the developer of the two-story building that collapsed in Abuja on Friday - Guardian NG
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, has given assurance that the Federal Government will implement far-reaching, all-round security strategies to ensure the safety of passengers along the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor and other rail corridors in the country. - Punch
The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun said his administration would begin the distribution of food items to residents of the state as part of measures to alleviate their suffering caused by the scarcity of fuel and the new naira notes - Punch