Category: Lead

• Confusion over ex-VP’s rally

The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the party’s Presidential Campaign Council in the state yesterday launched into a war of words after the Director-General of the Council, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, claimed to have escaped a bid on his life by those he described as agents of the state government.

Sekibo, a former Minister of Transport, told reporters in Port Harcourt that gunmen dressed in police uniform opened fire on his vehicle, a Land Cruiser bulletproof SUV at the Rainbow Town in Port Harcourt, where he had gone to inspect the venue of a proposed rally of the party’s flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

He said his car was riddled with bullets.

He did not specify where exactly in Rainbow Town he was allegedly attacked.

The State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ogbonna Nwuke, said the Sekibo allegation was false.

Sekibo said he decided to go to Rainbow Town after he was informed on the phone that the equipment being set up at the site in preparation for the PDP presidential rally had been set on fire.

He said: “At about 11:30 pm to 12 midnight, I received a call and the caller said the equipment at the site that was being prepared for the PDP presidential rally was on fire.

“I decided to go there and see for myself. I left my house with three police men. The location is Rainbow Town by Amadi-ama. As we approached the site, we saw a lineup of Police Hilux vehicles on the right side of the road and the policemen were looking at the fire.

 “As we got close and about to tell my driver to stop so I could talk to the policemen, the next thing we saw was that those policemen who were watching the fire opened fire on my vehicle.

“I quickly told my driver to keep going and not stop again. We were shot from all sides as we were escaping.

“As they were firing guns at us, I looked at the Hilux vehicles, they were police Hilux vehicles attached to the Governor of Rivers State.

“They shot one of our front tyres, it became difficult for us to move. I had to ask the driver to clear by a filling station at Trans-Amadi and he cleared inside the petrol station. While we were there trying to figure out what happened and how to leave the area, behold, the five Hilux vehicles drove past us, heading in the direction of Ada-George.”

The former minister said the police were being used to carry out attacks on innocent citizens of the state and accused Gov. Wike of turning the state into a lawless environment.

He asked the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and President Muhammadu Buhari to call Wike to order.

He added: “This is what our state has been reduced to. The site was being prepared. This Governor who said he was giving us the stadium to use cannot stand the site of another site being prepared for a campaign rally he does not want to hold?

“He sent policemen attached to him to go and destroy the equipment working at the site.

“As we speak now, he has barricaded the place with Government House police to ensure that media men do not get to the venue to video, record the burning equipment.

“He has used Government House Police, not the regular police but Police attached to Rivers State Governor are the ones that are barricading the place.

“Wike wants anarchy in Rivers State. He and his supporters have attacked supporters of Atiku Abubakar in the state over and over. We have been complaining to the law enforcement agencies. We have written to the police, we have done everything we can.

“This time around, it is no longer thugs that did this; it is policemen attached to the governor going out at night to destroy equipment that are working at a site to ensure that Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign rally never holds in this state.”

He showed reporters a picture of the car riddled with bullets with one of the vehicle’s front tyres burnt.

However, the Publicity Secretary of the state PDP campaign Council, Ogbonna Nwuke, dismissed Sekibo’s allegation as untrue and an attempt to create an impression that his attackers were policemen attached to Rivers Government House.

Nwuke said all evidence released by Sekibo showed that his claim of attack was false and required thorough police investigation.

He argued that the scaremongering was the reason why the Atiku’s campaigners rushed to the court to get an order preventing security agencies from arresting them.

Nwuke said: “Sekibo was Secretary to Government in this state and he knows the way government operates. He knows that Government security is not involved in activities outside the protection of the governor.

“He claimed he went to a venue where they were supposed to hold a rally. That venue which he claims to be in Rainbow Town was not precisely defined. If you go around Rainbow Town you will find that there is no place where a normal rally can hold.

“Sekibo should tell Rivers people and the world where that venue he chose to go to in the middle of the night is. The Rivers State Government has released a stadium as sought by them for use, the same people have refused to use the stadium because they know they cannot attract the kind of crowd required to make a political statement here.

“So, they ran away from the offer that they have only to stage what looks like an attack.

“I have seen pictures of the said car. How did Sekibo escape from the venue with the front tyre completely shot down? If you look at the picture, you will know that it is a daytime shot; it was not a night time shot. It would have made sense if Sekibo had taken those pictures at night to buttress evidence that at night he was attacked in Rivers State.

“This is rascality, falsehood taken too far. I think as politicians, we all hold the responsibility to ensure that there is law and order, particularly now that we are headed towards an election. To raise tension on the basis of falsehood is ridiculous.

“Politicians should face the people with what they want to do instead of creating diversionary tactics and in doing so create tension among ordinary law-abiding citizens. I didn’t believe that Sekibo was attacked although we are waiting for the outcome of security investigations.

“It is strange to hear that a man heard according to him that the venue was on fire and he left his home knowing there could be danger to go and find out what happened to the venue. You said you saw people who were armed from afar and you assumed that those vehicles according to you came from the Government.

“You can see a person trying to put together a tissue of lies just to make an impression. It is possible that they really did not want to hold a rally here in Rivers. If they had given them money to hold the rally but they don’t want to hold it, it is their business. But there is a limit to falsehood.”

Besides, Nwuke said Governor Nyesom Wike, had invested heavily on security architecture to secure the state and could not at the same time be creating an atmosphere of insecurity.

Nwuke said with the performance of the governor in the state, Rivers PDP required absolute peace to hold the forthcoming election because it was certain the people would follow the direction of the governor.

He said those posing as Atiku’s campaigners such as Nwuke were not in any way in the same political wavelength with the governor and lacked electoral value to attract any attention from the government.

Wike himself said at a rally in Eleme yesterday that he had approved Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt for the PDP to use for its presidential campaign.

 He said rather than prepare the approved stadium for the planned rally, Sekibo and Lee Maeba led some thugs to carry out grading work on night on a piece of land located in Trans-Amadi Industrial Layout belonging to the state government.

He said: “Abiye Sekibo led thugs around 12 midnight to go to Trans Amadi. The land that belongs to Rivers State, and with Lee Maeba, brought bulldozers to start grading the place. That is where they want to use for presidential rally tomorrow (Saturday). I said no, go back to   the stadium. You said you have people, then you must go there (stadium).

Wike said it was apparent that the PCC members were reluctant to use the stadium because they do not have the capacity to mobilise enough crowd to fill up the space.

But the governor insisted that they must use the stadium for their rally.

He pledged to provide them with logistic support and service if required.

Confusion trails proposed rally

Following the development, spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Leloonu Nwibubasa, said the proposed rally had been shifted from today (Saturday) to Tuesday, February 14 at 9am.

But he was silent on the venue saying only that it would be communicated to the public in due course.

He said: “The PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Rivers State Chapter, hereby regret to announce the said postponement and plead that the general public, members of PDP and the Supporters of Atiku/Okowa Presidency bear with us on the inconveniences this adjustment in date may cause you.

“Remember to keep a date with Atiku/Okowa for a better Nigeria.”

• Kano, Ondo govts sue FG over Naira

• Hoodlums arrested for arms stockpiling ahead of planned protests

The Council of State yesterday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to either push more of the redesigned naira notes into circulation or allow the old notes continue to co-circulate as a means of easing the current hardship of Nigerians.

Although the council, which comprises the President, Vice President, all living former presidents/heads of state, former Chief Justices, Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, State Governors and Attorney-General of the Federation, expressed support for government’s new monetary policy, it noted the suffering many Nigerians are going through on account of the scarcity of naira.

Its position came as the Kano and Ondo State governments filed separate suits at the Supreme Court against the Federal Government on the naira redesign.

The Kano State Government is praying the apex court to declare that the President cannot unilaterally direct the CBN to recall the now-old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes without recourse to the Federal Executive Council and National Economic Council, while the Ondo State Government is seeking to be joined as co-applicants in the suit filed earlier in the week by the Zamfara, Kaduna and Kogi state governments on the matter.

Yesterday’s meeting of the Council of State was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami acknowledged the reactions trailing the re-designing of the N200, N500 and N1000, saying that the conclusion was that the CBN should do more to ensure adequate circulation in the system with a view to alleviating  the harsh realities of the moment.

Also discussed at the meeting was the coming elections, Malami said.

With him at the briefing were Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, as well as Media and Publicity Special Adviser to the President Femi Adesina.

He said: “So by way of conclusion, the two major resolutions that were driven, arriving from the deliberations of the Council, are: one that we are on course as far as election is concerned and we are happy with the level of preparation by INEC and the institutions.

“Two, relating to the naira re-designed policy, the policy stands, but then the Council agreed that there is need for aggressive action on the part of the Central Bank, as it relates to the implementation of the policy by way of ensuring adequate provision being made with regard to the supply of the naira in the system.”

Malami said the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba, assured the council of the readiness of their organisations for the polls.

Ishaku said the cash scarcity was the most contentious issue at the meeting.

Accordingly, he said the council advised CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to make the new naira notes available by printing more, and if printing would be difficult, the apex bank should re-circulate the old notes.

He said: “Basically, what took more time was that of the monetary issue because of the hardship of money in circulation across the whole states. Generally, the view across the board is that principally the policy is accepted.

“Just like any new policy or any new change, at the beginning people resist it, even though it’s good. But generally it’s accepted.

“But the major issue across board, from all the states and most of the speakers is that of implementation. So many views were proffered, particularly that the CBN governor should look into making sure that the new money is available in quantum.

“There were suggestions too that if the new money is not in circulation or printing them could be difficult, the old money that hasn’t been changed could be re-circulated and pumped into circulation to ease the tension, particularly for the poor people in our society who’ll just need a little sum of money to buy their food, buy their drugs for daily basis and they cannot even afford it.

“So the pains and the sentiments across the country are being expressed by different governors, my colleagues and I think, collectively, all these ideas, Mr. President was present, to proffer solutions and advice to Mr. President and he was there physically, he was present. So, I’m sure that after this meeting, a lot of things will be done, particularly in easing the monetary tension in the society.”

The council is a creation of the Constitution and its functions include advising the executive on policy making.

National Assembly: There should be no cap on naira swap

Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who had a separate meeting with Buhari after the Council of State interaction, told reporters that he passed on to the President the position of the National Assembly that  there should be no cap on the currency swap in view  of the way the scenario was playing out and its impact on the generality of Nigerians.

His words: “For us in the Senate, initially we felt that this policy, in the first place, is not a bad one. But we also feel there is no need for time limit. Allow the old and the new to co-exist until the old is phased out. So, what is wrong in that?

“This is not going to be the first country to deploy it that way. Other countries have been doing the same thing, and to say that in three months it will be okay, it is not okay. Especially in a country like ours, where maybe 80, 85, 90 percent of the population have no access to banks.

“When Britain changed their currency, it took them over year to change and the validity of the old remains and remains a legal tender, so why ours? We are not cashless yet and that society is cashless already and they needed even more time.

“So, we should have an open-ended time. But what will make it quick is for us to have more and more of the new currencies and then they co-exist with the old ones until the old dies a natural death.”

Only last week, All Progressives Congress (APC) governors appealed to Buhari to allow both the old and new naira notes co-circulate until the end of the year.

The President, during his meeting with the APC governors, asked Nigerians to give him one week to address the problems caused by the naira shortage.

However, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an interim injunction sought by the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments restraining the CBN from ending the February 10 time frame within which the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes would cease to be legal tender.

Kano govt sues FG over naira redesign policy

A similar suit was filed at the Supreme Court late Thursday by the Kano State Government.

In suit number: SC/CS/200/2023, the plaintiff  wants  the apex court to declare that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot unilaterally direct the CBN to recall the now-old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes without recourse to the Federal Executive Council and National Economic Council, respectively.

It claims the planned phasing out of the old notes is affecting the economic well-being of over 20 million Kano citizens.

The applicant is also seeking for mandatory order compelling the Federal Government to reverse the naira redesign policy for alleged failure to comply with 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Citing Section 148(2) of 1999 constitution and Part 1, and Paragraph 19 of the Third Schedule thereof, the plaintiffs says “the President cannot unilaterally without recourse to the Federal Executive Council and National Economic Council respectively give approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the implementation of cash withdrawal limit pursuant to the demonetization economic policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

It therefore prays the court to declare the action of the Federal Government unconstitutional, illegal null and void.

Ondo govt joins suit against FG, CBN

The Ondo State Government has also approached the Supreme Court with a suit of its own to be joined as co-applicants in the case filed by the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments.

It wants the apex court to stop the implementation of the policy as the implementation of the directive issued by the Federal Government through the CBN on limitation of daily cash withdrawals from banks has totally paralysed the activities of Ondo State and has adversely affected economic and commercial activities in the state.

Kola Adeniyi, an aide of the Attorney-General of the state, Mr. Charles Titiloye, said: “The Ondo State Government contended that the guideline on daily maximum cash withdrawal made by Federal Government is an infraction on the legal rights of Ondo State

Nigerians will have to wait for more time for the  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to meet the high demand for the new N200,N500 and N1000 notes, according to reports yesterday.

This is because the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (The Mint) which is saddled with the task of printing the money lacks the immediate capacity to meet expectation.

Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, is said to have told the Council of State which deliberated on the cash crunch yesterday that The Mint simply lacks what it takes to meet the high demand for the new notes.

Premium Times quoted a source at the meeting as saying “the Mint has run out of papers to print N500 and 1,000 notes,” based on the briefing from the CBN governor.

The Mint, according to the Premium Times report, has “placed orders with a German firm and De La Rue of the UK (for papers)” to print more new notes.

The NSPMPlc is understood to have been “placed on a long waiting list (by the suppliers) so their orders cannot be met now.”

The source further said The Mint had received CBN’s request to print N126 billion of the new notes which should have been pumped into circulation by yesterday but the request could not be met.

The current cash crunch in the country was sparked by the introduction of the new N200,N500 and N1000 notes.

The bank had initially fixed January 31, 2023 as deadline for the old notes to be accepted as legal tender but extended it by 10 days following the inability of most Nigerians to swap the old notes.

Further relief came on Wednesday after the Supreme Court granted an interim injunction sought by the Zamfara, Kaduna and Kogi State governments to restrain the Federal Government and the CBN from enforcing the February 10 extension.

Emerging from a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and APC governors last week,Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai  had told reporters that the CBN mopped up over N2 trillion of the old notes and pushed out  only N300 billion of the new notes.

El-Rufai with whom was his Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje, said even if the CBN had wanted to implement the cashless policy, it should have printed a half of what it mopped up, for a start.

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Senator Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu East).

The party also expelled Mr. Jomiloju Fayose, a son of a former Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose.

A PDP chieftain from Imo State, Chris Ogbu also got expelled.

Four other party members from Ekiti were also expelled. They are Ajijola Lateef Oladimeji (Ekiti Central), Olayinka James Olalere (Ekiti Central II), Akerele Oluyinka (Ekiti North I) and Emiola Adenike Jennifer (Ekiti South II).

A statement on Friday signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the party chieftains were expelled “for anti party activities and other grave offences in violation of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017)”.

Ologunagba said the decision to expel the affected members was taken at the meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) on Friday.

The statement said: “The decision of the NWC is sequel to the recommendation of the National Disciplinary Committee and pursuant to Sections 58 and 59 (1)(g) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017).

“The PDP charges all members of our party across the country to remain united and focused on the mission of our party to rescue, rebuild and redirect our nation from misrule”.

The party said the expulsion order took effect from Friday, February 10, 2023.

The PDP leadership had on January 20 suspended the party chieftains for alleged anti party activities, following which they were all referred to a disciplinary committee set up by the party.