Category: Lead

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emiefele has said that the apex will not allow itself to be used to frustrate the forthcoming general elections.

Emiefele, who spoke when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu led 11 National Commissioners on a visit to the Bank, said the CBN will make available every cash needed to pay logistics for the success of the elections.

He was responding to a request from Yakubu that the CBN should find a way of addressing scarcity of currency across the country 17 days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections since some service providers to the commission were “unbanned”.

Read Also: Protesters shut Benin’s CBN branch

He said: “The CBN will not allow itself to be used as agents to frustrate the forthcoming election which is a positive assignment.

“If you require cash to pay some of your service providers, we will make it available to you. We will not allow ourselves to be seen as agents that frustrate a genuine assignment”.

The INEC chairman had told the CBN Governor the 2023 polls will be the best in Nigeria’s history, adding that concerns have however been raised about the processes leading to the elections.

He said while the Commission has transfered all its accounts at the state and national level to the apex bank, some of the services being rendered to the Commission need to be paid for in cash.

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Detail Shortly…

A protest broke out in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital on Tuesday when residents poured into the roads and streets over biting scarcity of cash and the attendant excruciating pains.

Aladesanmi, Fajol and Somorin in Obantoko area of Abeokuta were taken over by the protesters, making bonfires and chanting anti – CBN songs

The Sapon branch of First Bank was also vandalised as the protesters attempted to set it ablaze.

Ogun Police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the protest to The Nation, said officers are monitoring the situation to prevent the destruction of property and loss of lives.

Read Also: Four die on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

Oyeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said a group of boys is involved, stressing the Command was studying the protesters to know whether they are Okada riders or not. 

Although the police stormed the locations and dispersed the protesters, they regrouped as soon as the operatives withdrew from the scene in greater intensity and made bonfires with disused tires.

The situation disrupted vehicular movement as motorists and pedestrians ran off the road in safe directions to avoid the protesters.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted businessman, Jide Omokore and his firms – Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited – charged with allegedly diverting about $1.6billion.

Omokore, his firms and one Kola Akanni Aluko (now at large), were accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of diverting the said funds which it claimed formed part of proceeds of the sale of petroleum products belonging to the Federal Government under the Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) entered with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Read Also: Naira redesign: FG blasts opposition parties for rushing to court

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, in a judgment on Tuesday, convicted a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC), Victor Briggs and ex-Group Executive, Exploration & Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abiye Membere for public corruption.

The two, though discharged and acquitted on other charges against them, were convicted for accepting gifts of Mercedes Benz and Range Rover cars from Omokore.

Justice Dimgba ordered that Briggs and Membere be remanded in the custody of the EFCC pending their sentencing scheduled for February 8.

Details Shortly…

Kano Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has lamented elements of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election are regrouping and dangerously masquerading in the prevailing crisis generated by the cash policy to scuttle the nation’s hard-earned democracy.

Ganduje was reacting to an interim injunction by a Federal High Court in Abuja stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from extending the 10-day deadline for the currency swap.

“The group’s latest attempt is camouflaging in unknown political parties through the use of legal instruments to further impose unfeasible cash policy that is taking its toll on the masses in the country.

“The unknown political parties are also allegedly colluding with the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to execute this fiendish scheme,” Ganduje said.

Read Also: CBN Gov fighting back for losing presidential bid – Ganduje

The Governor, in a statement by Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, on Tuesday observed that the open support for the policy by the main opposition party and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar lay bare the grand complicity between the opposition and the apex bank to deliberately thwart the nation’s hard-earned democracy by imposing harsh policies calculated to weaken the masses.

“It is unfortunate that the CBN and its collaborators are insisting unnecessarily on the imposition of an unreasonable time frame for the old naira notes to cease to be legal tender, in total refutation of the obvious national dearth in the necessary technological infrastructure for the process.

“The rigid insistence on the implementation of these harsh, inhuman and insensitive cash policies to a point of neglecting their widespread rejection by the vast majority of Nigerians including the National Assembly and all state governors, is an ominous agenda for the undermining of the nation and consequent scurrying of a smooth transition to a freely and fairly elected successive administration,” Ganduje said.

Banks in some parts of Lagos on Tuesday morning shut their doors against desperate customers seeking payment following the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) cash swap policy. 

In Town planning Lagos, a new generation bank shut its gates as early as 9 am to customers who couldn’t carry out transactions too. 

Read Also: Cash scarcity deteriorates in Bauchi, as CBN intensifies monitoring of commercial banks

At Obanikoro, two new generation banks also locked their gates against customers. Visibly angry customers gathered in front of the banks lamenting the development. 

Some of them accused the CBN and powerful government forces of plotting to frustrate the forthcoming general elections. 

A mild drama played out in one of the new generation banks on town planning when a man openly cried about inability to access cash. 

He said he needed to do an urgent transfer for his sick wife’s surgery. 

•Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara states sue Fed Govt
•Four political parties get High Court injunction to block extension
•EFCC arrests bank official with N29m new notes

The raging storm over the naira redesign and scarcity has moved to the courtrooms.

Three states – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – have urged the Supreme Court to suspend the policy immediately.

They said it was doing more harm to the economy and livelihoods than envisaged.

Just as the governors were filing their case, a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) issued an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government from extending the February 10 deadline for the phaseout of the old naira notes.

The court ruled on an application by four political parties – Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and National Rescue Movement (NRM).

Outside the courts, Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje accused Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emeifiele of punishing Nigerians after failing to secure the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor spoke a day after former APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole accused Emefiele of plotting to scuttle this month’s elections.

The former Edo governor was of the opinion that the CBN governor wanted to discredit the party.

Nigerians have been groaning amid the scarcity of old and new notes.

There were long queues in banking halls and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) as the cash crunch bit harder yesterday.

The banks, through their spokesman, had denied hoarding the cash. But, the situation got worse yesterday as many ATMs remained empty and banks turned weary customers away.

Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Godwin Obaseki (Edo) met with bank chiefs in their states in a bid to find a solution.

Also yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a bank manager in Abuja for hoarding N29 million worth of new naira notes.

The agency said: “An operations manager of a leading commercial bank in Abuja Central Area was on Monday arrested by operatives for refusing to load the ATMs, despite having N29 million of the redesigned naira notes in the branch’s vaults.”

The states’ prayers

Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara are praying the Supreme Court to order the immediate suspension of the demonetisation policy until it complies with the relevant provisions of the law.

The states filed a joint suit through their Attorneys-General.

The states, in an originating summons filed on February 3 by a team of lawyers, led by Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), raised four questions for the court’s determination.

In the suit marked SC/CV/162/2023, they prayed the apex court to make the following declarations:

·               That the demonetisation policy being currently carried out by the CBN under the directive of the President is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution, CBN Act 2007 and extant laws on the subject.

·               That the three-month notice given by the Federal Government through the CBN, under the directive of the President, 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 CBN Act 2007 which specifies that reasonable notice must be given before such a policy.

·               That in view of the express provisions of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act, the Federal Government, through the CBN, 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, and the Central Bank shall at all times redeem its bank notes.

The three states filed along with the originating summons, a motion for an injunction.

They seek to restrain the Federal Government and its agents, including the CBN, and commercial banks, among others, “from suspending or determining or ending on the 10th of February 2023 the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The states stated their grounds, saying: “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.

“Citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes have increasingly found it difficult and sometimes next to impossible to access new naira notes in order to go about their daily activities.

“This inadequacy of the notice coupled with the haphazard, cack-handed manner the exercise is being carried out and the attendant hardship same is wreaking on Nigerians (and this includes citizens of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States of Nigeria) has been well acknowledged even by the Federal Government of Nigeria itself.

“The Naira (whether old or new) is scarce.”

The plaintiffs also filed a motion for abridgement of time to five days from the date of service within which the defendant, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), could file a response to the suit.

In their supporting affidavit, the states added: “Contrary to the requirement for the naira redesign policy to be implemented within a reasonable time frame, the Federal Government of Nigeria has embarked on the policy within an unreasonable and unworkable time frame.

“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 simply not available for use by the people as well as the state governments.

“Government activities and services requiring the use of cash have been adversely affected on account of the massive cash shortage, thus making it difficult for the government to effectively operate.

“People in the plaintiff states (Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara) have been deprived of their right to access their hard-earned money from their bank accounts having deposited their old naira notes with the banks.

“The people cannot access funds to purchase basic necessities such as food, transportation, health care, etc.

“As for the majority of the indigenes of the plaintiffs’ states who reside in the rural areas, they 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 actually reside.

“The majority of 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.

“Economic activities in the plaintiffs’ states have grounded to a halt as people in the various states have no money to trade with and this is adversely affecting the states’ revenue as taxes that would accrue to the states on account of the various economic activities in the states are no longer forthcoming.

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

“Critical stakeholders have had reasons to communicate their concerns to the Federal Government on account of the challenges and hardship being experienced by Nigerians as a result of the naira exchange policy.

“The Nigerian Bar Association via a letter dated 23rd January 2023, addressed to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has expressed its concerns regarding the implementation of the said policy.

“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 in the states.

“There is no justifiable basis for the ongoing difficulty and suffering being meted out on the governments and good people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states by the Federal Government.

“If sufficient and reasonable time had been given by the Federal Government of Nigeria 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.

“Owing to the hardship occasioned by the short and unreasonable notice by the Federal Government on the implementation of the naira redesign policy, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria whilst inter alia acknowledging the shortage of the new naira notes, had reason to pass a resolution for extension of the time frame for implementation of the policy until the 31st of July, 2023.

“On account of the hardship being experienced by Nigerians as a result of the short length of the notice for the implementation of the new naira redesign policy by the Federal Government, the Federal Government through the CBN on the 29th of January 2023, announced a 10-day extension of the implementation period, to last until the 10th of February 2023.

“By the further extension, the old naira notes would lose their legal tender status by 10th February 2023, while a further seven-day grace period was purportedly given as the deadline for the deposit of the old naira notes.

“The 10-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges bedevilling the policy.

“The Federal Government cannot bar Nigerians from redeeming their old naira notes at any point in time, despite the fact that the old notes are no longer legal tender.

“Unless this honourable court intervenes, the governments and people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states 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.”

Court to Fed Govt: No deadline extension

Ruling on the application by the four political parties, Justice Eneojo Eneche restrained President Mohammadu Buhari, the CBN, Emefiele and 27 commercial banks “from suspending, stopping, extending or interfering with the currency redesign terminal date of February 10th or issuing any directive contrary to the February 10 date.”

He gave the interim order in a ruling on a motion M/4284/2023 filed in a suit numbered FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023.

Justice Eneche, according to the enrolled order sighted by our correspondent, held, among others: “An interim order of mandatory injunction is hereby made directing and mandating the defendants, whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or financial institutions or however described to comply with, implement and give effect to the currency re-design and restricting of the old of N200, N500, N1000 bank notes on or before the fast dote of 10th day of February 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice;

“An order of interim injunction is hereby made restraining the defendants whether by themselves, staff agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever not to suspend, stop, extend, vary or interfere with the extant termination date of use of the old N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes being 10th day of February 2023 or in any other manner howsoever issue any other contrary or inconsistent directive ever the subject matter beyond the last date of 10th day of February 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

“An order is hereby made directing the heads, Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors and/or alter egos of the 4th to 30th defendants (the commercial banks) to forthwith show cause as to why they shall not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by their illegal act of hoarding, withholding, not paying or disbursing the new N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes, being the legal tender of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite supplies of such currency.”

The plaintiffs, in a supporting affidavit, claimed that politicians who ostensibly are in possession of illicit funds are the ones who want the policies suspended.

The judge said the orders are to last for seven days in the first instance, and adjourned till February 14 for a hearing of the motion on notice.

Ganduje takes on Emefiele

Ganduje believes the close-to-election timing of the naira swap policy was done by Emeifiele to get back at Nigerians for failing to secure APC presidential ticket.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Tsanyawa, he alleged that the CBN governor was out to sabotage the success of the ruling party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

At the palaces of the district heads of Kunchi and Tsanyawa local governments, the governor urged community leaders to create awareness within their jurisdictions to “let people know that the hardship people facing is singlehandedly caused by the CBN governor, to purposely cause confusion in our democratic process.”

Ganduje added: “The CBN governor is only doing this to cause confusion in the forthcoming elections for not just reason.

“He has not been in good mood for long, because he failed to secure a presidential ticket on the platform of our great party, the APC.

“Currency redesign is done across the globe, but not in the way we are witnessing in our country. The timing is wrong, and the deadline given is very wrong and deliberate.”

The governor said the Kano government and APC in the state were against the CBN governor’s action.

He said his administration would invite bank managers to explain why there growing scarcity of banknotes.

“We will summon bank managers very soon to interrogate them on the shortage of new naira notes in banks.

“They should come over and explain to us, why our people are still suffering over this issue of naira swap. And I will go to them individually to supervise what is happening and why,” he said.

Ganduje said palliatives would be distributed to cushion the effects of the naira scarcity.

“We have planned to start distributing palliatives very soon across all the 44 local governments areas to cushion the effects of the hardship caused by the CBN governor to our people,” the governor said.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he expected two million votes for All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, from Katsina State.

He addressed a huge crowd of party faithful and supporters in Katsina, the state capital, where Tinubu vowed to defeat terror in the Northwest, if elected.

President Buhari said: “Tell your friends, brothers, sisters and children to continue to vote for APC. Tinubu will continue from where we stopped.

“Ensure your votes go to Tinubu for President and Dikko Radda for Governor of Katsina State and other candidates of the party.”

Tinubu described as evil the activities of bandits troubling the Northwest, killing innocent people and leaving in their throes many orphans.

He also said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should not be given a chance to bounce back to power.

The presidential candidate donated N100 million to victims of banditry, Governor Aminu Masari disclosed at the rally.

The rally, which held at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, was converted into a prayer session against the increasing wave of banditry in the state.

No fewer than 80 people were killed by bandits in an attack in Bakori Local Government Area at the weekend.

President Buhari, Tinubu, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu and other party leaders commiserated with the families of the deceased, urging them to be courageous and hopeful.

Tinubu saluted those who summoned courage to attend the rally in spite of the tragedy, as he expressed condolences to the government and people of Katsina State.

He said he would work hard to eliminate banditry in the state.

Tinubu said: “Yesterday, we discussed whether we should continue or cancel the rally. If we had cancelled, they will appear to have achieved their aim.

“Nothing happens in life without the will of the Almighty Allah. We will continue with our rallies, and ignore the killers. They have committed a heinous crime before God and against humanity. No religion or society will tolerate killing of the innocent.

“We share in the pain, and sorrow of loss. Only Allah can soothe the pains of the widows and widowers, and all the loved ones. The killers have not won, and they will never win. The wicked shall perish. We will defeat the troublers of Nigeria.”

Tinubu said President Buhari abhors violence, unfairness and injustice, and would not tolerate the mayhem by the terrorists. 

He added: “President Buhari will never harm anyone. He wants peace, protection of citizens and progress. We will work with the President. He is a progressive leader.

“We will definitely deal with them. They will not go scot-free. Whether they derive some moment of joy or satisfaction, we are saying we are courageous, we are strong, we believe in Allah and we will defeat them. They are evil. We will eliminate them.”

Tinubu also gave kudos to security agents, assuring them that their sacrifice would be rewarded.

He urged voters not to allow what he called the “Poverty Development Party” to come back to power. “No to PDP, no to evil, no to killers,” he chanted along with the crowd.

Governor Masari warned Nigerians not to trust PDP with power again.

He said: “They had the opportunity. They didn’t do anything meaningful and now they want to deceive. Don’t fall for their sugar-coated words.”

The APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong urged voters to queue behind President Buhari to support APC candidates.

Adamu said the party would continue on the path of patience and steadfastness in growing the state and the nation. 

He said: “We are, indeed, in very peculiar times. We are facing many challenges that require wisdom, patience and steadfastness to overcome.” 

At the rally were Shettima, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos).

Others were Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farooq, former Governor of Borno, Ali Modu Sheriff and a former governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar.

Masari, who called for special prayers for the repose of the souls of slain indigenes, thanked Tinubu for donating N100 million to the families of victims.

He said: “Leadership is not a joke. We should pray and support our leaders. The choice before us in the forthcoming elections is between light and darkness. We have a choice to move our state, and nation, or take it backwards. 

“Separate yourselves from liars and jokers. We have seen this people and we know them; they gather people and deceive them. We would not be dealing with Boko Haram and bandits today if they had provided the right leadership in the past.”

Masari said the APC was committed to rebuilding all that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had destroyed. 

Buhari presents Tinubu to Emirate Council 

President Buhari presented Tinubu to the Katsina Emirate and implored them to mobilise for his victory in the state.

“We are here to present our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the President said while on a courtesy call on the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir Usman.

“Asiwaju has been chosen by our party, and we are fully in support of his candidature, and we will work for his victory at the polls,” he added.

Masari noted that Tinubu’s record of service in Lagos State and the nation remained commendable.

He said: “Lagos State had a poor security record, with cases of attacks, robberies and dead bodies on streets, until Asiwaju took over leadership in 1999.

“The state has been transformed, with infrastructure and earned a reputation as one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The state is now a centre of excellence because of the vision of the APC presidential candidate,”

The APC standard bearer thanked the Emirate Council for their support to the President, assuring that he will continue with Buhari’s legacy of discipline and fairness if elected President.

The Emir of Katsina lauded  Buhari for presenting Tinubu to the council and citizens of Katsina. He assured that they would pray and mobilise for his victory at the polls.

Oyo APC confirms postponement of  rally 

The APC in Oyo State has confirmed the postponement of its presidential rally earlier scheduled for Ibadan today.

It said the decision was taken by the Simon Lalong-led Presidential Campaign Council because of the mood of the nation.

The Publicity Secretary of the chapter, Olawale Sadare, said: “Since the crisis occasioned by the fuel scarcity and federal government’s cashless policy implementation as well as local currency redesigning.”

“We regret to announce the indefinite postponement of our presidential rally earlier slated for tomorrow (Tuesday). The decision was taken, apparently, in consideration of the prevailing challenges facing the people and the need to allow President Muhammadu Buhari to work around the situation and ensure that normalcy returns particularly as it concerns the fuel and currency notes crises.

“I can assure the general public that Oyo state will host Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in no time and it is going to be a huge success.”

Labour leaders yesterday explained why the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) opted for a consensus arrangement in picking its next president.

The General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Joe Ajaero, looked good to succeed Ayuba Wabba as NLC President, barring any last-minute change.

Ajaero, a Deputy NLC National President, is the only candidate for the position of president going into today’s and tomorrow’s delegates conference of the Congress.

The conference is expected to be capped with the election of national officers that will drive the affairs of Nigerian workers in the next four years.

President of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Benjamin Anthony said they agreed on a consensus arrangement to avoid a repeat of what happened at the March 2015 National Delegates Conference (NDC) in Abuja.

The NUEE leader had refused to step down for Wabba in the wake of the disputed outcome of the NDC.

The Ajaero-led faction of NLC announced the birth of the United Labour Congress (ULC), with over 25 affiliates including some aggrieved affiliates of Trade Union Congress (TUC), on December 18, 2016

Some of the prominent members of the ULC were the two powerful oil unions, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Others are: NUEE, Nigeria Union of Mine Workers, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees (NUBIFFE), Nigeria Union of Rail Workers, National Union of Lottery Agents, & Employees, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).

Throughout the fight between the unions, the ULC wielded influence in the petroleum industry, power sector, financial, aviation, manufacturing and telecommunication sectors among others.

However, Benjamin said to avoid a repeat of the 2015 experience, Labour leaders deliberated for six months and came up with a consensus list which has been unanimously adopted.

He said: “We want to build a very strong labour centre and the issue of trying to go around the election. You know what happened in 2015 and we are trying to avoid that.

“All of us have agreed that we must not allow that to happen again. It was a big lesson and that is why we have agreed now. It took us six months to discuss and reach this consensus list.”

Another Labour leader, Lawrence Amaechi, told our reporter that the leadership of all the unions agreed on a consensus list to avoid litigation after losing an election.

Those nominated for the position of Deputy National President are Comrades Prince Adeyanju Adewale, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria; Audu Amba, Nigeria Union of Teachers and Kabiru Sani, Medical and Health Worker’s Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).

President of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Comrade Ambali Olatunji has been nominated for National Treasurer.

Others nominated for the position of Vice President are: Comrade Benjamin Anthony, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE); Comrade Stephen Okoro, National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW); Comrade Michael Nnachi, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM); and Comrade Oluwole Sunday, Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU).

Also, Comrade Marwan Adamu of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has been nominated for the position of Financial Secretary.

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) governors were message bearers. In their capacities as representatives of the people in their domains, they brought a message to the father of the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja, on February 3. Their message was the pain and suffering their people are going through over the redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes. The old ones were recalled and January 31 was set as initial deadline for phasing them out. The people rushed to beat the deadline.

They did all they were expected to do. They returned their old notes, but getting the new ones was tough. The banks claimed they did not have the notes. But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insisted the banks had been supplied the notes, which they were expected to feed into their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Still, depositors were frustrated in their bid to get the old notes.  Many who returned the old notes with the hope of collecting the new ones argued to no end with bank officials in banking halls. Tempers flared as some customers insisted on getting the new notes for the old ones they returned.

There was drama in some places. A woman undressed in the banking hall; another threatened to commit suicide. For the unbanked, the story was not different. Their case was even worse.  They travelled far from home to swap their old notes for new ones.  In many instances, they went and returned without getting the new notes. Yet, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, kept saying things were in order.  Nothing was in order. It was chaos everywhere. From Lagos to Lokoja, Ibadan to Ilorin, Mokwa to Maiduguri, Jebba to Jos, Ogbomoso to Ogoja, Enugu to Eket, Kaduna to Kano, Auchi to Abuja, Benin to Bakolori, Port Harcourt to Potiskum, it was a tale of woes.

How ready was CBN before it decided to introduce the policy? Did it take into consideration the plight of many in the informal sector whose daily living comes from petty trading? The artisan, who must get materials for their work from sellers who always insist on being paid cash. For ages, Nigeria has run a cash economy. To make it cashless is not a job to be done in a day, as it were. Cashless economies did not evolve overnight. They came about with time and planning. The United Kingdom  and the United States  have been working on redesigning their currencies since 2011. Both countries set timelines for each aspect of the exercises that will eventually culminate in the reissuance of their respective currencies.

For instance, following the death of Queen Elizabeth 11, the Bank of England unveiled the design of King Charles 111 banknotes on December 20. His portrait will appear on all British polymer banknotes by the middle of next year, that is almost two years after the idea was mooted. In America, the first set of new dollars will be reissued in 2026, which is 15 years after the plan was hatched. CBN was expected to borrow a leaf from these countries, especially as it was embarking on this exercise after a very long time it last did one. Emefiele said the redesign became imperative to control inflation as it would help mop up currency outside the banking system.

As good as the exercise may be, some analysts argue that the timing is wrong. According to them,  no nation embarks on such a demanding exercise on the eve of a major election. The presidential election comes up on February 25, which is just 18 days away. Can the exercise not wait till after the election? Some have asked. Nobody, not even Emefiele, who is insisting on going on with the exercise after agreeing to extend the initial January 31 deadline to February 10, has been able to answer the question. His insistence on going on with the exercise, no matter the political and socio-economic consequences, is fuelling speculations that there is more to it than meets the eye.

Before the APC governors went to see the President, their presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had said fifth columnists were behind the naira redesign and petrol scarcity, adding their aim is to scuttle the elections. The National Assembly polls will also hold on February 25, while the governorship and House of Assembly elections follow on March 11. Before his Abeokuta declaration, he had called on CBN to extend the deadline for the exercise to enable more Nigerians to dispose of their old notes. Tinubu’s declaration shook the polity and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, took things up from there. On a television interview, the governor spoke of elements in the Presidency plotting to stop the victory of the party’s candidate in the presidential election.

“The naira redesign and fuel scarcity are the handiwork of fifth columnists who want to bring the country down”, he said, echoing Tinubu’s earlier remark. Why will an APC government want to stop its own candidate from winning election? The uninitiated wondered. Those who are politically aware know why these things are playing out. They are carry overs from the party’s primary in which Tinubu bested others to pick the ticket. Emefiele had wanted to join the race before reason prevailed. The naira redesign is creating, for now, more problems than it is supposed to resolve.

The suffering masses are at the receiving end, while some politicians, who are also in the presidential race, are talking from both sides of the mouth. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who asked CBN to extend the January 31 deadline shortly after Tinubu did so, is now telling the regulatory body not to further extend the new February 10 deadline, which falls on Friday. His running mate in 2019 and now Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, is singing the same song with him. Obi is calling for calm and appealing to Nigerians to bear with the government and CBN.

Atiku and Obi want to be more Catholic than the Pope. It is not possible for them to love an APC government more than those who are APC members, and are calling on the President to give the naira redesign a human face. How to do this is to extend the February 10 deadline and allow the old notes to co-exist with the new ones. No matter what Emefiele says, the new notes are hard to come by. Even, the old ones are no longer in circulation as many depositors have paid them in, with the hope of getting the new notes. They were sorely disappointed as banks collected their money without giving them new notes. There is not enough money in circulation. How can there be when the CBN has recalled N2.1 trillion and released a meagre N300 billion?

The anguish and suffering will continue if the President does not heed the governors’ advice. It is more of an appeal to him as a father and no father watches while his children suffer. As a father with a listening ear, the President’s stock will rise if he endorses the governors’ proposal. He should not listen to the opposition whose only interest is to make political capital of the scarce new naira notes. The President does not have to wait till Friday before he makes his stand known. Shall we tell the President? Yes, we shall. Mr President, the suffering in the land is too much. The song all over town now is: “the country is hard. There is no money in circulation”. The President can ease the people’s pains by allowing the old and new notes to exist parri pasu.

Those threatening to boycott the elections if the deadline is extended can do so. They will only be exercising their right, if they carry out the threat. Their boycott will not invalidate the elections. The President should not allow their threat to bother him. What should bother the President is what millions of poor Nigerians are going through because of petrol shortage and cash crunch. The time to assuage their pain is now.

THE trial of former Senate Deputy President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Sonia, started yesterday in a London court for allegedly plotting to harvest a street trader’s kidney.

The Ekweremadus and a doctor, Obinna Obeta, are accused of conspiring to exploit the man for his organ.

The kidney was allegedly intended for Sonia, who remains on dialysis with a renal condition, in return for up to £7,000 ($8,430) and the promise of a new life in Britain for the 21-year-old trader.

All four were in London’s famous Central Criminal Court, called the Old Bailey, for the start of the trial, after previously pleading not guilty.

They face life imprisonment, if convicted.

In Britain, it is legal to donate a kidney, but not for a reward.

Prosecutors say regardless of whether the Lagos street trader gave his consent, a crime was committed by the Ekweremadus.

The accuser — who cannot be named — is said to have gone to UK police after finally refusing to consent to the procedure, following preliminary tests at a north London hospital in February 2022.

The consultant doctor said the young man had “limited understanding” of why he was there and was “visibly relieved” on being told the transplant would not go ahead, prosecutor Hugh Davies said.

He had been coached to give false answers to doctors at the hospital, and Sonia was “singing from the same hymn sheet” to create a fake family history linking the pair as cousins, the lawyer told the court.

The Ekweremadus and the doctor are accused of conspiracy to arrange the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, under UK legislation on modern slavery.