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Reject Old Naira Notes And Go To Jail – Kogi State Government Sets Up Committee To Monitor Compliance

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

Kogi state government has set up a high-powered Committee to ensure full adherence and compliance with the ruling of the Supreme Court on continued circulation of old N500 and N1000 notes.

Aside this, the state government has gone further to announce jail terms for anybody or corporate institutions that refused to accept the old notes as legal tender.

A statement on Friday by the state commissioner for information and communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo stated that members of the Committee are the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning; Commissioner for Information and Communications; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry; the State Security Adviser and the Managing Director, Kogi Enterprise Development Agency.

The statement reads “We congratulate Nigerians on the historic ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in Nigeria, to the effect that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tenders until December 31, 2023 when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.

“What this means is that both the old and new naira notes can be accepted for the purpose of transacting business till the end of this year.

“The reason the Kogi State Government joined other State Governments in the country to pursue the case was to ease the hardship occasioned by the unavailability of the new naira notes, which the court fully granted.

“It is therefore unacceptable that some persons and businesses will continue to reject the use of the old naira notes, even after the court judgement validating their use.

“Rejecting the old naira notes is a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court ruling.

“Anyone who rejects the old naira notes should be reported to security and government authorities for immediate action.

“Also, banks that refuse to accept old naira deposits shall be sealed as the State Government will not accommodate financial institutions that willfully disobey court orders, moreso, the orders of the highest court in Nigeria.

“Kogites should note that since the banks are issuing the old naira notes, they are bound to also receive it. We cannot continue to kill our economy after the Supreme Court has granted us freedom.

“The State Government has therefore set up a high-powered Committee to ensure full adherence and compliance to the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Members of the Committee are the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning; Commissioner for Information and Communications; Commissioner for Commerce and Industry; the State Security Adviser and the Managing Director, Kogi Enterprise Development Agency.

“The Committee is to ensure that our people take full benefits of the Supreme Court ruling on the old naira notes and ease the hardship they have been subjected to by the policy that brought so much hardship to the people.”

Obi Boosts Obidients In Enugu, And Abia Pays Condolence/Solidarity Visits

By
The Source
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Peter Obi in Enugu

The Coal City of Enugu and the Enyimba City of Abia, Abia State came alive on Friday with the visit of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, to boost the morale of the Obidients ahead of the March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

In Enugu, the LP Presidential flag bearer paid a condolence visit to the family of the Labour Party’s senatorial candidate Barr. Oyibo Chukwu, who was brutally murdered along with his Personal Assistant.

Obi at various stops assured the people that a new Nigeria is possible as he urged the people not to be deterred but to come out en masse on March 11, 2023, and cast their votes for the Labour Party candidates all the way.

Due to the dastardly act of killing the candidate, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, invoked some powers invested in them and shifted the Senatorial Election for Enugu East that was scheduled for February 25 to March 11, 2023, along with the gubernatorial and State Assembly polls.

Obi arrived in Enugu Friday morning and moved straight to Enugu East to give respect and honor to the deceased Obidient as well as to give solidarity to the very vibrant Obidient family in Enugu state whose performance at the last election was outstanding.

The Labour Party has also replaced the late senatorial flag bearer with his younger brother, Bar Kelvin Chukwu who is expected to be elected the Senator-elect for Enugu East next week by the teeming Obidient supporters in the state.

Obi was accompanied on the trip by the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Bar Julius Abure, a Senator-elect from Anambra state, senator Victor Umeh and was received by the top Enugu state leaders led by the former President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chief Nnia Nwodo, Labour Party governorship candidate for Enugu, Hon. Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, former Minister of Power, and Prof Barth Nnaji among others.

In solidarity with the governorship candidate and members of the state House of Assembly, Obi had whistle stops at some market squares in Enugu.

From Enugu, the frontline Presidential candidate who is in court challenging his stolen mandate headed to Abia state with his team

In Abia the Labour Party, gubernatorial candidate, Chief Alex Otti was on hand to receive him as he made a few stops in some markets assuring the people that despite the challenges a new Nigeria is coming they must remain focused and vote for Labour Party candidates all the way.

APC: Fresh Crisis As V/ Chair Demands Adamu’s Resignation For A Christian Chairman

By
James Orji
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Senator Abdullahi Adamu

Still smarting from its victory in the just concluded presidential election, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, appears set for another leadership crisis, following the call on the National Chairman Adamu Abdullahi, to resign his position.

The call was made on Friday, in a statement by the APC Vice Chairman, North West, Salihu Ibrahim, who said it’s no longer fair for Adamu to remain in his position, in view of the emergence of two Muslims as President-elect and vice President -elect.

Salihu is referencing Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shetima who had been declared winner in the February 25 presidential election c inducted by the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC.

The two are Muslims. Salihu believes that Adamu should resign to pave way for a Christian National Chairman..

Salihu who has been known to defer with the party in the past, also demand led the resignation of Iyiola Omisore, the National Secretary of the party for the alleged role he played when the party lost the governorship election to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun state..

He said the resignation of Omisore will unite the party, calling him a divisive politician.

He has called on the party leadership to organise and emergency National Convention to effect these changes.

He stressed that with a National Chairman who is also a Muslim, it would be important that every necessary step is taken to inject a change of leadership in the party so that a new National Chairman who is a Christian can take over.

Lukman explained that part of the advantage of this is that the National Chairman could be retained in North-Central.

He said the current National Chairman has done an excellent job to manage a successful campaign to win the 2023 election with all the attendant challenges, there should be no difficulty in convincing Adamu to resign as National Chairman to create an opportunity for a new National Chairman of APC to emerge who is a Christian.

Lukman said: “For that to happen, it may require an Emergency National Convention because if the hierarchy of the current leadership is to be followed, the successor to Sen. Adamu will be Sen. Abubakar Kyari who is a Muslim from the North-East.”

“For that to happen may require an Emergency National Convention because if the hierarchy of the current leadership is to be followed, the successor to Sen. Adamu will be Sen. Abubakar Kyari who is a Muslim from North-East.”

INEC Debunks Chidi Nwafor Invented BVAS; Says Transfer To Enugu An Elevation

By
The Source
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Engr Chidi Nwafor

By Charles Igbo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has  debunked the claims that its former Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Engr Chidi Nwafor invented the BVAS.

It, also, described as laughable the notion that his transfer to Enugu as the Administrative Secretary, was responsible for the crisis with BVAS, and that had he not been transferred, there could have been no breakdown of the Apps during the Presidential Election of February 25, 2023.

Laughable, too, according to INEC, is the erroneous belief that making Nwafor an Administrative Secretary was a demotion. It explained that it was, actually, an elevation, as the Administrative Secretary is INEC’s second-in-command in Enugu State.

Rotimi Oyekanmi,  Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, explained this on Thursday in Abuja in reaction to claims that Nwafor was the inventor of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System

Contrary to the claim, Oyekanmi said that BVAS was neither an invention of Nwafor nor that of any single staff member of INEC. BVAS, according to him, is a baby of INEC which created the  idea and invented it, just as it did the rested Smart Card Reader (SCR).

He said: “Having decided to invent the BVAS, the Commission gave the assignment to the most relevant Department within the Commission, namely the ICT, to bring the idea into fruition.

“The ICT Department is populated by a sizable number of brilliant Engineers and IT experts, who worked very hard, as a team, for several months to successfully actualize the Commission ’s dream.

“After completing the assignment of designing the BVAS, the ICT Department notified the commission.

“Therefore, it is improper to insinuate that a former Director of ICT, or any other staff for that matter single-handedly designed the BVAS.”

He added that  if anyone deserves commendation for the invention of BVAS, it should be Chairman, Yakubu, who makes the final decisions and INEC which conceived the idea.

On the claims that Nwafor’s transfer to Enugu was responsible for the glitches with the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in the Feb. 25 presidential election, Oyekanmi dismissed it as attempt to mislead and deceive the public.

His words: “First, the IReV and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) are two separate entities, and they are independent of each other.

“The relationship between the two is that the BVAS is used to transmit the picture of Form EC8A, which is the Polling Unit Result Sheet in PDF format, as well as the Voters’ Accreditation Data to the IReV.

“Therefore, the glitches suffered by the IReV for some hours on Feb. 25 could not have affected the functionality of the BVAS, which in any case, performed its duty excellently on election day.

“There’s also a provision for the BVAS to transmit the Polling Unit (PU) results in offline mode if there is no network at the polling unit at the time of the activity.

He said that Nwafor’s presence could not have stopped the glitches.

He noted: “Recently, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter had serious glitches that prevented many people, including me, from using those applications for many hours.

“But, eventually, the respective companies surmounted the challenges.

“Now, would you say that the glitches occurred just because one Engineer resigned from, or was transferred, within the company? Of course not.”

Oyekanmi praised Nwafor as brilliant, but pointed out that the Commission also boasts of other brilliant minds.

“While the former ICT Director is indeed a respected, brilliant employee who played his role satisfactorily, there are equally other staff members within the Commission that could effectively play his former role.”

He debunked the claims that Nwafor’s transfer to Enugu State as Administrative Secretary was a demotion. On that, he pointed out:

“Again, contrary to this impression that the position of Administrative Secretary is a demotion, I would say that it is an elevation.

“The administrative Secretary at our State office is the most senior staff there, second only to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

“It’s like the role of a Permanent Secretary in a Federal Parastatal.

“When the REC is not around, the Administrative Secretary becomes an Acting Rec. That’s how important the position is.”

Not a few Nigerians hold the  view that Nwafor invented the BVAS, and was deliberately transferred to Enugu a few months to the election, to give room for manipulation of the App during the General Elections.

Obi Laments Lagos Mishaps, Sympathises With Victims

By
The Source
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0
Peter Obi in Gombe

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, says the fire outbreak at Akere SpareParts Market and the Ikeja Train/Bus accident are mishaps too many for the good people of Lagos state.

The Presidential flag bearer said his heart goes out to the victims of the various mishaps in Lagos and other parts of the country as he prays for God to supply them with the required fortitude needed at this time.

Obi said that “the sad news of the fire outbreak at Akere Spare Parts Market in Olodi, Apapa, Ajegunle Lagos plus the train-bus accident that left deaths, injuries and loss of properties at this critical time  are disheartening, knowing the hardship Nigerians are going through already.

“I commiserate deeply with all those affected by these accidents. I call on the affected government and relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the accidents thoroughly, and forestall future occurrence while finding ways to help the affected victims”

Obi said that there is a need for equal protection under the law, and the  Government’s meeting of its responsibility to protect lives and property cannot be over-emphasized

He noted that in a new Nigeria of his dream which is possible, lives of citizens and their property will be better appreciated because the system will work and avoidable accidents reduced drastically.

Amaechi: How Wike Cancelled Scholarship Scheme Because The Igbo Benefitted

By
The Source
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0

By Charles Igbo

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, allegedly, cancelled a Scholarship Scheme instituted by his predecessor because the Igbo were benefitting from it.

Wike’s predecessor, Chibuike Amaechi, revealed this at a stakeholders interaction with the very large Igbo Community in Rivers State where he appealed to them to vote for the Governorship candidate of his Party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the March 18, Governorship Election, Tonye Cole.

Amaechi, a foundation member of the APC, who is the immediate past Minister for Transportation, has been  indifferent to political activities since he lost the APC Presidential Ticket to Bola Tinubu, now the President-elect. He was not present at most Presidential Campaign rallies, and was conspicuously absent when the Party held its Presidential Rally in Porthacourt, Rivers State.

Aside from his loss to Tinubu, Amaechi, this medium gathered, feels betrayed by the leadership of the APC which surprisingly struck a deal with Wike without referring to him. He was ignored all through the discussions that led to Wike’s support for the Presidential ambition of Tinubu. In appreciation, a faction of the APC, which recently announced that Amaechi is no longer their leader, has promised to give full support to Wike’s Governorship Candidate, Sim Fubara. The Governor is of the PDP.

Now, Amaechi is fighting back. Wooing the Igbo Community, he appealed to them to vote APC candidate, Tonye Cole. As an incentive to the Igbo, he promised that all their properties seized from them after the Civil War, and labelled abandoned property, will be returned to them.

He said: “I am sorry for the issue of abandoned properties. I apologised to you when I became governor and I am still apologizing. We are sorry.

“In the North, the Igbo, who returned after the war, were given back their properties, but here our people seized them and called them abandoned properties.

“The second thing I did as Governor was to abolish the disparity in school fees between indigenes and non-indigenes.

“Thirdly, I instituted a scholarship for all, irrespective of State of origin, as long as you were in Rivers State.

“But when I left office, the next governor cancelled that scholarship on the premise that Igbo people were benefiting from it. I employed 13,200 teachers in this state and 3,000 of them were Igbo people”.

Amaechi, therefore,  asked the Igbo community to come out en masse to vote  for Cole.

“Anything you have lost in this state through violence, whether house or properties, please write your name and phone number and give to us. We will give them back to you”, he promised.

Speaking, the APC Governorship candidate Cole, promised to protect the interests and businesses of the Igbo.

He said: “The future of Rivers State and Nigeria is at stake. Democracy is about giving people the right to chose their leaders.

“I am one of you. Igbo blood runs in me. My mum is Igbo, my wife is Igbo, you have nothing to fear.”

The Governorship election is slated for Saturday March, 18, 2023.

Buhari Will Not Annul Tinubu’s Victory,To Avoid Another ‘June 12’

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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President Muhammadu Buhari has described, as wishful thinking, those suggesting that his government is planning to annul the results of the recently conducted presidential election.

The president said he does not want to create another June 12. He was referencing the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, MKO, but was annulled by former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the disputed election conducted on February 25.

The former Lagos state governor defeated his closest rival in the keenly contested election Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP who have now gone to court to challenge the results.

Some Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasqnjo have also called on the INEC to conduct a fresh election, on the basis that the one that produced Tinubu was flawed by irregularities.

But President Buhari, in a statement by Garba Shehu his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, said those aggrieved can go to court, that the government will not cancel the election, as doing so will lead to serious crisis capable of destabilising the country.

The statement said, “The wishful thinkers appeared to assume that the June 12, 1993 election crisis, the worst ever since the Civil War could be recreated.

“Those who sought to do this forgot what the President said at the palace of the Gbong-Gwon Jos, when he went to the city to inaugurate the Tinubu-Shettima campaign: ‘This election will not be annulled; whoever is the winner will be president.”

Shehu assured Nigerians that President Buhari will hand over to a new government on May 29 to serve as an example to other African countries.

2023 Poll: “I Submitted Fake Result To INEC” – Electoral Officer, Professor Yakassai Confesses

By
The Source
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0
Submission of Election Result

By Gideon Njoku

A Professor at the Bayero University,  Kano, Ibrahim Adamu Yakasai, has confessed that the results he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, at the National Collation Centre, were fake.

Professor Yakassai was an Electoral Officer in the February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Assembly Elections.

In a letter he personally signed and addressed to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Yakassai  said he and the other officers, were forced to sign and submit the fake results so as to save their lives.

He said they were threatened with instant death by thugs who invaded his Collation Centre, and threatened to burn down the facility unless he announced the fake results within the hour. To save their lives and  the INEC facility, he obeyed them and announced fake results.

Part of his letter reads:

“I served as Electoral Officer for the 2023 Tudun Wada/Doguwa House of Representatives elections, the results of which I announced on February 26, 2023.

“I would like to testify that the statement I made was under duress for fear of losing my life and that of other INEC officials who were with me.

“The Collation area was completed under siege by thugs who threatened to burn down the INEC facility if I didn’t report the result within an hour.

“I was completely traumatized, hopeless, and confused which did not give me the mental stability to work in accordance with the Electoral law and Electoral Guidelines”

According to him, a number  of polling stations where elections were canceled, did not “compare to the total number of accredited voters on the fringes.”

Lamenting, he said the difficult situation they  “found ourselves in could not allow us to deal with the complaints about the non-use of BVAS in some polling stations.

“I hope that my testimony will be kindly examined and that the necessary action will be taken under Section 65 of the Elections Act 2022.”

The conduct of the Elections  on February 25, has been strongly dismissed by not a few people as very much below standard.

Sanwo-Olu Mourns Victims Of BRT-Train Accident, Declares Three Days Mourning; Obasa Cancels Political Walk

By
Akinwale Kasali
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BRT-Train Accident

By Akinwale Kasali

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo Olu has declared a three-day mourning for victims of the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, and train collision which led to the death of, so far, eight people. Several others were injured in the early Thursday morning crash.

The BRT used as a Staff Bus was conveying workers of the Lagos State Government to the State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, early Thursday morning when it collided with a train at the PWD Bus Stop.

85 State Government Workers were recorded to have boarded the Bus which came from Isolo around 7:30 am, heading to Alausa.

Two  people died on the spot while six  later died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

At the PWD rail crossing, the driver attempted to make a dangerous turning but was caught up with the coming train, which dragged it to another spot.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who visited the victims at the hospital, also announced the suspension of all political campaigns and ordered half-day work for state workers, starting from Friday beginning from 12pm, just as he equally ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast.

At the hospital, 42 were found to have suffered moderate injuries. The  number of those with severe injuries was put at 29.

Sanwo-Olu thanked the Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. AbdulAzeez Olajide Adediran, popularly called Jandor, and the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Rhodes-Vivour for visiting the scene of the accident.

Also, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa,  suspended a political walk across Agege following the train accident.

The Speaker met the thousands of youth, men and women as they walked towards the Pen Cinema area of Agege on his way from an official engagement and abruptly stopped them.

Obasa described the train accident as a sad occurrence just as he sympathised with the families of the victims.

The Speaker thanked the various groups for their support, while asking them to return home in honour of those affected by the accident.

“I want to thank you all for coming out because of me. You have planned this walk since over three weeks and I understand.

“However, there was a sad incident today. A train collided with a bus conveying government staff and I learnt that casualties were recorded.

“You can imagine people who left their homes to go to work only to experience such terrible accident.

“As a result of this, I want to urge us all to return to our homes for the sake of the victims. Nobody prays to experience such. So I understand the feelings of the victims’ loved ones at this moment.

“I commiserate with the families of those who lost their lives and support Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as his administration commences a probe of the incident.

“I also urge us all to pray for the bereaved families and the injured as you all return home,” Obasa told the crowd.

Fire At Lagos Spare parts Market An Attempt To Intimidate Voters – PDP

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Akere Spare Parts Market

By Ayodele Oni

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has observed that the burning of a spare parts market in Lagos is one of the fallouts of the defeat of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state during the last presidential election.

While commiserating with victims of the incident, the opposition political party called on security agents to bring to book the arsonists.

In a statement on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Debo Ologunagba stated that “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns in very strong terms the barbaric and unprovoked burning of Akere Motor Parts and Allied Dealers Market in Lagos by suspected hoodlums alleged to be agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The PDP bewails the heartless killing of 65 years old Baba Hakeem, the brave security guard at the market, who was reportedly shot dead by the arsonists before touching the market to destroy goods worth hundreds of millions of Naira and devastate the lives and means of livelihood of innocent, hard-working Nigerians.

“This attack further exposes the APC as a Party of vicious, hateful and vindictive power mongers, who derive pleasure in inflicting pain and anguish on other citizens.

“Our Party is shocked by reports in the media that after the announcement of the loss of the APC in the Presidential election in Lagos State the arsonists last Thursday made attempt to set the market on fire, but were resisted by security guards in the area who were shot in the leg by the assailants.

“Numerous public analysts had expressed the opinion that APC agents are resorting to violence with the intension to foist a siege mentality on the polity, frighten and discourage citizens from exercising their civic responsibility in a democracy.

“This is a clear danger to the sustenance of democracy and corporate existence of our nation.

“Moreover, this attack on Nigerians by suspected APC agents confirms fears in the public domain that the APC intends to perpetuate a hate-inclined, repressive, vindictive and abusive administration in total disregard to rights of citizens, Constitutional Order and the Rule of Law.

“The PDP calls on the security agencies to ensure the immediate apprehension of the arsonists, their backers and make them face the full wrath of the law.

“Our Party commiserates with the family of Baba Hakeem as well as all the victims of the Akere Motor Parts and Allied Dealers Market over this cruel action by suspected APC agents.

“We call on all citizens to remain at alert, united and not allow the APC break the bond of unity that exists among Nigerians.”

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