Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and his running mate, Kashim Shettima visited Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state. pic.twitter.com/q6fiu7kmLW— Vanguard Newspapers (@vanguardngrnews) February 15, 2023 The APC flag bearers and governors were received at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.   Others at the meeting include former governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) as well as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; among others. Meanwhile, a former Minister of Transportation and ex-governor of Rivers, Rotimi Amaechi was found missing during the visit. Similarly, the APC governorship candidate in Rivers, Tonye Cole was also missing from the meeting. Tinubu had earlier campaigned in the state before proceeding on the visit to Wike at the Government House. Recall that Wike, a member of the G5 of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has not been at war with the leadership of the PDP, including the party’s flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar. The G5 is made up of five aggrieved governors of the PDP in southern Nigeria including Wike, Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu). The five governors have demanded that Iyorchia Ayu step down as PDP national chairman as a precondition for them to support Atiku’s presidential ambition.

  Governor Godwin Obaseki has asked security agents to arrest his predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, over the naira scarcity protest which lead to the deaths of some persons in the state. Addressing journalists in Benin, the state capital, Obaseki, who spoke through the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said from investigations, the protest was politically motivated. He said the call for Oshiomhole’s arrest and questioning became necessary following a viral video where the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) instigated the people to go on rampage. “We have been around the city all day, speaking with some of the protesters and we have done our investigations. We discovered that it is more than meets the eye. “At this juncture, we will like to call on security agencies to call Adams Oshiomhole for questioning. He should be arrested and made to account for his movement in the last few days especially here in Benin City. Oshiomhole deliberately instigated the protest of the people. He alleged that Oshiomhole instigated the violence to destroy government properties in such a way “to bring anarchy to our city because his government is about to lose the forthcoming general elections”, saying the states which riot took place were PDP control states. But checks by Daily Trust showed that there riots in Ondo, which is governed by the ruling APC. “I know people will think the protest is as a result of lack of naira notes but even if that is the case, Nigerians should know which political party is involved because it is ironic the political party that is responsible for this policy is the same party sending people to destroy PDP billboards,” Nehikhare said. Responding, Oshiomhole’s spokesperson, Victor Oshioke, denied the allegation, saying Oshiomhole is busy campaigning for the APC presidential candidate and himself. The former governor is the APC candidate for the February 25 election in Edo North Senatorial district. “Oshiomhole has no time to call for violence because the people of Edo love him. Obaseki and his people are rattled and nervous by the growing acceptance Oshiomhole gets any where he goes to in the state”. “They want to blackmail him because they have see his acceptance after almost eight years in government against Obaseki’s government who had failed woefully. The people are happy with Oshiomhole because of his performance which Obaseki can’t match, and they want to distract him” he said. According to him, Oshiomhole didn’t made any statement to suggest that anybody should riot against anybody, adding that he is busy campaigning to Edo North people for his senatorial ambition. “If Oshiomhole could not instigate people in past elections, while would he now instigate violence now that he is contesting and the people are with him. In Etsako where he is campaigning, there is no riot. And Obaseki is from Benin, so, he should check himself” he said.

  Ten days to the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election, cash for the mobilisation of ad-hoc staff for the polls is yet to be made available to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Daily Trust reports. Nigerians have been battling with the scarcity of naira notes following the redesign of N200, N500 and N1000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will today continue hearing the suits by three state governments challenging the implementation of the currency swap deadline. The Supreme Court had on February 8 restrained the federal government from enforcing the cash swap deadline of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) following the suit by the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states challenging the currency policy. The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had penultimate Tuesday met with the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, where he requested concessions regarding the naira redesign policy with specific reference to the limitations placed on cash withdrawals and the need to make some cash available for some peculiarities that cannot be met with electronics transfer of monies. Emefiele had while responding, said he would ensure the CBN is not seen as an agent used to thwart the forthcoming general election, assuring that the apex bank would provide INEC needed naira notes as required. How cash crunch may affect polls But, an indication emerged that the new notes have not been made available to the electoral body ahead of the election when the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Yahaya Bello, raised the issue. Bello said the ability of the INEC to conduct the general election may be hampered by the CBN’s cashless policy. Speaking in Abuja at the North-Central stakeholders’ roundtable on the 2023 general elections, organised by the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), he said the commission needs cash to enable it to coordinate security and logistics, and that the scarcity of the naira may affect this. He said that if nothing was done to address the cash crunch caused by the policies, INEC in the FCT and across the country would find it difficult to deploy staff and materials for the election as most of the services required cash to obtain. He, however, said that apart from the cash challenge, the commission was prepared for the elections as it had taken delivery of 80 per cent of materials for the polls and trained staff ahead of the February 25 and March 11 elections. “Before election day, we are going to deploy the service providers. On the night of Friday (the day before the election) in the FCT, we have more than 12, 000 ad-hoc staff that we are going to give cash to. “None of them will receive a cheque or accept a transfer. I am talking about FCT (12,000), which will require about N5,000 (each) cash on Friday night. Also, those who are going to transport our men, materials and security to the polling units will need cash to do that. “Also, you will not take a security person to a polling unit from morning till evening without giving him money to eat and I don’t think you expect him to go to the POS to withdraw the N1,000 you are going to give him,” he said. He, however, said that INEC was in discussions with the CBN to see how the problem could be addressed. He said, “This policy does not affect only INEC FCT in particular. It is going to affect the whole commission nationwide. So, the chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu met with the CBN governor, they also consulted and briefed the National Council of States and the Presidency. “This is an issue that is being tackled at the highest level because it affects the whole election generally. For now, we are going to wait for the outcome of the negotiations and discussions that are ongoing. So that we will know exactly what is going on.” Speaking earlier, the Executive Director of the CTA, Faith Nwadishi, said the centre, which is an accredited election observation group, will deploy 2000 observers across the country to cover the 774 local government areas during the 2023 general elections.

  The consumer price index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, surged to 21.82 percent in January 2023, up from 21.34 percent in the previous month. The inflation rate data is contained the latest consumer price index (CPI) report released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The January inflation rate showed an increase of 0.47 percent points when compared to December 2022 inflation rate. However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.22 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2022, which was 15.60 percent.   More to follow…

  The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council says the police Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB) has invited Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister, for questioning. In a statement on Wednesday, Bayo Onanuga, the council’s media director, said the police invitation was extended to him on Tuesday. The secret police are currently grilling Fani-Kayode, the campaign council’s director of new media for tweeting that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), met with army generals. Onanuga said the council was not questioning the authority of the police, noting that the information they were seeking was already being pursued by the DSS. Advertisement “Despite the well-publicized invitation of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode by the DSS and the report that the secret police asked him to return for further investigation today, we were surprised that the police have also jumped into the same matter,” he said. “On Tuesday the AIG Federal Investigation Bureau also invited Fani-Kayode for questioning. “The APC-PCC is concerned about the latest invitation by another security agency, just some 10 days to the election when he is most needed as our director of new media. “While we are not questioning the authority of the police to invite our official, we want the police to be mindful that the truth they seek to find is already being pursued by the DSS. “They should allow the DSS to complete its investigation.”

  The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says Igbo have the right to vote for any party of their choice. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesperson, said while the group’s main demand is a referendum for self-determination, people from the south-east have the right to vote for any candidate of their choice in the elections. IPOB warned that it won’t tolerate any attack on Igbo because of their choice of candidate or if they decide not to vote. Powerful said the group’s attention was drawn to a “threat from a small village monarch in Yoruba land to the effect that they will deal with non-indigenes, especially Ndigbo who don’t vote in the upcoming elections according to the wish of the monarch”. “This sort of threat tells you all you need to know about the Nigerian selection process which they like to call an election,” the statement reads. “IPOB as a freedom movement do reaffirm our non-recognition and or participation of (in) the Nigerian electoral process because the results do not represent the will of the people.” “While we Biafrans await a date for a referendum, nobody should threaten Ndigbo and Biafrans residing temporarily in other parts of Nigeria for any reason.   “IPOB want to state unequivocally that any attack in any part of Nigeria on the Biafran people or the Igbo Nation or their properties on account of the choice of individuals to participate and vote according to their conviction during this so-called election will be met with adequate and commensurate action. “We urge men and women of good conscience in the North and West to caution their traditional rulers and politicians who want to use Ndigbo and Biafrans as scapegoats in this skewed election process to be very careful and retrace their steps. Gone are the days when Ndigbo will be threatened and intimidated during elections. “As long as Biafrans have not been given the opportunity to exit Nigeria via a referendum, IPOB will not stand by and watch anyone Nigerian or non-Nigerian threaten Biafrans or carry out such threats against us and get away with it. “Even as IPOB do not wish to be drawn into the zoo politics, nobody has the right to threaten Ndigbo or attempt to compel them to vote for a particular party or candidate. Any Biafran who wants to vote in this election has the right to vote for any party or candidate of his/her choice, and nobody should direct or threaten them to vote for a particular party in their community or state. “If anyone threatens to attack Ndigbo and Biafrans or non-indigenes residents in your place, be rest assured that the people being attacked will not sit and watch their property and life being destroyed and will activate their right to self-defence. “We are urging Ndigbo, Biafrans, and non-indigenes everywhere to be prepared to defend their property, family, and their own lives during and after this election period. Do not allow anyone to use you or your family as a sacrificial lamb this time around. IPOB asked Igbo to be prepared to defend themselves in the possibility of being attacked.

  The Federal High Court in Lagos has granted bail to an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, who was arraigned before the court on Monday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly spraying new naira notes at a party. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke who admitted the actress to bail in the sum of N5 million with one surety in like sum also ruled that the surety must be a public servant in the service of the Federation or the Lagos State Government not below the rank of Grade Level 12, or a holder of a genuine statutory certificate of occupancy of a developed landed property within the Lagos State Municipality. The court also held that the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the original statutory certificate of occupancy of the landed property is to be deposited with the Registrar of the court and in the case of the public servant, an official letter from his or her head of department stating the status and salary level of the surety. The surety is to also produce to the court, two copies of his recent passport photograph and evidence of payment of tax. The judge also ordered that the actress be further remanded in the Kirikiri correctional facility pending the perfection of the bail terms, before adjourning the matter till April 3, for trial. On February 13, the EFCC had arraigned the actress before the court on a two-count charge of tampering with the sum of N100,000 issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and dancing on the same at the said occasion. According to the prosecutor, Sulaiman Sulaiman, the offence was contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007. The actress had denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Following her not-guilty plea, counsel to the actress, Adenike Goncalves, asked the court to grant her client bail pending the hearing and determination of the case. Adenike Goncalves also urged the court to remand her client in the EFCC’s custody, pending the perfection of the bail terms, if so granted by the court. The prosecutor in his response had submitted that bail is at the discretion of the court. He also insisted that in the event bail is granted, the conditions of the bail term should be such that would enable the defendant to be present during the trial. After hearing both lawyers, Justice Aneke fixed February 15th for the ruling on the bail application and ordered that the defendant be remanded in Kirikiri Correctional facility. The charge against the actress reads: “That you Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin on January 28, 2023 at Monarch event centre, Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.” It would be recalled that the actress (Oluwadarasimi) was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on February 1, 2023 along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and was handed over to the EFCC for investigation. The 31-year-old was arrested after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned naira notes at a party surfaced online. In the viral video, she was also seen flaunting wads of the new naira notes.