The Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed all its branches nationwide to continue issuing various denominations of both old and redesigned banknotes in ample quantities to deposit money banks. The apex bank disclosed this in a statement signed by its Director, Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, and posted on its X handle on Wednesday. This comes in response to reports of cash shortages in major cities, despite earlier assurances from the CBN about sufficient cash availability nationwide. Part of the statement read, “For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007. “Accordingly, branches of the CBN across the country have been directed to continue to issue different denominations of old and redesigned banknotes in adequate quantities to Deposit Money Banks for onward circulation to bank customers. “We wish to restate that all denominations of banknotes issued by the CBN remain legal tender. In line with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007.” It added that “no one should refuse to accept the naira as a means of payment.” The CBN advised the public to accept all CBN-issued banknotes currently in circulation and guard against panic withdrawals. “We reaffirm that there is sufficient stock of currency notes to facilitate normal economic activities. Furthermore, to reduce the pressure on the use of physical cash, members of the public are again advised to continue to embrace alternative modes of payment,” it noted. Details later…

  Imo aviation workers consisting of both public and private sectors have been directed to withdraw their services from the Sam Mbakwe International Airport in Owerri, Imo State from midnight of Wednesday. The unions comprising: the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), National Association of Aviation Professionals (ANAP).and tye Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees attributed their position to the bad treatment meted to tye leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero and other members of the Labour Union by thugs in Owerri,Imo State. According to the statement issued, signed and released to the media the unions declared: “In compliance with the directive of the joint NEC session of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), the above named unions, being affiliates of NLC and TUC, hereby direct all aviation workers (both public and private) to withdraw all services to all Owerri flights (inwards and outwards) from any airport in Nigeria with effect from midnight of 08/11/2023 (today).” The unions said this became necessary in view “of the escalation of the imbroglio created by the mayhem unleashed on workers by the Imo State Government of Hope Uzodimma and continued insensitivity of the Government over the matter. “In addition, the person of Hope Uzodimma, the Governor of Imo State is hereby declared persona non grata at all airports in Nigeria until he purges himself of bestial tendencies. Our unions will make further efforts through our international affiliations to blacklist Hope Uzodimma worldwide. “Furthermore, all aviation workers in Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri are hereby directed to stay at home, also with effect from midnight today (08/11/2023) as directed by NLC and TUC.   “Based on the above, the State Councils and all Branches of the unions will meet today at 5pm in Lagos and Abuja to agree on modalities for carrying out the above directive. The meeting in Lagos will hold at NUATE Secretariat, while that of Abuja will be at General Aviation Terminal, (pilgrims’ terminal). “By this notice, the airports’ managements, airlines operating into and out of Owerri, intending airport passengers into and out of Owerri, and the general public are hereby advised about this situation so as to be forewarned.”

  Wednesday 08 November 2023 NLC, TUC Declare Nationwide Strike From Nov 14 IGP Restricts Movement In Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi On Election Day 137,973 Party Agents To Participate In Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Gov Polls – INEC Yahaya Bello Wants To Force Successor On Kogi People – Ajaka PDP Calls For Redeployment Of Imo REC Appeal Court Declares Lalong As Plateau South Senator Senate Demands Sanctions For Customs Officers Misusing Firearms At Borders EFCC Arraigns 11 Undergraduates for Alleged Internet Fraud Court Convicts Five Men For Defrauding Ex-Osun Assembly Speaker Of N38m Doctor Escapes From Kidnappers’ Den In Enugu 137,973 Party Agents To Participate In Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Gov Polls – INEC Off-season elections: Crisis rocks peace meeting, NLC strike threatens Imo poll Car dealer gets fake alert, customer absconds during test drive Over $700m remains trapped in Nigeria- Foreign airlines ASUU, VCs fault FG’s demand for varsities 40% IGR Naira: Tinubu’ll shock currency speculators — Presidency Impeachment: Court strikes out Aiyedatiwa’s suit after withdrawal Gas Scarcity Persists In Lagos, Kano, Others As Price Remains Unstable Senate probes alleged lopsided recruitment into civil service Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Major stakeholders in the Egbema Power Plant restoration project have dismissed assertions made by an alleged phantom group in an open letter to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state. In a counter letter to the Governor signed by Elder Raphael Anene (Chairman, Landlord Association), Chima Ezikoro (Mmahu Youth President), Nwoke Isdore (President, Landlords Youth Association) and nine others, the stakeholders stated that an unknown interest group was misleading the government and the public with lies intended to ultimately disrupt the smooth running of the restoration work at the power plant.   The Egbema Power Plant, a 378MW gas turbine power station was initially abandoned for eight years before work resumed on the project last year. While the stakeholders passed a vote of confidence on the Community Liaison Officer of the project, Hon. Heclus Okoro for being effective and making the project site accessible to relevant officials, they stressed that the Project Implementation Committee for the power plant was constituted and inaugurated on the 12th of August, 2023 at the palace of Eze A.I. Iwuogu as the election was supervised by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Egbema, as directed by the LG Chairman, Hon. Marcel Amadioha. They urged the Governor and the public to disregard the false claims of the group which they said lost out in the election for the implementation committee, adding that nobody should play games with the future and economic development of the people of Egbema and Imo state at large.

  A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has sentenced five persons to five years’ imprisonment each for defrauding the immediate past Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of a sum of N38m. They were also convicted for posting a nude video of the former lawmaker online. The convicts — Kazeem Agbabiaka, Femi Oyebode, Abdul-Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, and Ismaila Azeez — were also found guilty and convicted for blackmailing and defrauding Owoeye with the video which went viral on the internet. The ugly incident happened in 2018 when the blackmailers released the 13-second nude video which allegedly showed Owoeye, who represented Ilesa East at the State Assembly, taking a bath in the market place at night. In the viral video, Owoeye was seen being accosted by a group of individuals who accused him of being involved in a ritual bath in a market square, which they further claimed was meant to ensure his success in the 2019 general elections. Agbabiaka (herbalist), Oyebode (community leader), Ojonla (community leader) and Babatunde (Prince) were convicted of conspiracy and advance-fee fraud while Adebiyi was convicted of cyberstalking. Throughout the trial that lasted for four years, the prosecution presented 57 exhibits including flash drives and bank statements from Guaranty Trust Bank, Wema Bank, and First Bank, amongst others. Delivering his judgment on Tuesday, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola found five of the accused persons guilty of conspiracy, advance fee fraud, and cyberstalking, among others, and thereby sentenced them to five years each. Justice Ayoola established that the convicts swindled the ex-Speaker of N38 million and also posted his nude video on the internet which caused him (Owoeye) ridicule. The Counsel to the convicts pleaded with the Judge to temper justice with mercy on the ground that they were first-time offenders and family men. However, the judge sentenced all the convicts, who were initially arraigned in court on October 19, 2018, to five years’ imprisonment each.

  A car dealer, Olatubosun Gafar, has become distressed after a customer, Segun Opeyemi, sent him a fake alert of N6.2m and absconded with one of his cars, in the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State. PUNCH Metro gathered that Opeyemi walked into Gafar’s office last Wednesday and told him that he was interested in buying a Toyota Camry 2014 model Spyder, parked in the compound. According to the 39-year-old, Opeyemi returned on Thursday morning, made payment for the car and also sent the receipt to him on WhatsApp messenger. However, Gafar explained that Opeyemi after payment requested to test drive the car and also withdraw money from a bank close to them. He added that he joined him in the car, but things took another turn when Opeyemi called his mother and told her that he was coming to see her in his new car. Gafar explained further that at that point, he got a call from the office asking them to return and collect the receipt and new number plate for the car, but Opeyemi refused, insisting that he did not want to keep his mother waiting at an alleged Sawmill bus stop, in Ijebu Ode. The buyer pleaded with the car dealer, gave him N50,000 and told him he would return in 10 minutes for the receipt and number plate, so he (Gafar) alighted and Opeyemi zoomed off. Gafar said, “On Wednesday, around 4 pm at Ijebu Ode, beside Spicy Chicken, a man came into the office, saw a Spider Toyota Camry, a 2014 model and said he liked it and was interested in buying it. “While he was checking the car, a friend I know called him and told him that they had found another car, that he should come to check it out and he collected my number and left. “Thirty minutes later, he called me that he didn’t like the car he went to see, and that he would come the next morning to buy my car. “On Thursday morning, he came, tested the car and said he liked it. He told me he had transferred the agreed N6.2m to my account and he sent the receipt to me on WhatsApp. “I called someone to come and do the change of ownership and number plate. “While we were waiting for the man to come, he said he wanted to withdraw small cash that he would give to the boys at a First Bank branch close to us, I accepted but joined him in the car. “Getting to the bank, the crowd was much and he said we should move forward and see if we would find any Point of Sale agents to withdraw from. “Driving there, he called his mother and told her he had bought a car and that he was coming to meet her at the Sawmill, that he wanted her to be the first to enter the car. “Immediately, someone called me from the office that the person to do the number plate was waiting for us, so I told him to turn around so we could go and get it done but he pleaded with me that his mum would be waiting in the road. That I should please let him go and meet her. “He gave me the particulars of the car and N50,000 to go and give the boys and also pay for the number plate, that he would be back in 10 minutes. “I don’t know what he used on me, but that was how I got out of the vehicle and he drove off.” Gafar lamented that he waited for the money to reflect in his account but it didn’t, so he visited an Eco Bank nearby and was told that it was a fake alert. “I tried calling the number he gave to me after the bank confirmed that it was a fake alert that he showed me, but his number has not been going. It was registered with an Aboki name,” he said. Gafar said he reported to the police at the Area Command, Igbeba Police Station, Ijebu Ode. When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said she had a lot that she was working on at the moment and that she would get back to our correspondent. She was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report. She said, “Please, be patient. I have a lot that I am working on right now. I will get back to you once I get to the office.”

  ….Sack Uzodinma, take back your state from tyranny, reckless impunity – Achilike …..To restore security, respect for human life, vote out Uzodinma The governorship candidate of the Action People’s Party, Barr. Anderson Achilike has called on Imo people to rise up on Saturday, November 11 and sack all those who had imposed the ugly era of hardship, lawlessness and insecurity on Imo state in the last four years. Achilike, a constitutional lawyer made the call at a press conference in Owerri, the Imo state capital. He regretted that Imo which was once known as the most peaceful state in Nigeria has become notorious for lawlessness, impunity, insecurity and state-sanctioned violence. He said: “In the history of this country, which state in Nigeria has it ever been reported that a Labour leader in the mold of the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was attacked and beaten to stupor by state-sponsored thugs? Which other state in Nigeria has the Honourable Justice of the National Industrial Court been forced to flee the state as state sponsored thugs backed by policemen went on rampage beating and abducting workers of the Industrial Court; a situation that compelled the President of the National Industrial Court to shut down and suspend all activities of the court in Imo state for nearly one year. “It is only in Imo that you criticize the governor and the next moment you will be tagged a sponsor of insecurity and even framed for crimes you know nothing about. In the face of this tyranny, Imo has not even started payimg N30,000 minimum wage yet Uzodinma is still promising to pay N40,000 minimum wage. These facts are verifiable and you can check them with Imo workers or the NLC in Imo state. Yet they had the temerity to attack and brutalize the NLC President, Joe Ajaero. “Ofcourse you all know that because Uzodinma does not believe in free speech and the building of a robust society where people can agree and disagree to agree again, which is why his government has dutifully cloned most of the workers union in Imo. Uzodinma has his own NUJ, he has his own NLC, he has his own NUP, he has his own INPA and others. So what is he afraid of? Why has repression, violence and intimidation become instruments of governance in Imo? “These and many more are the reasons why no citizen of Imo state shouldl bow to their intimidation or cower away because of their threats on election day. “November 11 is your opportunity to punish them for putting Imo people through a painful and horrifying four years. “Saturday is a day of decision and a day we must rise up as one people and take back our state from the brink of collapse and out of the grips of these travellers and plunderers, to whom Imo is just a source of income.” Achilike therefore urged Imo people to discountenance the claims by Uzodinma’s handlers who boast that Saturday election has been won and lost, as it is a dumb gimmick to discourage the people and dissuade them from their firm resolve to sack Hope Uzodinma from the Imo Government House on November 11. He therefore advised Imo people to realize that they have the number, they have the majority and they have the instrument of power to dethrone Uzodinma and send him back to Omuma on Saturday. He urged the people to vote for his party come Saturday; an action he said will restore peace, security and progress to Imo state again.