By Ugoji Egbujo The CBN is suddenly running helter-skelter. It’s a pitiable sight. A regulator running around like a motor boy throwing wooden wedges to stop a bolekaja from rolling down a hill. Ironically, many are clapping for the CBN, which is fiddling with the barricades after many horses have bolted. It’s all the heart-wrenching coming after Mad Meffy. Meffy and his mad years should have been sufficiently cautionary. So, after pushing out the Mad Meffy, the CBN management that came to restore hope ought to be alert, fairly shrewd and constrained. But for months, it slept on duty and allowed the banks to exploit porous regulations and grow parasitically fat on a troubled economy. This is the benign interpretation. Because the idea that the CBN was so inept or negligent that it could not notice or stop banks from warehousing dollars to undercut the system is preposterous. Columnists had written, traders had screamed. It was a monumental economic sabotage happening in daylight. Therefore, the role of the new CBN management must be investigated, or studied instead, if the government will feel embarrassed. However, the more plausible interpretation is that the CBN was complicit. In December last year, the naira traded at about 1000 per dollar at the parallel market. To get to that depth of 1000, the naira lost nearly half of its Parallel Market value in six months. This steep fall should have startled the CBN. It was a hopeless fall. In those six months, the banks freely undermined the new fragile floatation system. The watchdog was aloof. By the end of January 2024, the naira had slumped altogether. The CBN watched the unprecedented and precipitous fall of the naira and did nothing. Some days, the naira casually lost 50 naira or 5% of its value. The CBN was not perturbed to look out for open holes. It went to Davos in January to plead with the World Bank for a loan of N1.5 Billion to stabilise the naira. There, it argued loudly that it had, with its reforms, earned the right to the cheap loan. But at home it allowed banks to trample on the naira. Was the CBN sleepwalking? All the foreign loans CBN had taken to stabilise the naira were washed away by sharp practices. They achieved nothing because they ended up in banks’ warehouses. Under the nose of a beleaguered CBN, the banks left banking for currency speculation. Without the CBN keeping a keen eye on the system , and without the CBN having the ability to saturate the market, unscrupulous players would have a field day speculating. As the CBN continued to scavenge for crumbs, the banks mopped them, tightening the noose on the naira. The CBN can’t claim ineptitude. So it must admit complicity. The troves of dollars coming out of the big banks after the ultimatum indicts the CBN. When the Federal Govt decided to float the naira, it received applause. Those who clapped believed the government understood the waters it had chosen to swim in. It didn’t test the waters foot by foot. But it’s now manifestly clear. The CBN went in blind. And swam with its eyes closed. With the albatross of forex illiquidity, the previous government left, and the new CBN management should have been apprehensive. And it should have bothered about the enormity and scope of the challenges. A huge backlog of uncleared obligations was a bad indicator. It left the bank’s inability to respond to hiccups visible to gamblers. So, the CBN should have known beforehand that greed would complicate the mess and stay awake to plug holes. But the CBN went to sleep. The banks collected dollars and kept them in their vaults, creating an artificial scarcity, engaging in criminal racketeering. The CBN knew that forex illiquidity would create criminal opportunities. The bank knew the banks around here had a chronic predilection for exploiting such opportunities. So what did the CBN do to forestall it? Practically nothing. Until the naira fell below 1500 and a social disruption loomed. In other words, the CBN, having allowed the anaemic naira to go into this open fight without food, without any reasonable prospect of sustained forex transfusion, didn’t even bother to protect against racketeers and artificial local demand that would distort, corrode and damage the system. The CBN can’t play ostrich. Many commentators had cried out. Banks had made dollars the underground currency. Banks were converting their naira to dollars. What did the CBN do? It snored till the fallen naira rolled into an abyss. Now, it has remembered that it has the power to regulate the banks and other financial institutions. It wants the banks to bring our troves of dollars they accumulated at 700-800 to sell them at 1400 in the official market. The CBN must tell Nigeria who it works for? The consequences are not theoretical. The price of cement has jumped through the roof. It increased 20% in the last week. Food prices have skyrocketed. Drugs are out of reach. The masses are in real peril. Hotels are running into bankruptcy because of fuel costs and low patronage. The CBN must understand that the criminal failure to monitor the exchange rate with the eyes of a vigilante has damaged the economy and ruined livelihoods. Inflation has soared. Hunger has peaked. Youth unemployment will reach new heights. Many more youths will japa. Now that the CBN has woken from slumber, can it be trusted to be thoroughly diligent? It’s unlikely the federal government will bother to learn anything from the failure of the CBN in the last 9 years. It’s been absolute shambles. The banking system enables all kinds wayo and wuruwuru. The CBN will make noises for two weeks but may not bother to sanitise the system. But we can let sleeping dogs lie. Our situation is perilous but not irredeemable.   First, we must solve forex illiquidity. The CBN must maintain the leash on the banks, and the federal government must

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered a total of N70,556,658,370.5 within 100 days, between October 2023 and January 19, 2024. Details of the recovery outlined in an EFCC document titled, ‘Operations and Recoveries’, was obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday. The document revealed that between October 2023 and January 19, 2024, the EFCC recovered N60,969,047,634.25, $10,522,778.57, £150,002.10, €4,119.90, making a total of N70,556,658,370.5 recovered by the anti-graft commission within the period. Within the same period, the EFCC received a total of 3,325 petitions, accepted 2,657 of the petitions, and secured the convictions of 747 persons for financial crime offences ranging from money laundering to internet fraud. A breakdown of the data shows that the EFCC headquarters alone recovered N49,607,391,330.44, $3,900,200.75, £2000, and £110. The Maiduguri Zonal Command recovered N58,065,870 and $3,370. Gombe Command recovered N127,323,028.50 and $1,500. Kano Command recovered N141,944,451 and $365. Makurdi Command recovered N53,228, 325. Enugu Command recovered N202,117,000 and $1,950. Uyo Command recovered N25,299,950 and $710, while Port Harcourt Zonal Command recovered N2,412,247,210.05 and $5,714,389.21. Sokoto Command recovered the sum of N100,696,118.72, while Kaduna Command recovered N331,494,710.81, $912, £50, and €1,610. The document also indicated that the Ilorin Command recovered N80,280,580.86 and $880, while the Abuja Zonal Command recovered N825,928,463 and $10,000. The Ibadan Zonal Command recovered N135,519,810, $14517, £280, and €500, while the Lagos Zonal Command recovered N6,826,993,798.78, $868,284.61, £147,672.10, and €1899.90. The EFCC, through its Benin Zonal Command, also recovered N49,515,987.09 and $5,700. Meanwhile, within the same period, the EFCC secured the conviction of 747 for offences ranging from money laundering to cybercrimes. However, the Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Okukoyede, at a dialogue in Abuja, revealed that most of the 747 convictions secured by the commission, involved persons who were prosecuted for cybercrime offences. Olukoyede made this known during an EFCC event themed, ‘Dialogue on Youth, Religion, and the Fight against Corruption’, which was held at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Federal Capital Territory. The EFCC boss also launched its Fraud Risk Assessment Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies during the event.

  Saturday 03 February 2024 Operation Rescue Naira: FG considers converting $30bn domiciliary deposits to naira How killers planned Kwara Oba’s murder in beer parlour Terrorism/Kidnapping: Influential Northern Senator under watch Insecurity: Stop terrorism or resign, Nigerians tell FG Naira appreciates to N1,435/$ at official market Customs adjusts FX rate for collection of duties from N951/$ to N1,356/$ DHQ: Troops kill 185 ‘terrorists’, arrest 212 ‘criminals’ in seven days PDP appoints Ajisafe Toyese as south-west national vice-chairman CBN stops daily CRR debits from banks’ deposits Traditional Ruler Suspended In Oyo Over Alleged Ties With Illegal Miners African Union Troops Complete New Phase Of Somalia Pullout Plan UN Estimates At Least 17,000 Gaza Children Separated From Parents Court Stops Benue APC Chairman From Parading Himself As Party Chair Rivers Assembly Burning: Court Declines To Dismiss Terrorism Charges Against Edison Ehie Gunmen Attack Police In Ebonyi, Kill One Operative Aiyedatiwa Appoints Six Commissioners, Three Special Advisers Tinubu Asking NNPC To Submit Receipts Of Crude Sales To CBN Is Illegal – Atiku EFCC Seeks Arrest of Ex-NDDC Boss For Alleged N3.6bn Fraud Offa Bank Robbery: Drama As Police Arrest Suspect’s Sister In Court Worries as CBN raises Customs duty exchange rate to N1, 356.883/$ Alleged N2.2 bn fraud: Ex-PDP chairman’s son trial stalled Labour Party ready to takeover power in Edo – Aspirant Northern leaders at war over Tinubu Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  A Delta State House of Assembly candidate, Harrison Gwamnishu, has alleged that three officers of the Rivers State Police Command arrested for kidnapping a man recently were yet to be prosecuted. The officers, ASP Doubara Edonyabo, ASP Talent Mungo, and Inspector Odey Michael, had kidnapped the man in Aba, Abia State, took him to Bayelsa State and later Ughelli in Delta State where they allegedly took the 3000USDT equivalent of N 4,200,000.00 from him, a police statement revealed. Following their arrest, the command disclosed that an investigation into the incident had begun while the money collected had been returned to the victims on January 18. However, Gwamnishu who raised the initial alarm, stated in an X post on Friday that the erring officers were still ‘walking freely’ and wouldn’t be dismissed because they are senior officers. “Since on the 18th of January, through my effort and that of my team, we arrested these officers that were involved in kidnapping and taking ransom of $3000USDT from their victim. “Till date, these officers are walking freely at the command and putting our lives and that of the victim at risk. I was boldly told they can’t be dismissed because they are senior police officers. They are ASP Doubara Edonyabo, ASP Talent Mungo, and Inspector Odey Michael,” he wrote on X.   The Rivers State Police Command spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, couldn’t be reached for her immediate reaction. However, in a statement released on January 22, Iringe-Koko disclosed that the officers whose actions violated the law and the ethical standards of the police force, were facing disciplinary actions. “The two officers have been issued with official queries, and the inspector has been slated for an orderly room trial. Additionally, to demonstrate our commitment to transparency and accountability, the Rivers State Police Command has decided to publicly parade the officers before the press on to underscore the seriousness with which we view this matter,” she stated. This isn’t the first time such misconduct has been reported involving Rivers State policemen. In December, four operatives were involved in the alleged abduction of a hotel worker in Port Harcourt, the state capital. The victim identified as Darlington was reportedly arrested on his way to work when the police officers accosted him near Choba in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state. They were later arrested after the matter was reported to the Divisional Police Officer.

  Ahmed Idris, former accountant-general of the federation (AGF), says he was decieved by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to admit his involvement in an alleged N109.4 billion fraud. Idris is standing trial on a 14-count charge alongside Geoffrey Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited, before a high court of the federal capital territory (FCT) in Maitama. Idris was arrested on May 16, 2022, by the EFCC over alleged diversion of funds and money laundering. Halilu Yusuf, the presiding judge, had ordered a trial-within-trial in the matter to enable the court to determine whether all the extra-judicial statements made by the former AGF to the EFCC should be admitted in evidence. Chris Uche, counsel to Ahmed, alleged that the EFCC had assured the defendant that he would not be subjected to any trial if he gave details that would implicate a former minister of finance and some governors. Idris urged the court to reject the said confessional statements which he said were obtained in violation of the provisions of sections 15(4) and 17(1) (2) of the ACJA 2015, as his lawyers were not present when he made them and the sessions were not recorded. However, the EFCC, through one of its lead investigators, Hayatudeen Suleiman, denied the allegation. Suleiman, who appeared as a witness on Thursday, said the statements by the first defendant were obtained voluntarily. Under cross-examination by Rotimi Jacobs, prosecution counsel, the witness stated that “there was no such deception of promise made to the first defendant”. “After he was cautioned, he was told that the matter would end up in court. The defendant came along with his legal representative in the person of Gbenga Adeyemi, who witnessed the statement from the beginning to the end and he also signed,” the witness told the court. “We asked questions which he answered. The 1st defendant voluntarily made the statements and was also notified that it would be used in court for trial. The witness further informed the court, that he “personally recorded the video with a Samsung mobile phone”. “The video was taken after investigation showed that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants benefited from non-existent consultancy from the office of the accountant-general while the 1st defendant was in office as the AGF,” he added. “The sharing formula of the money involved was what was being discussed in the video. “The 2nd defendant was giving a breakdown of how the money was shared.” After playing the audio of the 15-minute video clip in open court, the witness admitted that no lawyer was present with the defendants during the interview session. He also admitted that he did not notify the defendants before he carried out the video recording. Also, contrary to his earlier claim that the video was recorded before the defendants made their statements, the witness further admitted that the recording was done on May 25, 2022, after the former AGF had already made some of the statements. The case has been adjourned to March 20 for continuation of hearing in the trial-within-trial. The judge also vacated an order he made on the last adjourned date revoking the bail of the 2nd defendant over his failure to appear in court.