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Emefiele didn’t get approval before spending N18.9billion to redesign naira – Ex-CBN director

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The trial of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, continued on Tuesday with a former Director of Operations at the apex bank, Ahmed Umar, telling the court that the naira redesign embarked upon by Emefiele late 2022 did not have the approval of the Committee of Governors.

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on May 15 arraigned Emefiele before Justice Maryanne Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on charges bordering on alleged unlawful redesign and printing of the new naira notes.

 

In the charge marked CR/264/2024, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele carried out the naira redesign policy without the approval of the CBN Board and President, Buhari.

 

The anti-graft agency said without the approval of the CBN Board and the President Muhammadu Buhari, Emefiele spent N18.96bn for the printing and swapping of new naira notes worth N684.5m

 

It alleged that Emefiele, “knowingly disobeying the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007” approved “the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1,000 notes, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, among other things.”

READ  Minimum wage: FG’s N48,000 proposal makes no sense — TUC

 

At the trial opening on Tuesday, the EFCC fielded ex-CBN Director of Operations, Umar, as its first witness.

 

Led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Umar told the court that his department in 2022 was directed to come up with the new design for the naira.

 

“The management of CBN directed my department to come up with a memo on the design of the naira note sometime in August 2022.

 

“We prepared the bill with the Committee of Governors and passed it through the line Deputy Governor Operations, which he forwarded to the Governor and it was listed for consideration by the Committee of Governors.”

 

The ex-director, who told the court that he joined CBN 35 years ago and retired in July 2023, explained that the Committee of Governors comprised five members, including the CBN Governor as chairman.

 

The witness told the court that the naira redesign memo was presented to the Committee of Governors for their consideration/ review on October 26, 2022, but the committee did not approve it.

READ  BREAKING: Nigeria at risk of CBN-induced recession over naira swap, says NGF

 

Umar said, “We humbly requested the implementation of the amendment. (But) the extract from the COG did not approve item one and item three. While item two was modified to include N200 denomination, the proposal for the exercise in 2023 wasn’t approved by the COG.

 

“The procedure requires the Board of Directors to recommend to the President for design and form.

 

“The design shall be contained in the currency after the approval of the President then the production of the currency will commence.”

 

Justice Anenih, admitted in evidence, the Certified True Copy of the memorandum filed by the Operations Department and marked it as Exhibit A.

 

The EFCC, in the charges, accused Emefiele of spending N4.4bn to print “coloured swapped N500 notes.”

 

According to the EFCC, Emefiele spent N3.4bn to print “137,070 pieces of coloured N200 notes.”

 

The EFCC said Emefiele carried out the alleged actions between October 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja in clear violation of Section 19 of the CBN Act.

READ  Court orders forfeiture of N11.14bn choice properties linked to Emefiele

 

The EFCC alleged that Emefiele disobeyed the direction of the law with the intent to cause injury to the public with the manner in which he implemented the naira swap policy.

 

Emefiele was also accused of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8bn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

 

The ex-apex bank chief, however, denied all the allegations, pleading not guilty.

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Kano Gov rescues Bayero’s daughter from eviction in Lagos apartment

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Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano state, on Tuesday, settled the bill for the rent of Kano Princess and her mother at Morning Side Suits in Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

They were stranded until the Kano State Government came to their rescue, the Governor’s spokesman, Sanusi Bature, said.

“The Governor of Kano state Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has again extended his humanitarian gesture to the daughter of late Emir of Kano, Zainab Jummai Ado Bayero, her brother and her mother when he settled the rent bill of the Kano Prince and Princess few hours to the deadline of the eviction notice they were served by the apartment in Lagos,” Bature said.

Bature said he arrived Lagos in the early hours of Tuesday to meet with the General Manager of the apartment where the Ado Bayero family have been living since early this year.

 

The General Manager, Sunel Kumar, had vowed to evict them by 3pm on Tuesday if the rent was not renewed.

READ  Shameful: DSS re-arrests Emefiele after serious tussle with prison officials

 

“The Governor’s intervention followed an outcry in the media by Princess Zainab Bayero on behalf of her mother and brother who were neglected by the royal family after the death of the late Ado Bayero.

 

“Zainab, her brother and her mother have been facing difficult times since the demise of the late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero due to the denial of their inheritance.

 

“Until May 23rd, 2024, Zainab’s half brothers Aminu Ado Bayero and Nasiru Ado Bayero were the emirs of Kano and Bichi emirates in Kano state,” Bature said.

 

It was gathered Zainab Ado Bayero is a documentary producer who recently worked on the personality profile and documentary of her late father, Ado Abdullahi Bayero.

 

“You came at the right time, we were about to be forcefully evicted from the facility for our inability to pay the rent, they said today is final, we must move out by 3:00 pm and you came just fifteen minutes to the time, they have already mobilised youths to remove us out of the apartment, Alhamdulillah for your arrival,” Bature quoted Zainab as saying.

READ  American lady accuses Okposo of impregnating her, vows to keep baby

 

Bature, who represented Governor Yusuf in the transaction, said: “the Governor’s humanitarian intervention was due to the fact that many citizens of Kano feel that the matter did not portray the royal family and Kano in good light.

 

“They are not only members of the royal family, they are our Muslim sisters and brother, currently in need,” Bature stated.

 

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Good morning! Here Are Some Major News Headlines In The Newspapers Today: Bandits attack Zamfara community, abduct 47

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1. Bandits have launched another terror attack on Danbaza community in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, kidnapping 47 people. According to a resident of the village, Mustapha Danbaza, 11 people were abducted in one family during the attack.

 

2. A Supplementary Appropriation Bill containing requests for a new presidential jet may be forwarded to the National Assembly tomorrow, it was learnt last night. The money for the jet will be included in the supplementary appropriation. Three of the aircrafts in the PAF have been put on sale to augment the cost.

 

3. The Labour Party (LP) leadership tussle deepened on Tuesday as its National Transition Committee, LPNTC, insisted that the national chairman, Julius Abure, must resign. The labour leaders, who stormed the venue of the meeting of the National Working Committee, NWC, in Abuja, said the tenure of Abure and other members of the NWC would expire by month end.

READ  Naira redesign: Confusion as Buhari, CBN refuse to respond to Supreme Court ruling three days after

 

4. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has called for urgent resuscitation of the university system before it breaks down totally. According to ASUU, universities are collapsing due to the government’s failure to address outstanding issues with the union.

 

5. Governors of the 36 states of the federation have resolved to meet on Wednesday to resolve issues regarding the proposed new minimum wage. Acting Director on Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, Halima Ahmed, said the meeting would hold by 7pm in Abuja.

 

6. The Federal Government, on Tuesday, declared that there was no importation of dirty fuel into Nigeria, countering the recent position of an official of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. It declared this after meeting with oil marketers and local refiners of crude oil in Abuja, where parties at the meeting discussed issues about refined products’ pricing, issues of competition and the importation of products that are produced in Nigeria.

READ  Missing Ogun pregnant woman faked abduction, found in Kwara – Police

 

7. The Ogun State Police Command says it will prosecute a man, Lekan Akinyemi, who was arrested for allegedly exhuming and beheading a corpse for ritual purposes in the Itoko area of Abeokuta, the state capital. It was gathered on Tuesday that the suspect was arrested on Monday after a resident alerted the police about suspicious activities around his father’s grave.

 

8. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has opted to consult further on minimum wage before sending an Executive Bill to the National Assembly. The President took the decision yesterday at a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, where he received the report of the Tripartite Committee from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume.

 

9. President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Executive Council, FEC, to set up a committee to oversee the cholera emergency operation centre operated by the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC. The Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the council meeting on Tuesday.

READ  Minimum wage: FG’s N48,000 proposal makes no sense — TUC

 

10. The Naira on Tuesday appreciated in the parallel market to N1,500 per dollar from N1,505 per dollar on Monday. However, the currency depreciated to N1,500.79 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.

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Rivers Crisis: Police declare ex-militant leader ‘General Asabuja’ wanted

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The Rivers state Police authorities have declared a former Niger Delta militant leader Gabriel ‘General’ Asabuja wanted.

 

The Rivers State Commissioner for Police Tunji Disu said this on Monday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

 

Asabuja was seen in a viral video making some strong comments amid the local government council crisis rocking Rivers State.

 

But Disu has condemned the action, saying, “That video caused a lot of panic in the state. It gives a lot of concern to everybody even out of the state. I want to assure you that we are not going to take kindly to that. We have put actions in motion. We would get him at the appropriate time. We have gotten a lot of people of his kind.

 

“You cannot prepare a video and start firing and threatening people not to move around and do what they are expected to do in town and expect the police will fold their hands. We are working towards it. We have invited him and he does not want to come but we will do what we want to do. We are looking out for him.”

READ  Again, mob stoned, burnt man to death in Abuja over alleged blasphemy

 

“He is wanted. That is correct,” the Rivers State Commissioner said on the current affairs show.

 

Crisis Rocks Rivers
River State has been embroiled in crisis since late last year following a fallout between Governor Sim Fubara and his predecessor Nyesom Wike.

 

The latest in the trend is the crisis over the leadership of local government councils. The tenure of the chairpersons, their deputies, and councilors ended earlier in the month, prompting Governor Fubara to swear in a caretaker committee.

 

That move did not go well with Wike’s loyalists who claim the governor’s action was wrong. There have been protests, claims, and counter-claims since then.

 

But police authorities in the state have warned against violence, saying they are ready to deal with anyone who foments trouble in the state.

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