News & Announcements

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has called on the people and residents of the state to continue spending the old Naira notes, saying that it is only the Supreme Court of Nigeria that has the final say on the matter.

Abiodun, who made the call in Abeokuta during an engagement with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said that the Supreme Court has made a pronouncement that the status quo should remain, hence the need for the people to continue with the old notes.

“There is a court order from the Supreme Court, the highest court in our land that says the status quo should be maintained on the matter of this new naira. So, I appeal to you not to be violent, but go ahead and spend the old naira notes.

“I want to apologize for the level of hardship that all of us are facing at this point in time in this country, I want you to know that I as your governor, have no hand in it, neither do I or any of our colleagues have any part to play in this,” he said.

Speaking further on the issue of the cash crunch currently ravaging the country, the Governor maintained that though the redesigning of the naira is the obligation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, its implementation was not well outlined to ensure that the people get value for their money paid back into the banks.

The state helmsman, while noting that the cashless policy and a redesigning policy are two separate exclusive policies that are not meant to be implemented together, said the governors are doing their best to bring the situation under control.

“As good and laudable as the policy is, we are shocked at its implementation. Why should we want to redesign the naira which of course is the right of the CBN, and then turn it into a sort of cash confiscation policy?

“When you want to redesign the naira, you have an obligation to ensure that every naira that is taken, you give the same value back, that becomes your obligation because it is your choice to redesign the naira.

“Nobody says you cannot have a cashless policy, but a cashless policy and a redesign policy are two separate exclusive policies that are not meant to be implemented together,”  Abiodun stated.

He reiterated his earlier warning to close down and revoke the C of O of commercial outfits that reject the old note.

“If I catch any merchant, super market or filling station in Ogun State that is not accepting the old naira notes until the determination of the suit before the Supreme Court, I will close that shop and revoke their certificates of occupancy,” he said.

While lauding the body of Christ for constantly praying for the peace and unity of the country, Governor Abiodun said his administration would give 60 percent concession to all religious bodies applying for approval to build their worship centres.

While calling on the CAN leadership to urge Christians to come all out and vote for him to continue with his developmental strides, he also appealed to them to vote for the presidential candidate and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress during the forthcoming general elections.

He further called on them to continue to pray and have faith in God as the current challenges facing the country are surmountable.

Earlier in his remarks, the President, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Akin Akinsanya, while noting that the leaders of the Association across the five blocks in the state, had earlier met with Governor Dapo Abiodun where he promised to ensure equal development of the state, without leaving any section unattended to.

Meanwhile, the governor has appealed to the people of the State not to resort to violence over the scarcity of the new naira notes, disclosing that governors in the country are doing their best to lessen the suffering of the people.

Speaking in an interview with newsmen after addressing customers of the Guaranteed Trust Bank, Kuto, Abeokuta, the governor said though the Central Bank of Nigeria has authority over currency regulations, the implementation of the naira swap was not well thought out.

According to the governor, the currency redesigning is a lauded one, but the timing and the haphazard implementation of the policy have brought untold hardship to the people.

“I want to appeal to our people not to take laws into their hands in the form of protest and violence. My colleagues and I are working very hard to address the problem and ensure that our people do not suffer from unnecessary hardship”, he submitted.

The naira shortage has sparked protests in Ogun State once more, with footage online depicting two banks being set on fire in the Sagamu region of the state.

Videos that were circulated on Monday showed a large number of locals watching as the Keystone and Union banks were set on fire, with some young people holding boards in protest.

Reacting to the situation a Twitter user, @arranowanna wrote, “Kindly advise your friends, families and acquaintances to avoid any protests. Take your frustration to the ballots on Saturday. Don’t burn banks, don’t burn petrol stations, don’t burn government properties.”

Another user, @morningstar_305 wrote, “I just put a call through to the house and it was confirmed to me that keystone bank and union bank at ijoku has been set ablaze by angry citizens.”

Bola Oyeyemi, the state police public relations officer, could not be reached as of the time this story was filed since neither phone calls nor text messages were returned to his line.

Mustapha Salihu, the All Progressives Congress’ vice chairman for the North East, is said to have been suspended for indulging in anti-party actions.

He was charged with associating with the PDP and Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, according to a story in the Daily Post.

Salihu reportedly received a six-month suspension.

The suspension notice read, “The All Progressives Congress, Rumde ward working committee, Yola North LGA held an emergency meeting on Sunday 19th February, 2023 and considered among many other things before it, the immediate suspension of the north-east vice-chairman of the APC, Comrade Mustapha Salihu over glaring and proven anti-party activities, gross abuse of office and creating crisis within the ranks of the party at all levels which if left unchecked will affect the party at the forthcoming general elections.

“Therefore, in compliance with the relevant provisions of the constitution of our great party, the members of the working committee have adopted and approved the suspension of comrade Mustapha Salihu for the period of six months with immediate effect so as to serve as a deterrent to others in the future.

“This committee is very much aware of the responsibilities vested on it by the party and will always ensure the supremacy of the party above any personal interest of any person or group of persons especially when that poses danger to the chances of the party at the polls.

“While appreciating the state working committee of our party for your continued support, we hope our resolution will receive accelerated treatment.”

The Yola North LGA party leadership has been informed of their suspension, and they will relay it to the state working committee.

Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has unveiled a new paid subscription for its services that would, among other things, let users pay for verified accounts.

In a Sunday morning Facebook post, Meta’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Zuckerberg, introduced the “Meta Verified” service and stated that the goal of the move is to “increase authenticity and security across our services.”

According to ABC News, Zuckerberg noted that the service will cost subscribers who sign up using a web browser $11.99 or $14.99 if they did so through a Meta iOS app.

The news came at a time when other social media companies, including Telegram, Snapchat, and Twitter, introduced their own services with different features in an effort to reduce costs and boost income.

Meta released its third consecutive quarter of revenue declines this month and laid off 11,000 employees — 13% of its workforce — in November to become “a leaner and more efficient company,” Zuckerberg said.

In addition to a blue verification badge on profiles, Meta said the service would also offer “extra impersonation protection” for subscribers, direct access to a live support agent for account issues and increased reach and visibility on the platform.

Also, subscribers must be at least 18 years old, have a history of posting, and provide a government ID that matches their profile name and photo more efficient company,” Zuckerberg said.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, has previously announced plans to offer a service similar to Meta’s in the form of Twitter Blue, which will eventually give verified users’ tweets preference in searches and comments. The former Twitter verification system, which required users to be well-known, would be phased down, according to Musk.

However, as Twitter Blue’s deployment was getting underway, a flood of fake accounts caused the company to briefly take the verification tool offline.

A few weeks later, it was relaunched, with Twitter finally forbidding users from making changes to their profiles lest they risk losing their verification checks in an effort to root out impersonators. Users of Twitter Blue do not need to provide a government ID in order to get verified.

The Meta Verified subscription and verifications application procedure must be repeated for new subscribers in order to modify any profile information, including the photo, name, and username.

According to Meta, there won’t be any adjustments to Instagram and Facebook accounts that have already been verified in accordance with earlier criteria, such as authenticity and notability.

This week marks the start of the new service’s gradual test to “understand what’s most valuable” before to an international debut.

“We’ll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week, and more countries soon,” Zuckerberg said.

At least 36 people died on Carnival weekend in southeast Sao Paulo State as a result of flooding and landslides brought on by severe rain in Brazil, according to authorities on Sunday.

TV and social media footage from the municipality of Sao Sebastiao displayed numerous damages, including entire neighborhoods submerged under water, hillside house rubble washed away by leaking dirt, flooded roadways, and cars totaled by falling trees.

According to the state authorities, Sao Sebastiao saw at least 35 fatalities.

According to news sources, a girl was also killed in the town of Ubatuba.

“Unfortunately, we are going to have many more deaths,” the state civil defense chief, Henguel Pereira, told the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

The state government previously reported that 338 people were evacuated and another 228 were left homeless in the coastal area north of Sao Paulo as rescue workers rushed to aid those affected by the storm.

The number of people who were either missing or hurt was not disclosed by the police.

Tarcisio de Freitas, governor of Sao Paulo state, flew over weather-devastated districts and proclaimed an emergency in five coastal municipalities. He made the equivalent of $1.5 million available for rescue efforts.

Through Monday, the region will welcome President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who announced the visit on Twitter. He has been on vacation in the Bahia state of northeast Brazil since Friday.

Sao Sebastiao, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Sao Paulo, was heavily affected by a record 60 cm (almost two feet) of rain falling in 24 hours, according to city officials. Many city residents go to the beach there over the pre-Lenten vacation weekend.

That is more than two times the average monthly rainfall.

Carnival activities were postponed in Sao Sebastiao and other cities.

“We have not yet gauged the scale of the damage. We are trying to rescue the victims,” said Sao Sebastiao Mayor Felipe Augusto, calling the situation in the town “extremely critical.”

“We are working at nearly 50 residences that collapsed under the force of the water and there are still people buried,” he told Globonews.

With the aid of aircraft, more than 100 firemen were on the scene.

In order to assist those harmed by the downpour, soldiers were also participating in the race.

To “take care of the injured, hunt for missing individuals, and restore roads, energy, and telecommunications,” Lula promised, “government at all levels will work.”

Authorities reported that a woman giving birth and a two-year-old toddler were both saved from a sea of mud amidst the loss and destruction.

Brazil is suffering greatly as a result of extreme weather occurrences brought on by climate change.

More than 230 people died as a result of torrential rainfall in Petropolis last year.

Prior to the All Progressives Congress presidential mega event scheduled for Tuesday in the state, the Lagos State Government has offered other routes.

The government claimed that the other routes would lessen annoyance and travel time before and during the rally in a statement released on Sunday and signed by the general manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Bolaji Areagba.

LASTMA recommended drivers to take Kodesoh via Obafemi Awolowo to reach Kudirat Abiola through Ojota and connect to their destinations when traveling from the nearby airport to Maryland.

The agency said, “While the procession holds on the main carriageway on Ikorodu Road, the service lane will be available for use by the motorists without any hassle.”

Additionally, it urged drivers who were traveling from the nearby airport to Ketu-Mile 12 to take Kodesoh, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Secretariat Road, Mobolaji Johnson Avenue, Ojota Interchange, and Ketu before continuing to their final destinations.

The statement further read, “In order to reduce inconvenience, and travel time, and ensure the safety and security of all road users, adequate security and law enforcement personnel will be deployed along the entire dedicated routes to the stadium and alternative roads.

“We humbly seek the support and cooperation of all road users and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Six people were killed when some armed men opened fire on the 3-3 Police Divisional Headquarters at Nkwelle-Ezunaka in the Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Three policemen were killed in an incident at Ukpo and Ogidi less than a day prior to this.

According to reports, five suspects and a police officer perished in the incident that took place on Sunday at around 5:58 am.

According to a source in the neighborhood, as the shooters approached the station’s entrance, they began firing randomly but were engaged and resisted by station officers.

The source claimed that a police office had been partially burned by a petrol bomb the assailants had thrown into the station.

At the time of publication, information regarding the death toll was still hazy. Some sources claimed that six people perished in the attack, while others stated that eight people perished.

The source stated, “In the early hours of Sunday, residents at the 3-3 Layout of Onitsha were awakened from sleep by exchange of gunshots as armed men stormed the Divisional Police Station, Nkwelle Ezunaka located at the 3-3 junction.

“The police station shares a fence wall with the Federal Government Girls College and it is opposite a commercial bank and near the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Onitsha. It is a boundary location.

“Even the parishioners at the Ebenezer Anglican Church located near the area and parishioners at the St. Theresa’s Catholic opposite the police station ran away from their respective morning mass service.”

He claimed that a tricycle driver who decided to peep instead of fleeing was shot in the neck and killed. He also claimed that a well-known barber named “small” who was also peeping was also killed.

The area had been blocked off by the police as of 8:52 am, according to the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the event.

In response to a distress call about an attack at the 3-3 Police Divisional Headquarters, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi LGA, Ikenga said the combined security team, made up of the police and the military, neutralized a gang of five armed men, recovered two Ak47 rifles, one Toyota Sienna with Reg No Abuja ABC 848 EQ, charms, and other incriminating items.

“The notorious gang of five, armed with guns, IEDs, and petrol bombs, started shooting indiscriminately to gain entrance to the station and were engaged and resisted by gallant officers attached to the station,” the police said.

He added that one patrol car parked in front of the station was set on fire by the gunmen during the gun battle, tragically resulting in the death of a station police officer, and that a petrol bomb was thrown inside the facility and partially damaged an office.

“The situation is under control and the incident is still being assessed. Meanwhile, joint operations are still ongoing and further development shall be communicated, please,” Ikenga added.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate, have received the Action Alliance (AA) party’s support ahead of the general elections on February 25.

This is stated in a statement that Mr. James Vernimbe, the party’s national secretary, signed on Sunday in Abuja.

According to Vernimbe, the endorsement took place at the PDP’s large gathering in Yola, Adamawa state.

He claimed that the endorsement was informed and approved following careful discussion with the party hierarchy and state chairmen.

“AA has joined some other parties to endorse PDP and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for the 25 February, 2023, presidential election.

“The event was led by the party’s National chairman, Chief Barr Kenneth Udeze, accompanied by the National Secretary of the party, Vernimbe A James, with Six North East state chairmen of the party in attendance.

“What led to the endorsement is that our presidential candidate, Hamza Almustapha, is not contesting to win.

“Since 9 June, 2022, that he emerged as presidential candidate of the party till 16 February 2023, there have been no flag-off campaigns any where, no poster any where indicating his presence in the presidential race.

“And Atiku Abubakar is the only candidate that has assured us of forming the government of national unity where other political parties will be accommodated because what we have today in Nigeria is winner takes all,” he said.

According to Vernimbe, the endorsement took place in front of the party leader from Bauchi State, the representative from Borno, the state chairmen of Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe, as well as the state secretaries of Adamawa who were acting in place of the state chairman.

The United States Government has returned $954,000 stolen by the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to the state government through the Federal Government.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard announced the development at a briefing on Thursday afternoon in Abuja.

She said the official salary of the former governor during his tenure as a public servant from 1999 to his impeachment in 2005 did not match the said amount.

She said, “However, during that time, he accumulated millions of dollars through abuse of office and money laundering.”
Alamieyeseigha died in October 2015 at the age of 62.

President Muhammadu Buhari has immediately directed that the said sum be utilized in developing the healthcare of Bayelsa.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive limiting the legal tender status of old notes to only N200, describing it as a total disregard of the Supreme Court on the matter.

El-Rufai noted that the misguided action of the Attorney-General of the Federation to mislead the President into engaging in such public violation of the order of the highest court of the land shows how desperate the policy architects are to cause national chaos, by showing open contempt for the judiciary.

In a broadcast to the people of Kaduna State on Thursday evening, the governor expressed concern that the peaceful coexistence as a state, and a nation, is being placed under deliberate danger using the intentional combination of fuel and cash supply disruptions.

He accused those in the corridors of power of using the instrumentality of the Federal Government and the President as convenient covers to truncate the nation’s democracy because they have personally lost out.

“It is also quite revealing that the Federal Government and its agencies not only disobeyed the February 8th ruling by continuing to say the February 10th deadline stands.

“It is shocking to see the blatant violation of the subsisting and continuing order of the Supreme Court that all the old and new notes should continue to be legal tender until it gives judgment in the case filed by the Kaduna State Government along with several others,” El-Rufai said.

According to him, those behind the naira redesign policy are massively deploying resources and tools to defeat the political party that gave them the platform to serve the country just because they could not impose the candidates of their choice.

“The decision by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to recognize only N200 as legal tender till April 10th which President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Thursday morning was offered to the state governments as part of proposals for an out-of-court settlement three days ago.

“The Federal Government asserted that this was offered because all the ‘old’ N1,000 and N500 notes had been destroyed. We rejected the offer and proved to the officials that not a single higher denomination note had been destroyed.

“We also believe that circulating N200 only to be inadequate in alleviating the suffering that we see every day. We insisted that all the components of the Supreme Court order should be complied with,” the governor added.

El-Rufai, however, appealed to residents of the state to remain calm and peaceful, and support the lawful means being utilized to solve the problems. But he assured them that they will not lose their money in old notes.

“Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you. Whether you live in towns, villages, or in our isolated rural communities, do not feel stampeded to deposit your old notes in the banks. Hold on to them.

“Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No deadline can render them worthless, ever.

“The law is on your side.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, and the Bills of Exchange Act oblige the CBN to recognize your old notes and give you value in new notes whenever you bring them to the CBN, even in the next 100 years.

“Therefore, as your governor, I wish to assure you that the Kaduna State Government, in collaboration with elected legislators, traditional institutions, elected local government councils, markets, and traders associations will help you collect, record, document, collate and deliver all your old notes to the Kaduna branch of the Central Bank on your behalf into the new ones immediately after the elections.

“We will also ensure the delivery of your new notes to your various locations without any hardship or expense on your part.

We shall save you any panic and the stress of a long journey from your community to the CBN office in our state capital, from March until December 2023 if need be.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all the old and new notes shall remain in use as legal tender in Kaduna State until the Supreme Court of Nigeria decides otherwise.

I, therefore, appeal to all residents of Kaduna State to continue to use the old and new notes side by side without any fear.

The Kaduna State Government and its agencies shall seal any facility that refuses to accept the old notes as legal tender and prosecute the owners,” El-Rufai said.