THE Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has claimed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has accepted the Supreme Court judgment nullifying the Federal Government’s implementation of the naira redesign policy.
He said the CBN has approved using the old N1,000 and N500 notes.
In a state-wide broadcast on Thursday, March 9, on the pains faced by the state’s people (and Nigerians) over the currency redesign, the governor urged people in the state to accept the old notes to alleviate the suffering they face over the naira scarcity.
The ICIR reports that the governor, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), misinformed residents of the state because the CBN has yet to react to the Supreme Court ruling six days after it was delivered.
Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari, who authorised the redesign and who Nigerians expect to speak on the judgment as he did earlier, has remained silent.
In his Thursday address, Akeredolu urged Ondo people to show understanding with their fellow citizens and receive the notes to ease transactions.
“The matter of legitimacy and return into circulation of all old naira notes in the nation’s economy has been settled permanently by the Supreme Court of Nigeria and also backed up by the appropriate instruments of implementation by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Our people will recall that the Apex Court, in its recent judgement, had, among others, ruled that the old currency notes must remain as a legal tender in exchange for goods and services in the nation,” said the governor.
Akeredolu, who maintained his earlier stance that the naira redesign was ill-conceived, said the fundamental objective of government must be to see to the welfare and security of the people at all times and not to inflict or add more to their pains.
“It is therefore of great concern to me today that a large section of our people in the state, particularly traders in our markets, taxi and bus drivers, barbers, auto mechanics and artisans, are rejecting the old naira notes, thereby inflicting and sustaining a needless pain on their fellow citizens and customers.
“This is unfortunate and unexpected. It is a flagrant disobedience to the law and the Central Bank directives.”
TWO people have been confirmed dead, while several others sustained injuries, following a collision between a moving train and a BRT bus in Lagos State on Thursday, March 9.
The accident occurred at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of Lagos.
The BRT bus was said to have been conveying staff of the Lagos State Government when the accident happened.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq, who confirmed the incident, said the deceased were females.
He added that the injured have been evacuated for treatment.
Similarly, the National Emergency Management Agency in Lagos said that the bus attempted to cross the PWD/Sogunle rail crossing when it was trapped by the train coming into Lagos from Abeokuta.
The incident is not the first of its kind in Lagos. In the past, several other accidents have occurred at railway crossings, resulting in fatalities and injuries.
In November 2019, a train collided with a passenger bus in the Oshodi area of Lagos, resulting in the death of two persons and several injuries. The bus driver reportedly attempted to beat the train when the collision occurred.
Similarly, in May 2019, a train collided with a commercial bus in the Agege area of Lagos, resulting in the death of three persons and several injuries. The bus driver reportedly attempted to cross the railway tracks when the train collided with the vehicle.
In June 2018, another train collision occurred in the Oshodi area of Lagos, resulting in the death of one person and several injuries. The accident occurred when a train collided with a commercial bus at the railway crossing.
In addition to the PVCs, Akpaumontia said other dangerous items, including ballot papers, cutlasses, and Indian hemp were also recovered.
He noted that the majority of the recovered PVCs had 2022 as the registration year, while some had 2011, 2012, and 2021. The voter cards belong to residents of Lagos State, he added.
The brigade spokesperson stated that the suspects and exhibits would be handed over to the Army’s immediate headquarters for necessary action.
Nigeria held the first leg of the general election on February 25, and the second leg slated for March 11 was shifted to 18; in the build-up to the election, exaggerated, false and misleading claims saturated the media space.
Due to social media sites increasing dominance in Nigeria over the past couple of years, a new front in the country’s politics has emerged as politicians scramble to grab the attention of the nation’s millions of active social media users.
This report highlights actors, methods and colouration of pre-election disinformation in the country.
Festus Keyamo and Podium Reporters
On Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi…
Festus Keyamo, who doubles as the spokesman for the APC presidential election campaign council, in a post shared on his Twitter handle on August 26, reshared FALSE information from an online platform Podium Reporters (archived here) that Labour Party Presidential Candidate Peter Obi has agreed to clear path for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.
Sharing the report, Keyamo wrote, “We told the OBIdient soldiers that their ‘hero’ was taking them to nowhere; taking them for a ride of the century and for political 419! We laugh! We are ahead of them!”
However, in reaction to the published report and Keyamo’s tweet, the media office of the Obi-Datti 2023 Presidential Campaign debunked it while describing it as the handiwork of charitable propagandists who indulge in distorting facts in the pursuit of imaginary relevance for their paymasters.
Also, the then Director-General of the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Doyin Okupe, debunked the claim.
Five months after the claim published on Podium Reporters that Peter Obi was planning to step down for Abubakar, yet again Keyamo made another tweet (archived here), where he amplified a content from an online platform, Western Post (archived here) and titled, “Peter Obi may step down for Atiku, as campaign council considers option,” that was FALSE.
Interestingly, Podium Reporters also published the same report, archived here.
The report read, “Having realised that there is no path to victory in next month’s general election, the campaign council of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, is already considering how the former Anambra State Governor will step down for Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate.”
It further read, “Exclusive information gathered from top officials of the Peter Obi campaign team is that many of the associates of the Labour Party candidate and advisers have come to the realisation that the coming election is going to be a straight fight between APC and PDP.” (sic)
In a statement in reaction to the report, Obi-Datti Media Office described it as ridiculous and fake.
The statement reads, “Nothing can be more absurd than the fact that 18 persons are in a marathon to pick a trophy and somebody is suggesting that the front runner in the race who is already sighting the trophy wants to step down for somebody behind.
“The fact that other parties contesting for the president have been cloning the LP candidate in their corruptly induced gift items like bags of rice, posters and billboards speak volumes of who is the man to beat in this race.
Misleading exaggeration of size
Another claim shared by Festus Keyamo was on February 9, 2023, that showed a photo of an aerial image of a crowd that reportedly attended the campaign of Bola Tinubu in Sokoto state.
Keyamo tweeted the image (archived here) alongside three other photos with the caption, “More pictures from the mother of all rallies in Sokoto! The signs are all there for all to see! But they are playing! Make dem dey play!! In about a forth-night, the jungle will mature!!”
Festus Keyamo’s misleading post
President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC members had, on February 9 2023, attended an APC-held rally in Sokoto State.
A Google Reverse Image search of the photo shows the aerial image was from July 31, 2021. Captured during a 4-Day music festival in Chicago, United States, known as Lollapalooza.
Colin Hinkle, an aerial photographer, took the image.
The photographer, Colin Hinkle, with the Twitter account @hinklecoli, in an interview with Business Insider Africa, published on August 4, 2021, said the image shows a large crowd who converged at the event in Chicago without wearing masks.
Podium Reporters, again
Another report published by Podium Reporters (archived here) claimed a former Senator, Dino Melaye and some other heavyweight PDP stalwarts smuggled N50 billion out of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The claim, published on February 3, 2023, also alleged that the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Abubakar, was behind the current naira scarcity crisis.
It had said an anonymous whistle-blower released the information to a platform, Abuja News Network.
A check online and offline by The ICIR found no mention of the platform Abuja News Network, referenced by Podium Reporters to be the source of the report.
To further confirm the veracity of the claim, a mail was sent to podium****@gmail.com, an email address found on the Facebook page of Podium Reporters, requesting a link to the report on Abuja News Network.
A text message was also sent to a phone number found on the Facebook page of Podium Reporters requesting a link. A direct message was also sent to their Twitter account. The three messages have not been responded to as of the time of filing this report.
Also, a call was made to 0706****599, the same phone number found on the Facebook page of Podium Reporters, which was answered. A male picked up the call, and The ICIR reporter introduced himself and spoke on why he called, to which the receiver said, ‘OK‘ and dropped the call after listening to what the reporter said he wanted.
Manipulated visuals
Manipulated letter circulates about UK government and Alpha Beta
A post circulating on social media shows a letter alleging that the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating a Lagos-based consulting firm Alpha Beta for a case of laundering money through British banks to suspected drug dealers in Columbia.
The ICIR has spotted the alleged letter from NCA on Twitter and Facebook.
Alpha Beta, which has an exclusive right to collect funds on behalf of Lagos state, has been linked to the former Lagos Governor and 2023 Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Twitter post (archived here), was also shared in the same format on Facebook and the website, Nairaland.
Findings by The ICIR discovered that the letter being circulated claiming that the NCA is investigating Alpha Beta did not emanate from them.
The NCA Communications Manager Stuart Hadley, in response to an email enquiry by The ICIR on the letter’s authenticity, stated that the letter was a hoax.
Hadley also, in response to The ICIR enquiry email, if the agency is investigating Alpha Beta for laundering money through British banks to suspected drug dealers in Columbia, said NCA does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of investigations.
Video manipulated to show Dino Melaye calling for support for Peter Obi
A viral video showing a former Senator and a member of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign council Dino Melaye talking about Labour Party presidential candidate Obi has been shared, archived here by popular musician Charles Oputa also known as Charly Boy.
Captioned, “Dino confessing, PeterObPresident LabourParty2022”, was shared on February 3, 2023, by Charly Boy on his verified Twitter handle.
The video has garnered 94k watch time, 3,926 likes, 2,386 retweets, 264 quoted tweets and 663 comments.
The Melaye’s 38-second video was found to have originated from a TikTok account with the username @lolabearose.
Melaye praised Obi as a good man in the viral video. The Obi movement, he further said, should continue, and everyone should get involved.
Melaye, in the video, said, “I wanna say, it is time for us to think. I encourage the crusade, the movement started by Peter Obi, to continue, move from campus to campus, move from community to community, move from one progressive group and organisation in this country to another to campaign for the new Nigeria that is to come and be part of the movement.”
The video was subjected InVid video verification tool, and findings from the video fragmentation revealed the clip was taken out of context from a longer version.
The video was part of a 6-minute, 25 seconds video published by Melaye on his Youtube on July 6, 2022, titled ‘Peter Obi is fantastic and a good man, but he lacks the capacity to unify Nigerian’.
Dino Melaye YouTube channel
The original video, which lasted six minutes and twenty-five seconds, was cut down from exactly 4:30 to 4:58 to create the 38-second clip (6:25).
Melaye also shared the video on his Twitter handle on July 6 2022, captioned, “WATCH……SDM. Peter Obi is Fantastic and a good man, but he lacks capacity to unify Nigerians. Unity is more important than cutting cost of governance.” (sic)
On July 1 2022, Melaye shared a 6-minute, 25 seconds video of himself with the caption:
In the full video, Melaye pledged his support for PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and downplayed Obi’s candidacy ahead of the election.
Melaye further stated that Atiku is a unifier and outlined some qualities that make him the best candidate to be president.
False quotes and attributions
False quotes attributed to Peter Obi’s spokesperson
A post shared on Twitter, archived here, by a user claimed Kenneth Okonkwo, an actor and spokesperson to Labour Party Presidential Candidate, has said a vote for Peter Obi is a vote for Biafra.
The post read, “voting for Peter Obi is a vote for Biafra Nation. We won’t miss the opportunity – Kenneth Okonkwo (Peter Obi’s spokesperson).”
The post was shared using the Punch Newspaper social media card format.
A search on the Punch Newspaper website, Twitter and Facebook found no record of the post
False quote attributed to Kenneth Okonkwo
It was also not reported by credible media platforms.
In addition, Okonkwo debunked the claim in a text message to The ICIR.
He said, “Senseless and misconceived. I believe in a United Nigeria based on equity, justice and fairness.”
Misleading context
On trucks leaving Tinubu’s Lagos house loaded with old naira notes…
A post circulating on Facebook has claimed that eight 40-foot containers loaded with old naira notes leaving the house of APC Presidential Candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu were intercepted in Lagos.
The post was shared on January 28, 2023, showing two trucks allegedly loaded with old naira notes and a few dollars in bundles appeared on many pages on Facebook, including Igbo Times Magazine, “Daily Trust Hausa” and Hausa Linzami, among others.
The post reads: “Breaking News: 8 forty-fit container loads with cash captured leaving Tinubu Lagos house to Bank.
“8 forty-fit container truck loaded with old Naira notes has been captured leaving Tinubu Lagos house to bank [sic].”
The post on some of the pages that shared it on Facebook had Wisereporters as a hashtag.
Using Google Image Verifier, The ICIR found out that the first truck in the post, which showed a truck in front of a house, was a picture of one of the six trailers of rice donated to Delta communities by the Group Chairman of UBA Group and Heirs Tony Elumelu during the lockdown period necessitated by COVID-19 in April 2020.
The second trailer image on the post was a picture used by an online news outlet in a report titled, “What are the legal requirements for a Zimbabwe citizen to legally drive a truck in South Africa?”, published in March, 2020.
The image depicting the old naira notes and a few dollars in bunches was used by some online news platforms and Punch Newspaper in a report in November 2022 titled, “New naira: Rich Nigerians deposit bales of cash in banks” about the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign and cashless policy.
On WiseReporter, it has been shared 1,169, 387 likes and 260 comments.
‘Cloned’ social media ‘Daily Trust Hausa’
The ICIR also found out that one of the pages on Facebook, Daily Trust Hausa, with 23k likes and 29k followers that published the claim, is a ‘cloned’ version of Aminiya, the Hausa publication of Media Trust.
Media Trust, the publisher of Daily Trust Newspaper, had in a report in January 2022 titled, “ALERT: Fraudsters Using Cloned Facebook Page, ‘Daily Trust Hausa’, To Deceive The Public”, distanced itself from ‘Daily Trust Hausa’.
Recycled claims
A post on Twitter claimed Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-rufai said he couldn’t be a running mate to the APC Presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he was too clean in 2019.
The post, a recycled 2019 report published by various online blogs on May 11, 2019, was shared by a Twitter user, @HaHayatu, on February 5 2023.
A screenshot
The report claimed El-Rufai spoke to Daily Mail through one of his aides, who refused to be named as he was not the official spokesman of the Governor said, “Nigerians know who a drug baron is. Nigerians know who was arrested and convicted of drug peddling in the US some decades ago. The Executive Governor of Kaduna State cannot be a running mate to such a person.”
The report read, “The Executive Governor of Kaduna State cannot be a running mate to such a person. Tinubu had allegedly tipped the Governor of Kaduna State as his running mate for the Presidency in 2023 but the Governor has not only turned such a move down but derided the former Lagos State Governor. He also went ahead to urge Lagosians to demystify Tinubu laying strategies on how to unmake a man called Lion of Bourdillon so as to stop him from being the godfather of Lagos politics.”
The report claimed El-rufai was referring to APC Presidential candidate Bola Tinubu.
The claim has been found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Nairaland and some online platforms.
Findings
The post shared by @HaHayatu appeared on many online blogs, including Naijaloaded, “Kemifilani.ng, wap.org.ng, olumuyiwa.com.ng, and procyonnews.com” and others.
The ICIR found that the claim shared by @HaHayatu was from a 2019 article published by olumuyiwa.com.ng, archived here, on May 11 2022.
It was discovered that the claim published by olumuyiwa.com.ng was the same report published by all the online platforms sighted by The ICIR.
Further checks showed that before being picked up by online blogs, the claim was shared by PDP Vanguard (archived here), a Twitter account that tweets in support of the PDP which shared the post on May 10, 2019.
The tweet read, “I Can’t Be Running Mate To Drug Baron, Most Corrupt Nigerian, El-Rufai” Kaduna state governor rejects the proposed VP ticket from @AsiwajuTinubu.” (sic)
The claim shared by olumuyiwa.com.ng and other online platforms claimed the report was culled from an exclusive interview an unnamed aide had with Daily Mail.
The ICIR sent a message to olumuyiwa.com.ng on his Facebook page and an email found on his website, but at the time of filing this fact check, no response had been received.
A check was carried out on the Daily Mail UK website to verify the claim further, which brought no search on the report.
The Facebook and Twitter pages of Daily Mail UK were scanned through but found no results about the report.
To Further check, The ICIR decided to see if any platform exists in Nigeria with the name Daily Mail. The ICIR found three Facebook pages bearing Daily Mail with Nigerian content.
One of the pages, Daily Mail Gist, was the only Facebook page to have published the same report on May 12, 2019.
It was also discovered that @HaHayatu had earlier shared the claim on his Twitter account on May 11 2019, from a now unavailable website titled Daily Mail Online (dailymailonline.com.ng) with the same headline, “I can’t be running mate to drug baron, most corrupt Nigerian – El-Rufai”, found on different social media accounts and online platforms.
The claim shared by Hamma in 2019
Efforts to check the content of the URL link Hamma posted on Twitter proved abortive as the website appears to have been brought down by the administrators or the hosting for the website had expired.
A Nigerian national Jeff Joy, who had been included in a list of the 100 most dangerous fugitives in the world, has been extradited to Italy to serve her 13 years prison sentence following her arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to the investigations carried out from 2006 to 2007 by the Flying Squad of Ancona, Joy played a key role in facilitating the exportation of Nigerian girls to Holland, Italy and Spain for prostitution with the use of violence and threats of all kinds, also extended to family members who remained at home.
Video released by the Italian police showed the 48-year-old woman who was arrested on June 4, 2022, being flown from the Nigerian capital Abuja to Ciampino airport in Rome where she was taken away in a wheelchair by police.
An international warrant for Joy’s arrest was issued by Italy and her extradition was facilitated by a treaty the country signed with Nigeria which came into force in 2020.
The extradition procedure, launched immediately after the arrest of Joy last year, passed a first step with the favorable decision issued by the judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, followed by an official confirmation from political authorities during a meeting that took place on 10 February.
During the meeting, Nigeria’s Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami reportedly informed the Italian Ambassador Stefano De Leo of the decision to hand over Jeff Joy to the Italian authorities.
This extradition is, therefore, the first pilot case in the implementation of the treaty between both countries, and Joy has been described by the police as a prominent figure in the Nigerian mafia.
The Central Director of international police cooperation Vittorio Rizzi, said African countries are strategic locations when looking for fugitives and also represent elective places for the laundering of illicit funds from organised crime.
“Africa today is a strategic location when looking for fugitives and fighting organised crime,” said Vittorio Rizzi, an Italian police chief responsible for international coordination.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the Governorship and States House of Assembly elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, March 11, 2023, to Saturday, March 18.
This is coming three days to the initial proposed date.
The reason for the postponement was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday signed by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voters Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
According to INEC, the postponement has to do with the court case on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used for the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections for use at the state elections.
The Commission said that even though it got a favourable judgementat the Appeal Court, the decision came “too late”.
“While the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, it has come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.
“Consequently, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th , March 2023,” INEC said.
PRESS RELEASE Rescheduling of Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections pic.twitter.com/5M5oDgP5Cp
INEC urged parties to continue their campaigns until Thursday, March 16, 24 hours before the election.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, had earlier on Wednesday granted the request INEC to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the February 25, Presidential and National Assembly election.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, the Court held that not granting the request would endanger the electoral body in the conduct of the March 11 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
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The Court agreed with INEC that information on accreditation contained in the BVAS devices had been uploaded into its backup server and could be accessed at any time.
The Appellate Court predicated its agreement with INEC on the ground that all averments in the counter affidavit of the Electoral body were not challenged.
The INEC filed the application after the Court granted the request by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be allowed to physically inspect all the BVAS machines used for the poll.
Obi and Atiku, who are challenging the result declared by INEC, want to retrieve data from the BVAS that represented the actual results from polling locations.
THE Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday, March 8, granted the request of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used for the February 25, Presidential and National Assembly election.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, the court held that not granting the request would endanger the conduct of the March 11 governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
The court agreed with INEC that information on accreditation contained in the BVAS devices had been uploaded into its backup server and could be accessed at any time.
The appellate court predicated its agreement with INEC on the ground that all averments in the counter affidavit of the electoral body were not challenged.
The court also ordered INEC to provide those who wish to inspect sensitive materials used for the presidential election with a Certified True Copy of the findings of the physical inspection of the BVAS and to let them inspect and undertake digital forensic analyses of all electoral materials utilised in the conduct of the poll.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja had slated Wednesday, March 8, to rule on INEC’s application to be allowed to reconfigure the BVAS machines used for the presidential election.
INEC filed the application after the court granted the request by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be allowed to physically inspect all the BVAS machines used for the poll.
Obi and Atiku, who are challenging the result declared by INEC, want to retrieve data from the BVAS that represented the actual results from polling locations.
In order to preserve the evidence before the BVAS are reconfigured by INEC, they intend to physically inspect every BVAS utilised for the presidential election.
Obi and the LP equally applied to obtain the certified true copy of all the data in the BVAS.
On Monday, March 6, INEC urged the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to vary the orders granted to Obi and Atiku to inspect materials used for the presidential election.
The Commission said it needed to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the coming Governorship and States House of Assembly elections scheduled for March 11.
The Court of Appeal Abuja Division had on March 3 granted Obi and Atiku’s request to access all the sensitive materials INEC used for the presidential election.
The candidates urged the court to compel INEC to allow them to obtain documents in its custody to aid their petition against the outcome of the presidential contest.
INEC, on Wednesday, March 1, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, winner of the presidential poll.
The Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, announced that Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes while Atiku Abubakar finished second with 6,984,520 votes.
Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi followed closely with 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came 4th with 1,496,687 votes, according to the result released by INEC.
THE Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has granted the request of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, to inspect materials used for the February 25 Presidential Election.
Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had approached the court with two ex parte applications, seeking an order to get access to sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the election.
Tinubu, through his lawyer Akintola Makinde, on Tuesday, March 7, said he would need to inspect, scan and make photocopies of some of the materials to enable him to prepare his defence against petitions that would seek to nullify his election.
“The materials will be relevant in helping us to prepare our defence and also make comparison with the information contained in INEC’s backend server,” Makinde said.
In the first ex parte application, the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and INEC are the respondents. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku Abubakar are cited as respondents in the second application, alongside INEC.
In four rulings issued on Wednesday, March 8, a three-member panel of the appellate court granted the reliefs Tinubu and the APC had requested in their fourth ex-parte application, except requests 5 and 6.
The LP and the PDP had on March 3 secured leave of the court to access all sensitive materials used by INEC in the conduct of the election.
The Court of Appeal is the first to deal with Presidential election issues.
INEC, on Wednesday, March 1, declared Tinubu winner of the presidential poll.
The Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, announced that Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes while Atiku finished second with 6,984,520 votes.
Obi followed closely with 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came 4th with 1,496,687 votes, according to the result released by INEC.
IN what appears to be an in-house resolve to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, nullifying the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, some banks have begun to dispense the old N500 and N1,000 notes in Abuja.
However, many of the city’s residents are not accepting the money for transactions, The ICIR observed on Wednesday, March 8.
As in most states in Nigeria since the court ruling, there has been apprehension in Abuja as residents await either President Muhammadu Buhari or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to react to the judgment.
The ICIR reports that while Abuja residents are anxious to see the old notes back in circulation to cushion their daily pains over unavailable new notes, it is unclear if the Federal Government’s silence over the court’s ruling means the judgment will not stand.
On March 5, The ICIRreported how Buhari and the CBN kept mute on the Supreme Court’s ruling two days after the judgment.
A brief background
President Buhari authorised the CBN to redesign the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in 2022.
The ICIRreported how the CBN introduced the new notes on December 15, 2022, and made the old notes cease to be legal tender on February 10.
While Nigerians deposited the old notes with the hope that the new notes would be available, it has been a huge challenge for many organisations, homes and individuals to get the cash to sustain them nearly a month after the policy took effect.
In one of its many reports on the hardship the policy has brought to people in the country, The ICIRreportedhow Nigerians went nude, fought in banks and engaged in other habits that counted as offences when things were normal.
Following widespread condemnation of the process and its accompanying pains on Nigerians, Buhari addressed the citizens on February 16 and revealed he authorised the currency redesign.
He directed that the old N200 be returned into circulation to alleviate the hardship faced by people.
Residents can’t spend old notes because of Buhari, CBN’s silence on judgment
A resident, Mariam Abdullahi, working with an insurance firm, got N10,000 old notes of N500 and N1,000 denominations at the FCMB branch located in the Central Business District in the nation’s capital on Tuesday. She could not spend the notes because people refused to collect them.
She eventually gave the money out to someone else to try his luck.
Another resident, John Caleb, working with a media organisation in Abuja, had N7,500 of the old N500 and N1,000 notes and couldn’t deposit them in the bank before the CBN said they were no longer legal tender.
After hearing the Supreme Court ruling, which upturned the decision, Caleb was elated. However, his joy was short-lived. He has yet to spend the money six days after he has been trying to transact with the notes.
A point-of-sale (POS) operator along the Airport Road in Abuja, Wahid Aminu, received some old N500 and N1,000 notes from a bank in the city. He charges less on the old notes than the new ones before people ‘cautiously’ accept his old money.
“Some collect the old notes from me because they have no option. I have only a few old and new notes to give out. But I charge less for the old notes before people collect them. They often claim they are unsure if people will collect the old notes from them.”
Meanwhile, another resident, Adewale Ibrahim, expressed concerns over the impact of Buhari and the CBN’s silence to on the nation’s democracy.
“In a democracy, you don’t expect such silence from an arm of government or anyone to a court ruling. We are talking about the Supreme Court, not just any court. The Constitution only recognises a Supreme Court, not a Supreme President or a Supreme CBN,” Ibrahim stated.
No instruction yet to issue old notes – Bank workers
Bank workers at Polaris and UBA who spoke with The ICIR and pleaded anonymity because they didn’t get permission to speak said they had yet to receive instruction from the CBN to dispense the old notes.
“We do not even have the old N500 and N1,000 notes to issue if the CBN gives the order now. The apex bank has to give us the cash before we can disburse,” one of the bank workers said.
Another banker said the bank would only issue the old notes if it received instruction to do so from the CBN.
THE candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has hired the services of 19 Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) to challenge the result of the February 25 Presidential Election.
In a statement issued by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Wednesday, March 7, the former vice president mandated the legal team to establish the claim of manipulation in the February 25 presidential election.
He stressed the need to “reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people”.
Atiku further insisted that the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not reflect the will of Nigerians.
“Apart from reclaiming the mandate from those who undertook the electoral heist that was not a reflection of the will of Nigerians, the legal team should also use the opportunity of the trial to strengthen constitutional democracy in the country,” Atiku said.
Urging the legal team to challenge the controversies regarding the election’s result, Atiku noted that reclaiming “the mandate” would strengthen democracy in Nigeria.
“It was imperative that they work assiduously in reclaiming the mandate not necessarily because of him and the PDP, but to strengthen democracy and the electoral process and for generations unborn,” the statement said.
The legal team is led by Joe K. Gadzama, SAN.
Members of the team include Chief Chris Uche (SAN), Paul Usoro (SAN), Tayo Jegede (SAN), Ken Mozia (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Mahmood Magaji (SAN), Joe Abraham (SAN), Chukwuma Umeh (SAN), Garba Tetengi (SAN) and Emeka Etiaba (SAN).
Others are Goddy Uche (SAN), Maxwell Gidado (SAN); the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, A. K. Ajibade (SAN), OM Atoyebi, (SAN), Nella Rabana (SAN), Paul Ogbole (SAN), Nuremi Jimoh (SAN), and Abdul Ibrahim (SAN).
The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi is also challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu.
The ICIR earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election.
