THE Nigerian delegation to the 2nd edition of the LEAP Technology Exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, led by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has won two out of six categories of awards in the Rocket Fuel Pitch Competition.
Over 10,000 Startups submitted applications for the global annual ICT event from different countries and after a rigorous screening process only 90 startups, including eight from Nigeria, were selected to pitch their business ideas in the semi-final.
Two Nigerian startups – RiceAfrika Technologies and Wicrypt – made it to the final stage and emerged as the global best in ‘The Tech for Humanity Award’ and ‘The Into New World Award’ categories, respectively.
RiceAfrika Technologies, founded by Ibrahim Maigari Ahmadu, is a tech-driven agric optimisation startup that deploys IoT-enabled harvester and its FARMEasy mobile app for smallholder farming communities in Africa, while Wicrypt, founded by Aronu Ugochukwu, is an innovative tech startup decentralising Internet globally.
Expressing delight at the performance of his team, Pantami noted that Nigeria was on track in implementing its National Digital Economy Policy and Strategies to ensure that Nigerian Startups add value to the global tech ecosystem, thereby creating a more conducive environment for nurturing innovation-driven enterprises.
“I am so proud of our Startups who emerged as the global best in these categories. It is quite a long journey that followed rigorous process until the end; from over 10,000 applications to the final 12, in which three Nigerians took part and two emerged winners.
“Our startups are creating solutions for the local market that can easily scale to the global market. They did not only pitch to win grants but also attended various knowledge-sharing sessions,” the minister said.
He attributed the success of the team to President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to ensuring a digital Nigeria that saw him unveil the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in 2019.
“The recent successes are the fruit of policies we put in place to ensure our Startups walk shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world,” he said.
Pantami also appreciated the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) Headquarters, Riyadh, for sponsoring the country’s innovative startups to participate and showcase their innovations to the world at the competition.
The startups had the opportunity of interacting with some of the world’s best mentors, angel investors and venture capitalists, and each winner received $150,000.
This year’s LEAP brought together breakthrough innovative ideas and emerging developments in technology under one roof. It was a landmark technology event that galvanised public and private organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Other members of the Nigerian delegation include: the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) Umar Garba Danbatta and the Managing Director, Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Tukur Muhammad Funtua.
THE National Press Club Journalism Institute, in coordination with the National Press Club Freelance Team, is inviting registrations for its webinar themed ‘Exploring Craft: A masterclass in copy-editing from the author of Dreyer’s English’.
Benjamin Dreyer, Random House executive managing editor and copy chief and author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer’s English, will give a behind-the-editor’s desk viewpoint on sharpening your writing and elevating your use of language. Dreyer will share his tips and tools for writing.
Seasoned and aspiring authors, journalists, communicators and students can register for a copy-editing masterclass.
The free webinar will be held February 17, 2023.
Participants are advised to give a taxable donation of US$10 to US$15 to support the educational programs.
Registration is ongoing and interested applicants can apply here.
THE NATIONAL Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has declared the use of bleaching creams as a serious national health emergency in the country.
The development is coming after Nigeria was ranked number one in the use of bleaching creams in Africa.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Thursday, February 9, in Kano.
Speaking at the flag-off of a media sensitization workshop on the dangers of bleaching creams organised by the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists, Adeyeye revealed that Nigeria ranks first in Africa among the countries that use bleaching creams.
She noted that 77 per cent of Nigerian women use bleaching creams.
“The World Health Organisation study in 2018 revealed that the use of skin bleaching cream is prevalent amongst 77 per cent of Nigerian women, which is the highest in Africa compared to 59 per cent in Togo, 35 per cent in South Africa and 27 per cent in Senegal.
“These scary statistics have shown that the menace of bleaching creams in Nigeria has become a national health emergency that requires a multi-faceted regulatory approach,” she said.
Adeyeye added that the Federal Government is working assiduously to implement stringent measures against the menace.
According to the NAFDAC boss, sensitization workshops in the six geo-political zones were part of the measures being taken to discourage the use of bleaching creams.
“This sensitization workshop is a training of trainers program with the great expectation that participants will assume roles of champions in the vanguard of the campaign against the use of bleaching creams.
“I wish to assure you that NAFDAC will henceforth constantly engage the mass media as we strive to bring down to the grass levels the positive impact of our regulatory activities.”
Adeyeye further warned against the harmful effects of bleaching.
“Even though I have assigned some of my competent officers to carry out this training, it has become imperative for me to warn that some of the harmful effects of bleaching creams include cancer, damage to vital organs in the body, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature ageing and prolonged healing of wounds,” she stated.
THE Court of Appeal Abuja Division has dismissed a suit that challenged the emergence of Cross Rivers State governor Ben Ayade as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Cross River North Senatorial District in the 2023 general elections.
The appeal was filed by Cecilia Adams, an aspirant in the May 28, 2022 senatorial primary election.
Adams, who scored zero votes in the primary, had earlier lost at the Federal High Court, Abuja before proceeding to the appeal court.
She had refused to partake in another primary conducted on July 14, 2022 for the Cross River North Senatorial District.
In a ruling on Friday, February 10, a panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Stephen Adah upheld the verdict of the Federal High Court in a unanimous decision.
The appellate court rejected the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in her originating summons, which included ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise, accept and publish her name as the candidate of the APC for the Cross River North Senatorial District.
The Respondents in the matter include Ayade, the APC, Martin Orim and INEC (the 1st, 2nd and 4th Defendants, respectively).
Ayade was elected at a primary election rerun unopposed when the 2nd defendant, Orim, who had earlier won the May 28, 2022 primary, resigned to enable a fresh primary to be conducted by INEC.
However, challenging the development, Adams petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja through an originating summons that was submitted on July 26, 2022, asking the court to restrict INEC and others from recognising Ayade as the candidate for the Cross River North Senatorial district.
NIGERIANS are eagerly waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari to take the decision he promised on the scarcity of new naira notes.
On February 3, the President pledged to take a crucial decision on the matter after meeting with the governors elected on the platform of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governors met him to express their frustration over the scarcity of the new banknotes.
The ICIR reports that the seven days requested by Buhari will elapse today.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes into circulation on December 15, 2022, and announced that the old notes would cease to be legal tender from January 31, 2023.
Following pleas and protests by Nigerians, the apex bank extended the deadline till February 10 and said people with the old notes could take them to the bank to exchange for new ones or save them after the deadline.
Despite the deadline extension, the currency swap has caused multi-dimensional harm to businesses, households and individuals, with the 2023 general elections kicking off in two weeks.
In the first week of February, many banks could only issue the sum of N1,000 over their counters. Some gave out bundles of N5 notes.
Many ATMs had no cash, and people queued for hours, hoping they would get some money.
Point-of-sale (POS) operators have been charging as high as ten-fold what they used to charge their customers – a development that has worsened the crisis.
Despite efforts by anti-corruption agencies, namely the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to compel banks hoarding the notes to release them to the public, the scarcity has persisted.
The scarcity has led to a protest by Nigerians in Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, and Delta States.
Three APC governors approached the Supreme Court to halt the currency swap, which would make the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes cease to be legal tenders on February 10.
The governors of Kaduna, Nasir El Rufai; Kogi, Yahaya Bello; and Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, filed the suit.
They expressed concern over the consequences of the CBN policy on people in their states.
Meanwhile, Buhari’s government approached the court to dismiss the suit after the ruling, making Nigerians anxious over the fate awaiting them as the February 10 deadline and the seven days the President promised to take an action elapses today.
SOKOTO, Jigawa and Kano are some of the states with the highest risk of election manipulation in the forthcoming general elections, according to an analysis conducted using the Election Manipulation Risk Index (EMRI) by YIAGA Africa.
The Election Manipulation Risk Index EMRI is an evidence-based tool designed to reduce election manipulation and promote strategic election planning.
The YIAGA Africa, a non-profit organisation committed to promoting democratic governance, initiated the new technology.
As preparation advances, attempt to disrupt and distort election outcomes using means that jeopardise the integrity of the process is on the rise, and 22 of the 36 Nigerian states are more prone to such attempts, according to the report.
The report noted that Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Adamawa, Kaduna, Niger, and Plateau states are at a higher risk of experiencing illegal interference in the electoral process of the February 25 poll.
Other states in the category are Kwara, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Taraba, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.
The report also noted that 12 states have a medium risk of experiencing illegal interference in the poll.
These states are; Zamfara, Kebbi, Yobe, Borno, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, and Cross River.
Ondo, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are the only states with little chance of manipulation in the presidential election.
Factors that impact election credibility
With February 25 just a few days away, the integrity of Nigeria’s general election is a topic on the national radar.
The YIAGA Africa report identified voter suppression and tampering of voter registers as factors that impact the credibility of the polls.
The report indicated that voting by underaged children and foreigners is one form of inclusion of unqualified persons that inevitably compromises electoral outcomes.
Also, buyout by politicians to neutralise the voting strength of target communities, theft of PVCs, and vandalisation of INEC offices and election materials has hampered the past elections and are factors to also look out for, according to the report.
Using the EMRI, YIAGA conducted its analysis based on six factors. These factors were selected due to their impact on elections.
According to the report, INEC capture, tampering with the voter register, resistance to election technology like BVAS and IReV, and a history of electoral fraud have a high impact on election credibility.
On the other hand, voter suppression and election litigation have a medium impact.
What can be done?
YIAGA Africa, in the report, said enhanced security at storage facilities where the BVAS is stored, timely production and distribution of PVCs, and a decentralised PVC collection process, would held to improve the credibility of elections.
It asked INEC to avoid entertaining frivolous litigations against the use of the BVAS and IReV.
The report emphasised the need for civil society and media to ensure adequate deployment of pre-election observers to monitor INEC officials at the local levels. It also stressed the need for improved security deployment at all INEC facilities across the country.
YIAGA Africa also noted that the prosecution of INEC officials involved in manipulating voter registers is another way to reduce the risk of election manipulation.
It asked the judiciary to “dismiss cases instituted to undermine the preparations for the general elections and take disciplinary actions against legal practitioners engaged
in the election manipulation using the judicial process and an improved understanding of judicial officers on provisions of the Electoral Act 2022”.
Evolution of voting technology
Nigeria has explored the use of technology to improve the reliability of its election results over the years.
The country first introduced technology to its polls in 2011 when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) initiated an automated fingerprint identification system to stop voters from registering more than once.
Since then, Nigeria has evolved voting technology peculiar to its open secret ballot system.
Nigeria has explored these tools, from biometric voter registration, smart card readers, and voters’ cards to contain electoral fraud. Although, the reliability of these devices initially generated some controversy among Nigerians.
Also, some non-profit agencies have launched technological tools to tackle the gaps that affect election credibility in Nigeria.
Earlier in the year, YIAGA launched EMRI to tackle election fraud and manipulation in Nigeria.
Similarly, ARise Networks, a Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Company, also launched the “Run-Am” mobile app to verify fake news and combat the spread of misinformation during the 2023 presidential poll.
The tool can ensure efficiency and accountability of information during the 2023 elections using its news and image verification feature to check misinformation that may cause violence during elections.
Last year, Connected Development, CODE, a civil society organisation dedicated to empowering marginalised communities in Africa, launched a Real-Time (Web-Based Map) Situation Technology, Uzabe.
The tool can gather real-time security intelligence while observing the electoral process.
It can provide early warning systems for communities and voters. This will mitigate violence and increase emergency response during elections.
These tools have been designed to ensure transparency and accountability in elections.
As the scarcity of new naira notes bites harder, residents and operators of small businesses are concerned about the day-to-day running of activities with limited funds. In Abuja, entrepreneurs, especially those heavily reliant on cash, recount the adverse effects of the scarcity on their businesses, Ijeoma Opara reports.
FOR John Anyaso, a cab driver who plies the Wuse-Life Camp axis of Abuja, the naira scarcity has led to a significant decline in his daily income.
In an interview with The ICIR, Anyaso spoke on the adverse effect of the scarcity on his business.
“These days, you see people offering N100 for a journey of N150. I collect it sometimes because there is no cash. But it affects me; my money is short at the end of the day.
“I had the experience even yesterday. A girl entered my cab, she didn’t have cash and she didn’t say anything. After wasting my time, she asked for my account details. How can I collect transfer of N200? I had to let her go. That is what we are facing. There is no cash. It is only those who sell food that are getting by; people must eat,” Anyaso said.
But a food vendor who identified herself as Maria Kennedy and owns a stall in the Life Camp area of the city insisted that the situation was no different.
Maria told The ICIR that it has been taking longer than usual to sell her food recently due to low customer turnout.
“It is affecting us, too, as we sell food. If you don’t have cash, how can you eat? I can’t sell food on credit. And I won’t accept transfers because where will I get the cash to go to the market? It is only a person with cash that can pay for food. If I sell all the food on credit, what will I sell tomorrow?” she asked.
In October 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it would be redesigning the N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the redesign was part of efforts to control the currency in circulation.
Emefiele said N2.7 trillion out of N3.3 trillion of the country’s currency in circulation was outside commercial banks’ vaults and described this as a worrisome trend.
He noted that new notes would be in circulation by December 15, 2022, and a deadline of January 31 was fixed for old notes to be returned to banks.
However, as the January 31 deadline inched closer, Nigerians found it more challenging to access the new notes.
Long queues surfaced at ATM points, and The ICIRreported that new naira notes were being sold in some areas of the FCT.
In Nigeria, point-of-sale (POS) machines serve business purposes, acting as a time-saving substitute for banks.
However, the recent scarcity has led to a drastic increase in POS charges. In Abuja, residents paid as much as N1000 as charges to get N10,000 from POS agents as of January 30, 2023.
Two days before the deadline, Emefiele issued a statement extending the deadline for the use of old naira notes to February 10, 2023.
Scarcity lingers despite extension
Regardless of the extension, the scarcity has persisted. Many ATMs have remained empty, and POS charges are even higher.
A POS operator in the Life Camp area of Abuja, Nafisat Aliyu, now charges N700 to pay customers the sum of N5000 and N1500 for N10,000.
She, however, does not give out more than N10,000 at a time due to the scarcity.
Speaking to The ICIR, Nafisat explained that she now charges at least six times the usual amount due to the extra effort she puts into getting cash.
“The funniest part of it is that it is only one ATM you can use to withdraw just N20,000 a day at the machine. And if you do not have many ATMs, you can’t get money. And sometimes, you’ll be in the queue for almost three to four hours. Before it gets to your turn, there will be no more money in the machine. All the time spent there, wasted.
“That is how you will be spending money on transportation from one place to another just to get money. Sometimes, you waste transport fare to some places, and you cannot even get money from there. I left my house around 6am in the morning and got back round 3pm. But it was only N20,000 I could get,” she said.
Aliyu pointed out that old notes had become scarce as well. She said the cost of transportation and the difficulty in getting notes were factored into the POS charges.
Is cashless policy feasible?
Beyond controlling the amount of cash in circulation, the CBN also announced its attempt to steer the country towards a cashless economy.
In December 2022, the CBN announced cash withdrawal limits which allow residents only withdraw a maximum of N20,000 daily.
The maximum over-the-counter cash withdrawal limit by individuals and corporate organisations per week was placed at N100,000 and N500,000, respectively. Withdrawals above these limits would attract processing fees of five and 10 per cent, respectively.
After meeting with a lot of resistance, the CBN reviewed the weekly limits to N500,000 and N5 million for individuals and organisations.
The apex bank noted that the limits were aimed at a cashless economy to combat terrorism and kidnapping for ransom, a challenge which has witnessed a steady rise in Nigeria.
However, the goal of a cashless economy seems unattainable, as unstable bank networks seem to be limiting its success.
Many Nigerians who now depend on transfers and payments with POS machines get debit alerts without being paid.
A resident of Gwarimpa, Jennifer Adah, shared her experience with The ICIR.
“I went into a shop on Monday and decided to pay through POS, since cash is hard to get now. I was debited the sum of N4,500, but the POS machine was showing ‘declined’. Till now, the money hasn’t been reversed,” she said.
This also discourages small business owners, including Helen Chimezie, who sells food in the Wuse area of the city, from receiving online payments.
“People come here and ask to make transfers, but you running a business know that there are network issues. So you ask yourself: what if the person makes a transfer and I don’t see the money due to the network? How do you get your money after the person has left? That is another problem. That is what we are going through. I do not accept transfers because of this,” Helen told The ICIR.
Way out
The ICIR contacted the CBN spokesperson, Osita Nwanisobi, on the naira note scarcity. He was yet to respond to text messages at the time of filing this report.
However, a professor of Economics at the Lagos Business School, Adi Bongo, described the scarcity as artificial and called for the arrest of those responsible for it.
“Some people have created artificial scarcity so that they can exploit people and make life difficult for fellow citizens. I strongly suggest to the central bank that they go after the bank CEOs. Any bank that has received a cache of these funds and is hoarding it, the CEO of that bank should be answerable for it. They should be arrested and removed from that position,” Bongo noted.
He added that the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, should order an investigation into the scarcity and punish whoever is found guilty, including the CBN.
“Currency note replacement is something that happens seamlessly without any brouhaha everywhere in the world. I can understand that there is a political undertone to this. There are suspicions that some people have hoarded currency that they want to use in influencing elections and to destroy their plans, this thing is being enforced now. That is fine.
“But that shouldn’t be an excuse to impose undue hardship on people who are already pressed by high inflation and others. It is uncharitable. The president needs to give an executive order mandating a joint security sting operation against the banks, including the CBN or anybody who is culpable,” Bongo said.
While uncertainty and hardship continue to result from the shortage of naira notes in circulation, residents and business owners remain unsure of how long the scarcity will persist.
THE Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has threatened to sanction filling stations rejecting bank transfer and use of point-of-sale (POS) machines across the country.
NMDPRA’s directive was contained in a statement issued by its General Manager, Corporate Communications and Stakeholders Management, Kimchi Apollo, on Thursday, February 9, 2023.
The regulator said it had been brought to its attention that some retail outlets were not accepting the use of PoS machines at their filling stations due to the recent cash crunch brought about by the new naira design.
It expressed concern at the recent behaviour of such retail outlets, which has been causing untold hardship to fuel consumers.
“All retail outlets are directed to ensure the free use of PoS and bank transfer for the sale of petroleum products to alleviate the suffering of customers at this critical time.
“The Authority and security agencies will be at retail outlets to ensure compliance with this directive and any filling station found violating this directive will be duly sanctioned,” the statement read.
The NMDPRA reassured the general public of its commitment to ensuring good quality service in the sale and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
THE confusion over the expiry date as legal tender of the three naira notes of 1000, 500 and 200 being rested continued on Wednesday, February 8 when the Supreme Court stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from retaining its February 10 deadline for the use of the notes.
There were reports on Wednesday night that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had promptly filed a suit before the Supreme Court opposing the judgment.
Malami is arguing that the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and pass judgment on the matter.
The CBN had announced last October that it would be redesigning the three notes with a view to mopping up unregulated money outside the banking vault, which it estimated to be 80 per cent.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, also said redesigning the naira would enable the Federal government tame terrorism and banditry, as well as curb vote-buying during the forthcoming general elections in February and March.
Emefiele said the new, redesigned notes would go into circulation on December 15, 2022, while the old notes being rested would cease as legal tender on January 31.
But scarcity of the redesigned notes and the attendant agonies experienced by the people to access them, coupled with pressure from the House of Representatives and some state governors, compelled the CBN to extend the deadline to February 10, despite Emefiele’s initial insistence that there would be no extension.
The CBN initially banned cash withdrawals in banking halls and encouraged the public to access cash through alternative payment platforms like the automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale centres. The CBN, Emefiele, said, was intent on implementing its
cashless policy.
Emefiele: in the eye of the storm over naira redesign
But even with the new date looming, there has been no succour, as the new notes remain as scarce as hen’s teeth. The situation had degenerated in the past few days, with protests in some states, and angry customers vandalising banks’ properties.
Three states controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – had headed to the Supreme Court on February 3 praying for an order to stop the CBN from sticking to its February 10 deadline on the old notes. The applicants cited the
sufferings being experienced by the people as cause for their action.
In its judgment on Wednesday, a seven-man panel of the court led by John Okoro issued an order of interim injunction restraining the Federal government through the CBN or the commercial banks “from suspending or determining or ending on 10 February the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice” regarding the issue.
Legal controversies over ruling
The Supreme Court ruling itself has been generating further confusion. The apex court’s decision has seemingly overshadowed another order given by a Federal High Court in Abuja on February 7 to the CBN not to extend the February 10 deadline for the naira swap.
Four political parties- the Action Alliance, Action Peoples Movement, Action Peoples Party and National Rescue Movement – had approached the court seeking an injunction to ask President Muhammadu Buhari, the CBN and commercial banks not to extend the deadline.
In his ruling, Justice Eneojo Eneche, granted an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from suspending, stopping, extending, varying or interfering “with the extant termination date of use of the old N200, N500 and N1000 bank notes being 10th day of February 2023 pending the hearing and determination of Motion on Notice.”
There have arisen arguments over the validity of the Supreme Court judgment, and whether the CBN could be bound by it. A post, the original writer yet unknown, was widely shared on facebook after the judgment, assuring whoever wishes to believe that the Supreme Court decision was a mere “academic exercise” that could not stand.
A former philosophy lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Akinyemi Onigbinde, urging readers on his facebook post on Wednesday to “play safe by abiding by CBN guideline”, and “legal tender old naira expires10/02/2023”, forwarded the shared post.
It partly read, “The deadline won’t change. Neither CBN nor commercial banks was joined as parties to this suit. The 3 state governments simply took advantage of the fact that in matters purely between the state and the Federal Government , the Supreme Court can serve as a court of first and only instance. Joining the CBN in the matter would immediately rob the Supreme Court of jurisdiction.
“The Attorney-General cannot issue a binding order on the CBN Governor. The CBN Act didn’t contemplate such and the interim order is simply an academic attempt at grandstanding. Only the CBN is empowered by law to determine what is termed legal tender.”
A Lagos lawyer, Benjamin Umudjoro, managing partner at Umudjoro and Co, disagreed. Umudjoro told The ICIR that the Supreme Court decision superseded all other verdicts on the matter since the Federal government, which controls the CBN, had been bound by it.
He added that the judgment would stand and only an order by the Supreme Court can vacate it. Reminding that the judgment is interim, the lawyer said it would be interesting what would happen next on the naira swap debacle on February 15 when the Motion on Notice begins before the Supreme Court.
A senior advocate, Mike Ozekhome, agreed with Umudjoro on the superiority of the Supreme Court on the matter, while quickly pointing out that the judgment was only temporary.
Ozekhome, speaking on Wednesday evening on a Channels TV live programme, ‘The 2023 Verdict’, said the High Court judgment restraining the CBN from extending the February 10 deadline would have stood if the Supreme Court had not issued a contrary order.
He added that lower courts can only “blow muted trumpets” when matters are being heard in the highest court.
But the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice and lawyer, Eze Onyekpere, told TheICIR that the Supreme Court acted on the deposition of the three state governors without yet giving an opportunity to the Federal government and the CBN to respond.
Onyekpere says Supreme Court order could be vacated on February 15
Onyekpere noted, “That is why it is an interim injunction stopping the CBN and the Federal Government from stopping the legal tender status of N200, N500 and N1000 on February 10. The case was, however, readjourned till February 15, which is a return date when all the parties would have been served, and the lawyers would have joined issues and take it up from there.
“This is an interim order, which stands until February 15, and could possibly be vacated if the CBN and others joined in the suit would show cause for such.
“For now, the implication is that those currencies which would have been supposed to have been legal tender by February 10 would still be legal tender unless the court directs otherwise after February 15.”
A people divided
The CBN’s naira swap move has torn the citizens apart, barely three weeks to the presidential election. The APC had been calling for the extension of the deadline. Its presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, had alleged political undertones to the policy, saying it was introduced to stop him from winning the presidential election.
Tinubu has already lauded the Supreme Court judgment. In a statement issued on Wednesday on his behalf by the APC Presidential Campaign Council Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said, “Our country was dangerously careering toward anarchy and economic shutdown. But with the Supreme Court interim ruling, our country has been pulled back from the precipice.”
On the contrary, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) the two major contenders against the APC in the presidential election, supported the CBN’s insistence on not extending it.
In a statement on February 1, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, urged the CBN not to extend the February 10 deadline, saying the initial purpose and initiative of redesigning the currency would be destroyed.
“The CBN and the Presidency should be steadfast. The merits of the new naira policy far outweigh the little inconvenience we are experiencing.
“This is one policy that will benefit the country in the long term. We should not allow those selfish, parochial people with narrow vision to derail it,” he stated.
While many Nigerians, hit hard by the cash crunch that the naira swap had caused, rejoiced at the Supreme Court ruling that would enable them more time to access cash, some others stormed the CBN headquarters and the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to protest against it.
In his Twitter reaction, a former Aviation minister and chieftain of the APC, Femi Fani-Kayode, expressed his thanks to the Supreme Court for “displaying remarkable insight and sensitivity” on the matter.
Fani-Kayode tweeted, “At least, now we have a chance to change the narrative and take away the immense suffering that has been imposed on our people over the last few days.”
A civil servant in Lagos, Biodun Famakinwa, was joyous of the judgment, saying he had been unable to access cash from the bank his account is domiciled at, and from ATMs.
Famakinwa said he and his family had been surviving on shylock withdrawals from PoS operators.
“At least, now there is hope there will be improvement in cash withdrawals at ATMs and banks in the next few days. Let’s see what the CBN will say on February 15. That February 10 deadline was so scary,” he said.
A spokesman of the PDP, Dino Melaye, tweeted his support for the CBN. Melaye berated governors of the three states that dragged the Federal government to court on the matter for doing so in the first place.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also weighed in on the issue in favour of extending the deadline. In a statement on Wednesday by the IMF Resident Representative to Nigeria, Ari Aisen, the body urged, “In the light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the bank
note swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline.”
Agonies, hunger, anger as scarcity persists
So much drama has trailed the introduction of the new notes as their scarcity persists and the people struggle to obtain them. The CBN disclosed it had been able to suck in about N2.7 trillion in its effort to mop up the N3 trillion cash outside the banking hall.
But according to critics like the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasr El-Rufai, the apex bank had not pumped enough of the new notes into circulation to ensure that supply meets public demand. El-Rufai gave a figure of about only N300 billion of the new notes that the CBN had released.
The result has been chaos. Dramas, from the preposterous to the comic, have been playing out in banking halls, and at ATMs and point-of-sale centres. People requiring cash have been crowding ATMs daily to seek for cash. But many of the machines have been empty. In the best instance, by today, where cash is available, people can only withdraw a maximum of N20,000, and that has to be for cards issued by the owner-banks. Other cards can only get a maximum of N5,000. The banks claimed they are cash-strapped, so much so they are discriminating in payments both at their ATMs and over the counter.
Chaos at the Union Bank ATM in Kubwa, FCT.
“What, for God’s sake, can N5,000 take care of in my family of five?”
an automobile mechanic, Habeeb Oyawale, complained on Tuesday at the Stanbic IBTC ATM on Market Street, Somolu, Lagos State.
Two weeks ago when the situation was grave, a woman who had come into the same Stanbic Bank branch at Somolu seeking to withdraw N20,000 was told she could get only N1,000, and in N5 denomination. The denomination had virtually gone into extinction, but the raging naira swap crisis seems to be enabling the CBN an opportunity to push it out into circulation.
Some banks have also hidden under the current scarcity to be dispensing mutilated notes.The ICIR checks in Abuja showed most commercial banks in the Federal Capital Territory dispensing mutilated notes of the N50 denomination, claiming they had run out of stock of the new notes.
“I could not get the new cash. The banks for days now have been issuing us older and mutilated N50,” a PoS merchant in Dei-Dei, Abuja, Musiliu Ahmed, told The ICIR.
Ahmed displaying the mutilated currency he got from a commercial bank
Many banks have even shut their banking halls against customers, as protesters started taking to the streets and destroying banking facilities. In Ogun State, videos of protesters stoning a GTBank branch in Abeokuta went viral on Monday February 6. And there were confirmed reports that the police shot dead one protester in the state on Tuesday.
Another video this week showed workers of another bank scaling a fence to escape the wrath of protesting workers.
Yet, there were too other videos showing, one a woman half-nude in a banking hall shouting at the top of her voice she wanted to close her account since she was unable to get cash to feed her family, and another one of a man unabashedly in his birthday suit also in a banking hall declaring he was not leaving the scene until he was given cash.
PoS operators have been doing brisk business exploiting the situation, with a ready excuse that they are also finding it difficult to access cash with which they do their transactions. They have upped their commission of only N200 on a withdrawal of N10,000 to N1,000 on every withdrawal of N5,000.
INEC raises concern on election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed a
fear that the raging scarcity of cash could disrupt the 2023 elections. On Tuesday, February 7, the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, met with the CBN governor to tell him that many service providers to INEC had no bank accounts and needed to be paid fully in cash.
“The Nigerian election is a huge and complex one. It requires the
engagement of critical services, and in line with the provisions of the exchange laws and regulations, service providers are generally paid by means of electronic transfer to their accounts.
“However, there are crucial areas such as transportation and human support services that have to be immediately enumerated, either partially or in full because services are rendered,” Yakubu told Emefiele.
The CBN governor has, however, assured the INEC boss that enough cash would be available to the body to ensure a hitch-free election.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has appealed for calm on the crisis.
In a statement issued on February 8 titled, ‘Call for Calm’ and signed by the association’s president, Tijjani Isa, ICAN urged the CBN and other key stakeholders to see the interim suspension of the deadline as an opportunity to rapidly improve the supply and distribution of the new naira notes (alongside the old notes), stabilise the alternative financial payment solutions, and expand public awareness on the indisputable benefits of a cashless economy.
ICAN believed that these actions would gradually restore public trust in the country’s presently challenged financial system and calm all frayed nerves.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has signed an order to establish a Presidential Transition Council for the 2023 transition programme.
The Transition Council will be inaugurated on Tuesday, February 14.
The development was disclosed in a statement released on Thursday, February 9, by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary General of the Federation, Willie Bassey.
According to the statement, the move will ensure.that the transition of power from one presidential administration to another is seamless.
Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), will head the Council.
Members of the committee include the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Justice.
Also in the Council are Permanent Secretaries from the following Ministries and Offices: Defence, Interior, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Foreign Affairs, Information and Culture, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Cabinet Affairs Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Economic and Political Affairs Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and State House.
Others are the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff; Inspector-General of Police; Director General of National Intelligence Agency; Director General, of State Security Services; Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and two representatives who the President-elect will nominate.
The President also signed Executive Order No. 14 of 2023 on the Facilitation and Management of Presidential Transitions.
This development is coming a few days to the Presidential and National Assembly polls, which are slated for February 25.
Governorship and state assembly elections will hold on March 11.
