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Elections: IPOB urges South-East residents to ignore sit-at-home order, disowns Simon Ekpa

Vincent Ufuoma
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Elections: IPOB urges South-East residents to ignore sit-at-home order, disowns Simon Ekpa

THE Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged residents of the South-East to ignore any sit-at-home orders during the 2023 general elections.

IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, made this known in a statement on Thursday, February 2.

He emphasised that the pro-Biafra movement had not ordered a boycott of the election.

IPOB distanced itself from any individual or group behind any purported sit-at-home order and described those issuing such orders as criminals sponsored by the enemies of Biafra.

The IPOB statement warned the Pan Nigeria President of Igbo Extraction Coalition (PANPIEC) not to link the pro-Biafra movement with the group issuing sit-at-home orders.

IPOB clarified that it has no plans or intention to obstruct the election process in Nigeria, stressing that its focus is the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and securing a date for the Biafra Referendum.

The statement also emphasised that IPOB is a peaceful and indivisible organisation under one command and does not have any splinter groups.

It denied any link with Simon Ekpa and his collaborators, who are claiming to be IPOB and issuing sit-at-home orders in the South-East.

IPOB reiterated that it has not issued any sit-at-home order nor called for a boycott of the upcoming elections.

It warned that any group claiming to be IPOB while issuing sit-at-home orders are criminals and state-sponsored agents and do not represent IPOB led by Kanu.

INEC debunks reports of over-voting in Osun election

Vincent Ufuoma
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INEC debunks reports of over-voting in Osun election

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed reports that its Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mutiu Agboke, claimed that there was over-voting during the July 16, 2022, governorship election in the state.

The Commission debunked the reports in a statement issued by the INEC Head of the Department of Voter Education, Publicity and Inclusivity in the state, Adewale Francis, on Thursday, February 2.

The statement said the comments credited to Agboke werr incorrect and misleading.

The Commission stressed that the REC only spoke about the efficacy of the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) as a tool for voter accreditation during his visit to the Oluwo of Iwo, AbdulRasheed Akanbi.

While calling on the media to verify their sources of information before publishing any reports, INEC stated that any extrapolation made beyond the context of the statement should be disregarded.

The statement reiterated that Agboke’s visit to Oba Akanbi in Iwo on Tuesday was aimed at explaining the workings of the BVAS machines.

However, some media outlets reported that Agboke claimed that some INEC staff and politicians manipulated the BVAS machines to commit over-voting during the Osun governorship election.

Last month, the state governorship election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Terste Kume nullified the election of the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke, and declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, as the actual winner of the election.

The tribunal also stated that there were over-votings in 10 of the 30 local government areas of the state during the election.

Xenophobia: South African police officials arraigned for torturing Nigerian

Sinafi OMANGA
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Xenophobia: South African police officials arraigned for torturing Nigerian

FOUR South African policemen are facing charges for allegedly torturing a Nigerian citizen, according to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg.

This is coming few days after two Nigerian nationals were reportedly killed in the South Africa’s capital amid a resurgence of attacks on foreigners in the country.

An official of the Nigerian Consulate, Elizabeth Wale-Ayodele, said the suspects were arrested by South Africa’s Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) on Wednesday, February 1, at the Boksburg North Police Station.

However, Wale-Ayodele did not disclose the name of the Nigerian citizen who was allegedly beaten to coma by the suspects.

“Two weeks ago, 9th January, 2023, a Nigerian was assaulted in Boksburg by four police policemen.

“We received this at the consulate and immediately the CG (Consul General), Mr. Andrew Idi, was here two weeks ago to pay the victim a visit.

“He (the victim) was assaulted, thoroughly beaten, even when he complained of having kidney issues. He fell into coma and was in coma for nine days.

“So when he came out of coma, the CG was here to visit him and we opened the case with IPID. The consulate has followed up the case up till this moment”, Wale-Ayodele said.

She added that officials of the consulate were present during the arrest by IPID, the South African police watchdog.

“We are happy to see justice prevail. The consulate had worked on this day and night. We are happy to see the result,” she added.

The spokesperson for IPID, Lizzy Suping said the suspects are to be arraigned on charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at the Boksburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, February, 2.

However, Suping noted the police officers had demanded the identification papers of the victim and arrested him after failure to produce the papers.

She added that it was while in detention that the suspects assaulted and tortured the victim, who was in coma for nine days.

Supreme Court dismisses PDP suit against Oyetola’s participation in Osun election

Vincent Ufuoma
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Supreme Court dismisses PDP suit against Oyetola’s participation in Osun election

THE Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the participation of former governor Gboyega Oyetola and his deputy Benedict Alabi in the July 16, 2022 Osun State governorship election.

A five-member panel led by Justice Centus Nweze dismissed the appeal in a ruling on Thursday, February 2.

The apex court stated that the appeal lacked merit and directed the counsel for the PDP, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, to withdraw it.

It held that under the law, the PDP could not question the process that led to the emergence of Oyetola and Alabi as candidates for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

PDP filed the appeal after a judgment by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the participation of Oyetola and Alabi in the governorship election on September 30, 2022.

The Federal High Court had ruled that the nomination forms submitted by Oyetola and Alabi were endorsed by an acting chairman of APC, who was also a serving governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni.

The decision of the Federal High Court was later overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja in a judgment made in December 2022.

The PDP then took the matter to the Supreme Court, which has now dismissed their appeal, bringing the matter to a close.

Court remands oil company director over alleged N157m fraud

Bankole ABE
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Court remands oil company director over alleged N157m fraud

A FEDERAL High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, presided by Justice P. I. Ajoku on Wednesday, February 1, remanded a director of an oil company, Charles Rudolf Epelle, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N157m fraud.

Epelle was remanded pending the determination of his bail application.

According to a statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant was arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence and issuance of dud cheques by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC.

The alleged offence is contrary to sections 1(1) (a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Charles Rudolf Epelle, Enene Esther Irabor (at large), on or about the 2nd of August, 2021 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did obtain the sum of Twenty-two Million, Eighty Thousand Naira (N22,080,000.00) from one Jeremiah Jumbo by false pretence under the guise of rendering catering services to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Abuja, which pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) & (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges preferred against him.

Given his plea, prosecution counsel, K. W. Chukwuma-Eneh, prayed the court to remand the defendant to a Correctional Facility and fix a date for the commencement of the trial.

Justice Ajoku consequently ordered that the defendant be remanded in the prosecution’s custody pending the hearing and determination of his bail application.

The matter was adjourned till February 6, 2023, for a hearing of bail application and April 26, 2023, for trial.

According to the statement, Epelle ran into trouble when the EFCC received a petition alleging extortion under pretences against him.
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The petitioner alleged that, sometime in 2021, the defendant and his cohort, Managing Director of Ehinomen Noble Links Limited Enene Esther Irabor, now at large, approached him that her company was awarded a contract by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and needed a financier.

“They promised to return the money on or before August 30, 2021. In order to convince the victim, they both issued him Cheques worth Eighty-seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N87, 500,000.00),” the statement added.

EFCC said that based on their agreement, the victim transferred a total sum of N192 million to Epelle’s account in tranches.

However, efforts by the victim to recover the said sum were futile.

CBN to prosecute naira sellers, directs banks to issue new notes over counter

Vincent Ufuoma
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CBN to prosecute naira sellers, directs banks to issue new notes over counter

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed to apprehend and bring to justice those who engage in the sale of the newly redesigned naira notes throughout the country.

This was disclosed in a statement by CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, on Thursday, February 2.

The apex bank said it has noticed an upward trend in the number of people stocking the new banknotes obtained from ATMs and unregistered persons swapping banknotes for members of the public across the country.

It warned that these actions are considered illegal and violate Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (as amended).

The section states that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both”.

Section 21(4) states that “It shall also be an offence punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank.”

The CBN said it is collaborating with law enforcement agencies, including the Nigeria Police, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), to address the “unpatriotic behaviour”.

It also warned Nigerians, especially those at social functions such as birthdays, weddings, and funerals, to refrain from disrespecting the naira or risk facing arrest by law enforcement agencies.

The statement noted the bank is committed to ensuring the effective distribution of the newly introduced naira banknotes and is working to address the issue of long lines at ATMs.

The statement further disclosed that CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter, with a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000.

The CBN also encourages members of the public to embrace alternative payment channels for their transactions. According to the apex bank, the naira is the legal tender and symbol of national pride in Nigeria and should be respected and handled with care.

Fuel scarcity has nothing to do with election – Kyari

Vincent Ufuoma
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Fuel scarcity has nothing to do with election – Kyari

THE Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has said the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country has nothing to do with the 2023 general elections.

Kyari stated this when he appeared on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ program on Thursday, February 2.

He explained that the shortage was not a deliberate attempt to influence the forthcoming general elections, noting that the crisis began in 2022 and that arbitrage has significantly impacted the product’s scarcity.

“I do not think anybody sits down to orchestrate that there should be scarcity so that it will impact elections and so on. I don’t think it happens that way if it is so. But it is not true because the reality is that these glitches actually started early in 2022,” he said.

“It has nothing to do with this election period. Once you have a challenge of this nature, it is a cyclical thing. Once you have this challenge, they continue to come up, and then once you have arbitrage issues, you have this glitch.”

Kyari stressed that it is not true that anyone would intentionally create a scarcity to impact elections and that such a notion is out of context and impossible.

According to him, the current redundancy of petroleum products supply in Nigeria is only three days and that any glitch extending longer than three days takes another three weeks to stabilize.

He emphasized that the NNPCL is doing everything possible to avoid such glitches from happening in the nearest future and that no one would intentionally create such a situation.

Kyari also stated that the petrol scarcity issue is a major concern for President Muhammadu Buhari and is frequently discussed in their briefings.

He observed that various challenges, including logistics, greed, cross-border problems, and international market situations, contribute to scarcity.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, had, during his rally in Ogun State last week, claimed that the petrol scarcity and the naira redesign policy were attempts to sabotage the elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also expressed concerns that the ongoing scarcity might affect its logistics for the elections.

ICPC arrests woman selling new naira notes on social media

Bankole ABE
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ICPC arrests woman selling new naira notes on social media

THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it arrested a woman, Omoseyin Oluwadarasimi Esther, with the Twitter handle @SimisolaGold, offering new naira notes for sale on social media.

According to the ICPC, intelligence reports prompted its operatives to seek out and arrest the suspect on Wednesday, February 1.

This was disclosed in a statement by the spokesperson of ICPC Azuka Ogugua.

The statement partly reads, “Oluwadarasimi Emma, a social media “serial entrepreneur” who deals in skincare, sales of fuel, facilitation of foreign travels through visa acquisitions, and other businesses, seized the opportunity of the scarcity of the new naira notes to openly market the new notes.

Omoseyin Darasimi EstherPhoto credit: ICPC
Omoseyin Darasimi Esther
Photo credit: ICPC

“It is believed she is in collusion with key elements in the financial services sector, diverting the newly released notes away from banking halls and payment channels into a “black market,” the ICPC said.

The anti-corruption agency said Oluwadarasimi is currently in detention and is helping the Commission with its findings on the criminal trading of the naira and the attendant scarcity and adverse economic outcomes caused by the action.

The ICPC added that its action is in furtherance of the collaboration between it, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in implementing the new cashless policy and naira redesign.

Akwa-Ibom condemns Tinubu’s comments on governor, demands apology

Vincent Ufuoma
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Akwa-Ibom condemns Tinubu’s comments on governor, demands apology

THE Akwa Ibom State government has condemned the recent comments made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, against the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, during the party’s presidential campaign in Uyo.

The former Lagos governor had, while addressing his supporters on Monday, January 30, insulted the governor of the state and threatened to send reptiles to invade the state government governor’s lodge and seize the property.

READ ALSO:
Tinubu’s outburst on exchange rate, an attack on PDP not Buhari – APC

Tinubu did not blame Buhari in comments on naira redesign, fuel scarcity — APC

Naira redesign, fuel scarcity are ploys to sabotage elections — Tinubu

Nigerians should look beyond Tinubu’s age, health — Shettima

Reacting to Tinunu’s comments on Wednesday, February 1, the state government expressed disappointment with Tinubu’s actions, calling his comments “unwarranted, uncharitable and anachronistic”.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong, who issued the statement, said Tinubu’s actions were a cause for concern.

The state government demanded a public apology from Tinubu, who they considered immature and unexpected for a person of his advanced age.

The statement also pointed out that the government had approved the Nest of Champions, a state-owned property, for the APC Presidential Campaign and that Tinubu had used the state-owned and managed airport for his travels without any hindrance.

It noted that the governor had been duly elected and that Tinubu’s comments, calling him a “boy” and questioning his legitimacy, were “unpresidential and undemocratic”.

The government further advised all citizens of the state to ignore Tinubu’s insults and continue to co-exist peacefully with all Nigerians who are living and doing legitimate business in the state.

It also stated that Tinubu should focus on answering questions about his “nebulous history and his amorphous manifestos” instead of making insults and threats towards the people of the state.

The state government said it considers the matter of Nigeria’s presidency to be a very serious business that should be treated with seriousness and intellectual depth.

800,000 PVCs uncollected in Oyo – INEC

Vincent Ufuoma
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800,000 PVCs uncollected in Oyo – INEC

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said about 800,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have remained uncollected in Oyo State.

The State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Adeniran Tella, made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Ibadan, On Wednesday, February 1.

The meeting was part of the ongoing nationwide Mock Voters’ Accreditation/Verification exercise.

READ ALSO:
24 days to elections, hoodlums attack INEC office, police station in Anambra

Catholic Church asks INEC to probe allegations of voter register manipulation

General Elections: INEC to engage NNPC Ltd over fuel supply concerns

Again, INEC extends PVC collection deadline

Tella stated that with several training sessions for staff and ad-hoc staff members in the state, INEC is fully ready for the upcoming election.

The purpose of the mock voters’ accreditation, he said to identify any potential issues that may arise during the actual election, to enable the Commission make necessary adjustments.

“Collection of PVCs at 33 INEC Local Government Area offices has been further extended for eight days with additional two hours, which is expected to end on Sunday, February 5, 2023, starting from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily, Saturday and Sunday inclusive,” he said.

“As I speak to you, we have so far distributed over 402,321 PVCs in the state. We still have over 800,000 uncollected PVCs at our various 33 INEC LGA offices.”

The REC added that the mock voters’ accreditation exercise will be conducted across six councils of Akinyele, Atiba, Iseyin, Ogbomoso North, Ibadan North and Ido.

He said the exercise would test 12 polling units in three senatorial districts of the state, adding that it would take place this Saturday, February 4 from 8.00 am to 2.30 pm in all affected local government areas and polling units.

Tella emphasized the importance of having a PVC, stating that it serves as a voter’s power on election day.

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