In today’s edition of Nigeria in Brief: Emefiele is to appear in a joint session of the National Assembly and the senate; DSS closes in on NNPCL; Igbo leaders decry sit-at-home order; and other trending news in Nigeria
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, will be appearing in a joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday next week to answer questions based on the new CBN policy on cash withdrawal limit. Earlier this week, we reported that the CBN has pegged over-the-counter withdrawal and POS transactions to N20,000 per withdrawal and N100,000 per week for individuals, and N500,000 for corporate organisations. The CBN had since been under heavy fire from concerned and affected citizens and stakeholders. They argue that about 90% of Nigerians depend on cash for daily economic activities. On Wednesday, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan stated that the new policy seems rushed, arguing that it would cut many Nigerians off.
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The legal team representing the popular Nigerian singer, Daniel Oladapo, also known as D’Banj, has called for his release from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Commission ICPC’s detention having found nothing on him. The team represented by the lead counsel, Pelumi Olajenbgesi, called on the commission to release D’Banj while calling on the Ministry of Human Affairs to publicly publish the names of the government officials involved in the alleged diversion of funds. Recall that Nigeria Today News reported earlier that the singer was arrested following an allegation of diversion of N-Power funds alongside some high-level government officials. He had so far been detained for more than 48 hours.
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The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has denied the rumour that his party plans a merger with another political party in the coming 2023 general elections in Nigeria. Kwankwaso described the rumour as the handiwork of failed politicians and insisted his party will win the election in 2023. The senator said this while addressing newsmen in Abeokuta on Thursday. He maintained that he had no plans to step down for any candidate, saying it’s absolute nonsense. Also, the Ogun state chairman of the NNPP advised Nigerians against returning APC to power in 2023, stating that only lunatics would vote for APC.
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D’banj arrested, detained for allegedly stealing N-Power money
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CBN pegs cash withdrawal limit to N100,000 per week
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The Ohanaeze Indigbo has warned the Igbo states to ignore the five-day sit-at-home order issued by the defiant faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South Eastern States. Simon Ekpa, a protégé of the detained Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB leader, issued the sit-at-home order. Recall that Nigeria Today News reported on Monday that IPOB had distanced itself from Ekpa’s order, stating that it had nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, the Igbo Leaders Consultative Forum led by the former governor of Anambra State, Dr. chukwuemeka Ezeife, has called on South Eastern governors to take drastic action to prevent the sit-at-home order now that the IPOB has distanced itself from it. They described it as inimical to the economic and political progress of the South East.
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The Department of State Services, DSS, has issued a 48 hours ultimatum to the major stakeholders in the oil industry to end the protracted fuel scarcity in the country or face the consequences. DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, stated this shortly after the Director-General of DSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, met with major stakeholders in the oil industry at the agency headquarters in Abuja yesterday. The agency threatened to launch a nationwide operation to hunt down the saboteurs if the queues persists. Afunanya said stakeholders at the meeting included: NNPCL, NUPENG, IPMAN, and MOMAN. Afunanyan stated that the agency decided to intervene in the ongoing fuel scarcity because it had the potential of economic sabotage, adding that there is no reason the country should be witnessing fuel scarcity as the NNPCL claimed it has in its depot, over 1.9 billion liters of fuel.
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The Resident Electoral Commission, REC, in Lagos State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, has revealed that a total of 953,803 Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, are yet to be collected in Lagos. The REC said this yesterday at a stakeholders’ meeting, in Lagos. Agbaje disclosed that out of the 6,630,661 PVCs received between 2011 and 2021, 5,676,858 had been distributed as of December 2, 2022. Agbaje also disclosed that 13,325 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines that would be used for the polls had been received. He, however, urged Lagosians to visit the INEC offices to claim their PVCs.