Abuja: Fire Razes Dei-Dei Furniture Market

 An early morning fire has engulfed the popular Dei-Dei Abuja Furniture Makers Association (AFMA) market located at the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The chairman of Dei-Dei new site AFMA, Mr. Daniel Akhigbe Ebhodaghe, in an interview with journalists, Monday, said he received a phone call about 4.3am on Thursday, alerting him about the fire incident at their market shops.

He said the inferno razed several shops, including machineries, generators, and other accessories worth about N300 million. 


He further said the incident did not record any casualty but properties were lost, as several shops were razed down during the inferno.

He said the cause of the fire was yet unknown as it occurred at night when the market remained closed, adding that the incident had been reported to the police and investigation begun to ascertain the cause and extent of damage.

One of the victims and the treasurer of the association, Mr. Paul Emiantor, while counting their losses following the mysterious fire that burnt down their shops, said there should be thorough investigation so that appropriate lessons could be learnt.

“It is a disaster, because I don’t know what to tell our customers who have given us work to do when they come asking for their property. As I’m talking to you now, I don’t have ten Kobo with me; I what well-meaning Nigerians to come to our aid,” he pleaded.

On his part, the legal adviser to the association, Barr David E. Aigbefoh, appealed to the federal, state, local governments and organisations to assist the victims of the fire incident, given the damage and loss suffered by the victims.

Barrister Aigbefoh disclosed that about 24 heavy duty machines were burnt down during the fire incident and called on government to mobilise the fire service to perform optimally, advising for stringent measures against any individual or group that would carry out activity resulting into any inferno.

2023: Atiku Employs 19 SANs To Challenge Tinubu’s Victory

 Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has put together a legal team of 19 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to challenge the outcome of the February 25 election.

Atiku briefed them on Wednesday at his campaign Headquarters in Abuja, asking them to “establish the claim of illegality in the election and reclaim the mandate of the Nigerian people.”

The team is headed by a seasoned litigation and commercial lawyer, JK Gadzama (SAN).

He further declared that it is crucial for them to go through this process not just for himself and PDP, but also to reinforce constitutional democracy and safeguard it for future generations.

The members of the team include Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Chris Uche (SAN), Paul Usoro (SAN), Tayo Jegede (SAN), Ken Mozia (SAN), Mahmood Magaji (SAN), Joe Abraham (SAN), Chukwuma Umeh (SAN), Dr. Garba Tetengi (SAN) and Chief Emeka Etiaba (SAN).

Others are Chief Goddy Uche (SAN), Prof. Maxwell Gidado (SAN), A. K. Ajibade (SAN), O. M. Atoyebi, (SAN), Nella Rabana (SAN), Paul Ogbole (SAN), Nuremi Jimoh (SAN), and Abdul Ibrahim (SAN).

INEC Plotting To Erase Evidence, PDP Cries Out

 The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to destroy evidence contained in the BVAS machine under the guise of reconfiguration.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, raised the alarm at a press conference in Abuja, late on Tuesday.
“This reprehensible action by INEC to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to get redress through the court is a clear recipe for crisis and a deliberate design by the Commission to derail our democracy and trigger anarchy in the country.”
Ologunagba invited Nigerians to recall how the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu superintended over the manipulation of the results of the presidential election and hurriedly announced a winner in spite of widespread outcry and complain over numerous evidence of malpractices and violation of several provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 by INEC and its officials.

The PDP spokesman further said, “The INEC Chairman bypassed all the steps and procedures provided by the Electoral Act 2022 for the declaration of results, including to announce and declare only results that were transmitted directly from the polling units to the INEC server/website and to review the results in the event of disputes and objections as to the correctness and consistency of the collated result.

“For emphasis Section 64 (6) of the Electoral Act clearly states that: ‘(6) Where during collation of results, there is a dispute regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any polling unit, the collation officer or returning officer shall use the following to determine the correctness of the disputed result-

“(a) the original of the disputed collated result for each polling unit where the election is disputed;

“(b)the smart card reader or other technology device used for accreditation of voters in each polling unit where the election is disputed for the purpose of obtaining accreditation data directly from the smart card reader or technology device 
"(c) data of accreditation recorded and transmitted directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed as prescribed under section 47 (2) of this Act

“(d) the votes and result of the election recorded and transmitted directly from each polling unit where the election is disputed, as prescribed under section 60 (4) of this Act.

“Furthermore, Section 65 (1)(c) of the Electoral Act, 2022 states as follows;

“S. 65.-(1) The decision of the returning officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to-…. (c) declaration of scores of candidates and the return of a candidate;

“Provided that the Commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the Commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.

ECOWAS To Honour Buhari With Democracy Icon Award

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has finalised arrangements to honour President Muhammadu Buhari with an award in recognition of his achievements in the defence and promotion of democracy as a system of government throughout the subregion.

ECOWAS Chairman, Guinea Bissau’s Umaro Sissoco Embalo, made this known on Tuesday at a bilateral meeting with the president on the sidelines of the ongoing 5th United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar.

According to a release issued by presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, President Embalo said the Nigerian president had done more than any other to support democratic governments in West Africa, just as he had done exceptionally well, waging battles against the emergence non-democratic regimes.

For this, said the ECOWAS Chairman, Buhari will have his name on the Roll of Honour in the community’s new headquarters building upon its completion in Abuja, so that future generations of West African citizens will know about the greatness he achieved and to copy his laudable examples.

Responding, Buhari welcomed the proposition, stressing that democracy is the best pathway to bringing together diverse people and a dependable vehicle for the achievement of national development.

Oshiomhole Acknowledges Cheers From Security Officials At ICC, Abuja

 That Moment Oshiomhole Stopped At ICC To Acknowledge Wild Cheers From Security Agents , Nigerians(Video)

We have always advocated on our platform that wherever you find yourself, whatever position God gives you, it is an opportunity to show grace and kindness to mankind, and today we were moved by the show of love showered on Oshiomhole by the people of Abuja, a long distance away from Edo State, which he once governed.

Oshiomhole won our hearts at the International Conference Centre when he went to collect his certificate of return as an elected senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On his way out, he heard some security agents hailing and congratulating him from a distance, so he turned and stopped to acknowledge their cheers.

After greeting the security officers, the ovation grew louder, and numerous Nigerians were seen rushing around him to take pictures with him. 

The moral of this story is to always stay true to yourself. As Oshiomhole was celebrated today in distant Abuja, Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki was shamed and chased away this  same day at Uwelu spare parts marketplace in Benin City.

A tale of two governors, one loved for what he did for his people and the other loathed for what he did not do for his people, please watch the video and leave your views.

Ireti Kingibe: Peter Obi Tweets False Info About Abuja Senate Seat, Deletes It

 Peter Obi throws Lamba again, Then Quickly Deleted it 

This is not true. Sen. Khairat Abdul Razaq Gwadabe served as a senator from FCT.

Rejection Of Old N500, N1,000 Spreads As Nigerians Ask For Official Statement

 The enthusiasm that greeted the Supreme Court judgement that the old N500 and N1,000 notes should be in use till December 31st 2023, has dissipated as a widespread rejection of the old notes by bank customers, transporters and other businesses took over the financial and economic space.

The rejection of the old notes is driven by the continued silence of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on the court judgement.
Meanwhile, banks have started effecting cash withdrawal limits of N100,000 per week for individual customers.

However, the money is paid in old banknotes which most customers refused to collect.

According to a top bank official, customers are insisting that there must be an official statement approving the old N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tenders before they can accept the notes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the banker who heads one of the branches of a Tier 1 bank said: “Everybody (customers) that came to my branch today rejected it (old N500, N1,000 notes). They said people are not collecting it, and I tried it. I gave somebody an N1,000 note to go to a popular restaurant in Lagos to buy me rice, but the restaurant rejected it. I gave another person N500 to use it to board a commercial bus to see if transporters will accept it. The person came back and said the commercial buses refused to collect it too.

“In the case of the old N200 banknote, the President spoke and everybody adhered to it. So why are they not speaking now? They (customers) said President Mohammadu Buhari or CBN Governor should say okay to the Supreme Court ruling.
“Unfortunately that is what they are even bringing for us here. We held a meeting and they said more notes are even coming, the N1,000 and N500.”

The banker also confirmed the commencement of the cash withdrawal limit. He said: “Yes, they even said we should be doing N20,000 per customer per day. That is what the circular our banks sent to us today said.

When contacted on the above development, Acting Director of, the Corporate Communication Department, CBN, Dr. AbdulMumin Issa, said, “There is no official statement on the old N500 and N1,000 notes.”

The development in Lagos is also noticed in Ibadan, Oyo State capital yesterday, where bank customers said they would not take the old banknotes from their banks since the banks had earlier on Monday claimed that they were waiting for CBN or the President before they can dispense the old banknotes.

They wondered why the banks are now giving it out without the pronouncements from the two authorities.
A staff of one of the tier-one banks told Vanguard that her bank started dispensing the old banknotes because on Monday the CBN sent back the old Naira banknotes they had earlier deposited at the apex bank last week.

She hinted that she also made a personal withdrawal of N30,000, to be used for personal spending, but regretted that she could not use it for transactions as traders and commercial motorcyclists rejected it.

“I also made a withdrawal of N30,000 old notes but unfortunately I became stranded when I wanted to pay an okada rider and he rejected it. Since that was the only money I had on me, I was also affected by the scarcity of new naira notes, I had to call someone that brought N500 for me to settle the bike man.”

She said though there is no official statement from the CBN on the acceptability of the old naira notes, following the Supreme Court judgement, there was hope that the situation would get better in few days to come. Commenting on the cash crisis, Tajudeen Olayinka, CEO, of Wyoming Capital and Partners said: “Cash scarcity could have been avoided or minimized if cash withdrawal limit set by CBN was met by banks and CBN between January and February 2023 when the old notes ceased to be legal tenders.

“The fact that CBN did not release a sufficient amount of new banknotes to replace the old ones, and could not also provide near cash alternative in lieu of insufficiency of cash, worsened the situation.

Use of ATM or PoS machines cannot be taken as a near-cash alternative

Speaking at the backdrop of the Court ruling and the compliance by the banks, Mallam, Garba Kurfi, Chief Executive Officer, APT Securities & Funds Limited, said: “It’s a good development and will bring relief over the cash shortage but much better if CBN can release the old notes with it. Also, the FG should make a pronouncement so that it will be generally accepted as legal tender as many people are not accepting it for transaction purposes.

Prof Uche Uwaleke, President, of the Association of Capital Market Academic of Nigeria, ACMAN said: “It’s a welcome development.
“The directive to banks to accept the N500 and N1000 notes, in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement, portrays the CBN as a law-abiding Institution. It will also help to clear the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the legal tender status of those old naira notes.

“The cash crunch may linger for some time bearing in mind that the CBN has not said it would re-circulate about N2 trillion of old currencies already mopped up which explains why it has retained the cash withdrawal limit.

‘‘The way forward, in my opinion, is to ensure that banks have the lower denominations of the old and new notes in sufficient quantities to dispense over the counter as well as load in their ATMs.

Reacting, Mr David Adonri, Vice Chairman, of Highcap Securities noted that since the CBN has not been able to print and supply new currency notes to replace the withdrawn ones, it is proper to reintroduce the old notes so as to end the current excruciating scarcity of cash.

He stated: “As more new notes come into circulation, hopefully, the old notes will gradually be withdrawn. If CBN had implemented the policy properly by supplying the same quantity of new notes to replace the withdrawn old notes, the economy would not have suffered the kind of dislocation it is currently experiencing’’.