Have No Preferred Candidates For Senate Presidency - Tinubu

 The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, has revealed that he has no preferred candidates for the leadership of both chambers who will constitute the 10th National Assembly.

Tinubu, who was represented by the Vice President-Elect, Kashim Shettima, disclosed this at the meeting with new members-elect to the National Assembly.

A member-elect for Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, Abdulmalik Bungudu, revealed this to our correspondent shortly after the meeting.

Bungudu, who spoke in the Hausa language, revealed that Tinubu told attendees that he had no preferred candidates for any of the principal offices of the 10th NASS.

According to him, “For now, he (Tinubu) said he doesn’t have anybody that he prefers to have as Senate President or Speaker, but consultations are going to continue to get the way out for the party and to also ensure the party emerges victorious in the forthcoming governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.”

CBN Says Old ₦200, ₦500, ₦1,000 Notes Remain Legal Tender

 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes remain legal tender Till December 31, 2023.

The apex bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin stated this in a statement on Monday.

“In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the Rule of Law Principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023.

“Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers’ Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till December 31, 2023.

“Consequently, all concerned are directed to conform accordingly.”

The highest court of the land had on March 3 ordered that old N200, N500, and N1000 notes remain valid till December 31, 2023. This was after 16 states of the Federation instituted a suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.

Nigerian Economy “Loses N20 Trillion” As 70% Of Cash Sucked Away From Economy

 The Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has said the Nigerian economy has lost N20 trillion as 70% of cash has been sucked away from the economy.

The Center also said that the protracted, acute cash scarcity being experienced in the country has not only crippled economic activities in the country but is now a major risk to the livelihoods of most Nigerians.  

Yusuf observed that retail transactions across sectors have become nerve-wracking and distressing as payment system challenges persist. He said since the onset of the cash crisis, the Nigerian economy has lost an estimated N20 trillion. 

These losses arose from the deceleration of economic activities, the crippling of trading activities, the stifling of the informal economy, the contraction in the agricultural sector, and the paralysis of the rural economy. There are also corresponding job losses in hundreds of thousands. 

The CPPE said millions of citizens have slipped into penury and destitution as a result of the disruptions and tribulations perpetrated by the currency redesign policy, especially the mopping up of over 70% of cash in the economy. It said Nigerians have not been this traumatized in recent history.  

In a press release by its chief executive, Dr. Muda Yusuf, the Center said the economy is gradually grinding to a halt because of the collapse of payment systems across all platforms.  

•“Digital platforms are performing sub-optimally because of congestion; physical cash is unavailable because the CBN has sucked away over 70% of cash in the economy; and the expected relief from the Supreme Court judgment has not materialized. The citizens are consequently left in a quandary,” he said. 

He stated that the commercial banks claim that the CBN has not officially communicated the Supreme Court’s judgment to them for any actions; the President has maintained a worrying muteness on the judgment; the market women and men are waiting to hear from President Buhari or the CBN governor on the legal tender status of old currency notes.

•“Curiously, there is an apparent reluctance or unwillingness by the federal government and the CBN to comply with the Supreme Court’s judgement. This is very disturbing and inexplicable,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Nigerians continue to groan in the adversity inflicted by the acute cash shortage amid the rejection of old currency notes by market operators, refusal by banks to accept the old notes, silence by the presidency on the supreme court judgment; and absence of official pronouncement by the CBN on the issue.

•“Evidently, President Buhari did not seem to appreciate the gravity and enormity of the suffering and pain that Nigerians have been experiencing since the onset of the currency redesign policy. We again plead with the President to immediately intervene to put an end to the devastating and traumatic outcomes of a repressive, poorly conceptualized, and badly implemented currency redesign policy. We request the following immediate actions”

•“The CBN should be directed to immediately inform the Nigerian public that the old currency notes [alongside the new notes] remain legal tender until the 31st of December 2023, in line with the Supreme Court judgment.”

•“The CBN should be directed to officially communicate the outcome of the Supreme Court’s judgment to the banks and affirm compliance with the judgment.”

•“The president should publicly empathize with Nigerians on the unwarranted and inexcusable pain and suffering that the currency redesign policy has wreaked on them.

Emefiele Denies Plotting Against Tinubu

 Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has described as “false and malicious” reports that he was plotting against Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.

He was said to be plotting with a “billionaire retired general” from the north and provided funds to Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos state, to enable him defeat Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent.

But in a statement issued on Monday, Isa Abdulmumin, CBN’s acting director of corporate communications, said Emefiele “does not take part in politics”.

“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a story alleging that the Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has launched a ‘fresh plot against President-elect’. The aforementioned story went further to allege that the Governor has made certain amount of money available to a political aspirant ahead of March 18, 2023 gubernatorial poll,” Abdulmumin said.

“We wish to inform members of the public that this story is completely false and malicious as the Governor does not know and has never met or even spoke with Mr Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour either in person or through proxy.

“We wish to reiterate that the CBN Governor does not take part in Politics and therefore urge anyone with contrary information to prove the Governor wrong should provide such facts.

“As such the Governor and team at the CBN should be allowed to focus on their assigned job with a view to achieving statutory mandates of the Bank.”

INEC: IREV Won’t Fail During Guber Polls, We’ve Activated Second Option

 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has rectified the issues with the result viewing portal. The IReV portal was part of the technologies introduced by the commission to improve the transparency of the electoral process.

The commission had previously assured that polling unit results would be uploaded to the portal in real time during the presidential election which held on February 25.The portal was, however, inactive for a long time, even after voting had ended in some polling units and as at the time of this report, not all results have been uploaded.

Speaking on Sunday when he featured on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’, Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner, acknowledged that there were challenges with the portal on election day.He said necessary adjustments have been made to the portal to ensure optimal function during the governorship and state assembly polls of March 18.

“There is no technology that does not have challenges. Yes, we promised that results will be uploaded in real time to our result viewing portal, but there were challenges. We already explained to Nigerians that these glitches happen, we didn’t anticipate that we’re going to have these challenge,” he said.

Whatever challenges we recorded, we have made very serious efforts to rectify them so that during the governorship and state assembly elections, we won’t record the same issues going forward.

“We have rectified the challenges we experienced during the presidential and national assembly polls.

“No national commissioner of the commission was happy with what happened. This is because this commission has been built around serving the people of this country. We had situations where even corps members were held hostage in polling units.”

Okoye said the electoral body has activated a second option in the event of a challenge with uploading of results.

“So we have made the necessary amendments, we have learned the necessary lessons from this and we have also activated an option B in terms of how we approach the issue of result upload,” he said.

“We are confident that the portal will not fail. If we have any challenge relating to the uploading of polling unit results, the ICT knows what to do so that we don’t have the type of challenge we had during the presidential election.”

Yemi Alade Celebrates Her 34th Birthday Today

 Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), is a Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist. She won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single "Johnny" in 2014. Since then Yemi has gained prominence in the music industry and considered one of the biggest artists in Africa. Following the releases of her albums King of Queens and Mama Africa with huge commercial success recorded for both albums, this made her embark on world tours consecutively.

She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively and was nominated for Artiste of the Year in 2015, making her the first female to win the MAMAs for Best female consecutively twice and nominated for Artiste of the Year. In 2015, Alade was the first African female to be nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) and She was nominated for the BET awards for Best International Act: Africa in 2015 and 2016. Yemi is also applauded for her creative and overwhelming stage performances, fashion and music videos, She has won The Headies Award for Best Performer twice, 2018 and 2019. The slot was initiated at The Headies 2018 and she was the first artiste to win the category.

Alade sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese. Her music has been of influence in many African countries and the world as she is acclaimed "Mama Africa" for her versatility in using different African languages and attires in her songs and music videos. Alade's father was a police commissioner of Yoruba descent, while her mother is of Igbo descent.

On 9 June 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the forefront artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world. On 27 June 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle.

Early Life
Alade was raised in a multi-ethnic home from Nigeria, Her father James Alade was a commissioner of police from Ondo State, Nigeria while her mother Helen Uzoma is a native of Abia State, Nigeria. According to Yemi, She taps from the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities of her parents. Alade attended secondary School at Victory Grammar School, Ikeja, and the University of Lagos, (both in Lagos, Nigeria).

Sanwo-Olu: Old Naira Notes Remain Legal Tender

 The Lagos State Government has noted the hardship sparked by the Naira redesign policy, which has affected business and commercial activities.

There is no reason to reject the old notes, going by the Supreme Court judgement delivered on March 3, 2023.

The apex court declared that “no reasonable notice was given as required by Section 20(3) of the CBN Act,” noting that the public only became aware of the policy through press remarks, which cannot qualify as a notice to the public.

The court maintained that the policy has impeded the functions of State governments, pointing out that the directive that stops the use of the old notes is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has, therefore, called on business owners, especially retailers, to accept the old N500 and N1,000 notes - in line with the Supreme Court judgement that the currency remains legal tender until December 31, 2023. It is illegal to reject the notes.

All agencies of the Lagos State Government are advised not to reject payments made with the old currency by the public.

Gbenga Omotoso
HC, Information & Strategy