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Emefiele: Witness Confirms $6.2m Payment For Foreign Election Observers

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A Deputy Director in charge of Branch Operations in the Central Bank of Nigeria, Onyeka Ogbu, on Monday, told a Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama that he was aware of a $6.2 million payment request for international election observers.

The former governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, is standing trial on an amended 20 charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust among others preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

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He was accused of impersonating the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to illegally obtain a sum of $6.2m.

READ ALSO: Police Arrest Three With Hard Drugs, Another With Gun In Delta

The anti-graft agency alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “Re: Presidential directive on foreign election observer missions” dated January 26, 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

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At the resumed proceedings, Ogbu who is the prosecution witness, said the request was made on January 8, 2023.

He noted that he reviewed the documents and subsequently gave approval for disbursement, which was then executed.

Ogbu said, “On January 8, 2023, a request for payment of $6, 230, 000 was brought to my attention by the Banking Services department.

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“Ours is to make payment, we don’t have the power to approve.

“Having gone through the documents and satisfied, I minuted on it and sent for processing and disbursement which was complied with.”

READ ALSO: CBN’S Incomplete Exhibits Stalls Emefiele’s Trial Over Alleged $6m Procurement Fraud

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All documents were identified, but certain pages were absent.

This led the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), to request a temporary halt for the issue of the missing pages to be addressed.

The defendant’s counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), however, objected, adding that the prosecution is bound by the evidence presented in the documents.

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He said adjournment is better to allow the prosecution to get all the certified true copies and also for the witness to be cross-examined.

After listening to their submissions, Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned till Tuesday for the continuation of trial.

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Discos Threaten Darkness Over Electricity Tariff Reduction In Enugu

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The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, ANED, have threatened to plunge Band A electricity customers in Enugu State into darkness if they pay the N160 per kilowatt-hour as an electricity bill in line with the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission Multi-Year-Tariff Order.

Sunday Oduntan, gave the warning on Thursday in an interview with TVC.

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His threat comes as EERC in a recent MYTO, mandated MainPower, a subsidiary of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, to reduce its Band A tariff to N160/kWh from N209/kWh.

The announcement had generated mixed reactions in the country’s electricity market.

READ ALSO: NLC Threatens Nationwide Protest Over Telecoms, Electricity Tariff Hikes

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Reacting, Oduntan urged Band A electricity customers not to be carried away by the announcement.

He emphasised that Band A electricity customers will begin to experience epileptic power supply if they pay the N160 kWh tariff announced by EERC.

If you are in band A and in Enugu, and they are now asking you to pay N160 per kilowatt-hour, they are deceiving you. At the end of the day, your light will begin to go off. We are talking about cost recovery.

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“We are talking about not setting us back to those dark old days. Things are better today because of the issue of liquidity; it was bad in those days due to liquidity,” he said.

READ ALSO: Tragedy As Navy Boat Capsizes After Free Medical Outreach In Delta

DAILY POST reports that outside Discos, electricity generation companies had also kicked against EERC’s tariff reduction for Band A customers.

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The federal government earlier said it would not recommend Band A electricity tariff removal for states because it is currently grappling to pay electricity debt of over N5 trillion.

Meanwhile, electricity consumers under Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy have raised doubts over the implementation of EERC’s MYTO on MainPower.

 

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BREAKING: EndSARS: Court Awards N10m In Damages Against Police

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The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has awarded N10 million in damages against the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for violation of the fundamental rights of several peaceful protesters.

The suit was filed by applicants who participated during the fourth anniversary of the #ENDSARS peaceful memorial procession.

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Delivering the judgment on Thursday, Justice M. Kakaki held that the applicants were unjustly harassed and their rights infringed upon.

The suit was filed against the police by Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Uadiale Kingsley, Ilesanmi Kehinde, Osopale Adeseye, Olamilekan Sanusi, and Miss Osugba Blessing.

READ ALSO:LASG Lists Five Council Roads For Completion By Year-end

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Others were Kayode Agbaje, Michael Adedeji, Jennifer Rita Obiora, Orunsola Oluremi, Seyi Akinde, Akin Okunowon, Ugochukwu Prince, Aisha Omolara, Thomas Abiodun Olamide, Ogbu Obinna Ferdinald, Aghedo Kehinde Stephen, Duronike Olawale, Isaac Obasi, Funmilayo Jolade Ajayi, Gideon Adeyemi, and Afeez Suleiman.

Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Take It Back Movement (TIB), and Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) were also part of the suit.

According to the court, the police have constitutional powers to enforce laws but such powers must be exercised in accordance with democratic principles and the rule of law.

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The judge affirmed that the applicants were entitled to the constitutional right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association as contained in the Nigerian Constitution.

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Bird Strike Forces Air Peace Flight To Emergency Return

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Air Peace has announced a temporary disruption to its flight schedules following a bird strike incident involving one of its aircraft on Thursday morning.

In a statement released by the airline, the affected aircraft, Flight P47100 operating the Lagos to Enugu route, was forced to make an emergency return to base shortly after takeoff due to a bird strike that compromised safety.

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According to the airline, the decision to return was made as a precautionary measure to allow engineers conduct a comprehensive safety assessment of the aircraft.

READ ALSO:French Media Giant Acquires MultiChoice In $3bn Deal, Gains Full Control Of DStv, GOtv

The incident led to a ripple effect across the airline’s flight network, causing delays and rescheduling of several flights.

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Air Peace acknowledged the inconvenience caused and extended apologies to affected passengers, assuring them that efforts were underway to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

We sincerely emphasize with our passengers over the inconvenience caused and appeal for your patience and understanding as we work diligently to minimize disruptions.”

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