News

‘Why APC Can’t Sanction Emefiele’

Published

3 years ago

March 15, 2023

The ruling All Progressives Congress on Tuesday explained why it could not mete out sanction to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, for defying the Supreme Court verdict on the controversial cash swap policy.

The scarcity of the new naira notes brought about by the CBN policy had generated tension and visited untold hardship on the masses.

In the last two months, a considerable number of Nigerians have thrown caution to the wind and invaded several banks to register their displeasures in bizarre manners.

Viral video clips of half-clad customers breaking down bank gates and threatening to beat officials have surfaced on social media space.

The situation forced a number of states including three notable APC governors, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna; his Kano State counterpart, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara to file a suit against Emefiele and President Muhammadu Buhari at the Supreme Court.

The cash squeeze created bad blood between the presidency and the camp of the APC, with many alleging that it was a subtle move to scuttle the presidential ambition of the party candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Consequently, the Supreme Court ruled that the old N200, N500a nd N1,000 notes should be allowed to co-exist with the new one until December 31.

The apex court further held that the President’s directive on the redesign of the new notes without due consultation was invalid.

But the CBN failed to heed the verdict and threw Nigerians into another round of confusion and harrowing experience.

In an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, explained that as much as Emefiele was one of the party aspirants who bought presidential nomination forms, the decision to hire or fire him rests with the President.

He said, “Emefiele was hired by the president and he serves at the pleasure of the president. So no one person or a group of persons even in the party has the authority to hire and fire the CBN governor. That is the exclusive prerogative of the president.

“The president has its power as constituted by law and under the CBN Act as well. As I earlier said, everything concerning the hiring and firing of the CBN governor rests with the president. The position of the party on that is irrelevant. He makes the decision as he chooses.”

Meanwhile, Buhari has denied instructing Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to defy the Supreme Court Order on the naira redesign policy.

Buhari made the disclaimer in a series of tweets posted by the presidency on Monday evening.

According to him, the apex bank has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives.
PUNCH

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.

News

Police Arrest Nollywood Production Manager For Assaulting Crew Member

Published

22 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Police have arrested a Nollywood production manager, Anierobi Courage, for allegedly assaulting a crew member.

Anierobi Courage, better known as Nwa South, reportedly assaulted the head of makeup, Mary Chizzy Eze, on October 28, 2025, while on the set of the film “Lagos to Opulence.”

A trending video of the physical altercation showed the production manager pressing Mary’s throat after slapping her, an act that has sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Reacting to the public condemnation, the Nigeria Film Crew Community (NFCC), in a statement released on Thursday, described Courage’s actions as “animalistic behaviour.”

Announcing his arrest, NFCC called on Nollywood producers and other stakeholders to blacklist Courage across all productions.

“The production manager violently hit and strangled Mary Chizzy Eze for speaking up against unequal treatment among the crew. While she has received medical care, he has been arrested.

“This level of disregard for human dignity is unacceptable. We stand firmly against all forms of abuse, assault, and crew maltreatment,” the NFCC said.

News

‘EFCC Collected N10m Before They Released Me’ – Oladips Alleges [VIDEO]

Published

23 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian singer, Oladips has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of collecting N10 million from him.

The rapper made this known nearly a year after he was arrested by EFCC during a midnight raid in his estate.

Oladips was arrested with some of his neighbors for alleged fraud in November 2024.

He was released after spending five days in detention.

Speaking about his experience with the EFCC, Oladips in his latest interview on Trending podcast, stated that nothing was found on him after the EFCC investigations.

While revealing that the EFCC collected N10 million from him before his release, he lamented that “Nigeria just happened to me”.

“It’s just one smelling place like that. They just packed us there like sardines and they gave us nonsense food. Funny enough it was Zlatan that was sending me food. Zlatan is not even a friend, that’s my blood.

“He was sending someone to buy good food for me because the food there is bad. They just packed us there like sardines. I’m not even supposed to be there first of all. Like, why did I spend four to five days there when you people (EFCC) didn’t find anything on me, not even a single thing. And they still collect N10 million from me before they released me.”

When asked “Is it a thing you can take up against the EFCC later, or you will just allow the sleeping dog lie?”, the singer responded “Who is my father?”

“Who is my father now? At the end of the day, who is my father? It’s just me and my truth. It’s not something I will want to. I don’t just know how the system works. I for dey their page now if to say I dey do Yahoo. They didn’t find anything on me. If they are watching this, they know that I’m saying the truth.

“They collected money from me before they released me. They didn’t find anything on me. So, what was the money for? What was all that stress and suffering for? It’s just Nigeria. Nigeria just happened to me,” he said.

https://x.com/i/status/1983504280972615813