Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday said that the old naira notes remain legal tender in the state.
Sanwo-Olu, in his statement by Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, 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.
He said, “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.
“I call 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.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has threatened to occupy police offices across Osun state unless the Inspector General of Police stops the ongoing arrest of its leaders ahead of Saturday state elections.
” Our leaders are being arrested in a bid to rig Saturday’s election. We will resist any ploy to manipulate the polls. Osun people voted overwhelmingly for PDP in the last polls. They are ready to freely exercise their voting rights again. Arresting our leaders on Kangaroo charges is an attack on democracy and our fundamental human rights.
“We call on the Inspector General of Police to stop serving the evil interest of the APC. The police boss has a sacred duty to be an impartial enforcer of the law, not an agent of one political party against the other. It is unacceptable for the IGP to take directives on who to arrest or detain from APC chieftains. This is a democracy, not a military dictatorship.
” We will not resort to self help. We are law abiding citizens and a ruling party in Osun state. But if this harassment of our members continues, we will mobilize and storm all police posts in Osun state in a peaceful protest. Let the IGP arrest all Osun PDP members.
In a safe our soul statement on Sunday, the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr Adekunle Akindele wondered whether winning election in a free and fair poll is a sin and querying why the IGP is deliberately stoking the fire of political conflict in a peaceful state like Osun.
” Is it a sin to win an election in a democracy? Must PDP leaders be detained because they are good democrats? Why has IGP refused to act on several petitions on the killings of our members? Why are the police authorities shielding APC thugs and working with APC chieftains to arrest the victims instead of the perpetrators of violence?
” We call on western embassies and international human rights organizations to intervene before we take to the streets.
Gov Makinde has removed own name on Adogba Central Mosque after condemnations from Oyo Muslim community and notable Islamic organisations who argued that the governor has no right to name the rebuilt mosque after self.
The removal of the name, carried out on Sunday, was led by the governor’s media aide, Oriyomi Hamzat, Agidigbo FM owner.
The inscription of name on Adogba Mosque in Iwo Road has been generating a lot of controversies for the past few days.
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.”
The Gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has said he will run Lagos better than the way the incumbent is handling the state.
His words: ” I will run Lagos better than Babajide Sanwoolu because I am not shackled by a godfather who demands a lot from the commonwealth. I will deliver four times more than what the APC is delivering – Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Labour Party Governorship Candidate, Lagos State”
The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the All Progressives Congress (APC) as lacking the requisite understanding on what it takes to run a successful university, noting that its criticism of the Ademola Adeleke administration on due diligence before the take-off of the University of Ilesa is clear indication of ignorance and emptiness.
The PDP in a statement by its Caretaker Chairman, Dr Akindele Adekunle on Saturday, reminded the opposition party of the PDP’s record of establishing enduring institution like the University of Osun (UniOsun) unlike the APC that is known for nothing but destroying institutions.
Dr. Akindele said the APC should be ashamed of itself for the sordid job it did with the University of Ilesa in the deceitful attempt to drive votes for Oyetola in his failed re-election bid, stressing that the interest of Governor Adeleke is to make the institution sustainable and stand the test of time like UniOsun.
“It is a public knowledge that the PDP administration had a record of establishing institution that can endure the test of time, a record the APC in Osun shamefully lacks,” the statement noted.
“This is a record Governor Adeleke is doing everything to sustain, not the deceit that Oyetola and the APC tried to pull on the people of Ijeshaland just for their votes. Unlike Oyetola, Governor Adeleke does not have the intention to give Ijesha people temporary joy, hence, he is doing everything to put long lasting infrastructure in place to ensure that once the University take-off, it will encounter no challenge that could halt operation.
“The reason for this is not far-fetched as it is well known to the public that Governor Adeleke was the first to promise Ijesha people a University during his 2018 governorship election campaign at the Palace of Owa of Obokun. At that time, the APC, including Oyetola laughed it off, and think of it as impossible, until it was few weeks to the 2022 governorship election when Oyetola hurriedly came up with the idea just to drive voters, and not because he was sincere about.”
The PDP said Oyetola was not sincere in the establishment of the University of Ilesa, explaining out that a lot of key issues were left unattended to by the past administration.
“The law establishing the University was hoarded and kept away from the public just as nothing concrete was done about the workers in the College of Education that was upgraded. Also, the funding and sustainable plan of the University was treated shabbily,” Dr. Adekunle pointed.
“These and more were the issues inherited by Governor Adeleke, which explains his decision to set up a technical committee headed by a renowned academia who is an Ijesha to review them and come up with plans on resolving them for effective take-off of the University.
“Yesterday, the committee submitted its report and the Governor will soon issue a White Paper report, and get everything in order. The APC may find this hard to understand as it is not used to sustainable planning due to its penchant for destroying things.
“Governor Adeleke made it clear yesterday that the University of Ilesa has come to stay and we believe that very soon, the University will take-off and go on to be a pride for Osun state just as UniOsun is doing excellently well,” the statement concluded.
Signed: Dr Akindele Adekunle, State Caretaker Chairman, Osun State PDP
The All Progressives Congress APC in Oyo state has warned that an alleged plan being worked out by Governor Seyi Makinde to hound and detain some political gladiators, believed to be against his second term bid, ahead of Saturday election would have dire consequences if not aborted.
There have been fresh reports of renewed hostilities between Gov. Makinde and some gladiators within and outside his party (PDP) following the outcome of the presidential and national assembly in which the presidential candidate of the APC won with 449,884 votes while his party also cleared all the three Senatorial seats and eight out of the 14 House of Representatives seats with election into two constituencies declared inconclusive. This development was blamed on the failure of Gov. Makinde to give open support to the candidate of his party, Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement issued at the weekend and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC urged the State Police Command to avoid being reduced to a tool of intimidation, harassment and witch-hunt of opposition figures by the governor and the ruling PDP.
“We are in possession of some unimpeachable facts regarding the plans of Gov. Makinde and his hatchet men to hound most political personalities in the state who are either chieftains of the opposition APC or those of the PDP who have been wronged by the governor. The goal is to get the police keep them out of circulation on Saturday using false accusations and fake security reports.
“Some PMS thugs have already been mobilized to act as baits to track down some of the identified influential political figures as plans have been concluded on how the thugs would be arrested with illegal arms and amunition in their possession. Upon their scripted arrest, the thugs would then finger some notable politicians as their sponsors and it is on the premise that the implicated persons would be arrested and whisked away to unknown destinations until after the election.
“Another plan being hatched by the PDP is to unleash terror on some communities where identified gladiators would vote. The thugs would make voting exercise practically impossible with sponsored violence and as a result, a lot of people would be disenfranchised and this would reduce the chances of the candidates of the APC who are, believed to be, the major threat to Gov. Makinde and his party.
“Among the Communities marked out for attacks on Saturday are Iwo Road, Bashorun, Monatan, Kudeti, Idi-Arere, Isale-Ijebu, Mapo, Gbenla, Aliwo, Alakia-Isebo, Kumapayi, Olodo, Orita Challenge, Soka Express, Eleta, Oranyan, Oja’gbo, Agugu, Onipasan, Oke-Adu, Apete and Lalupon- all in Ibadan while Ogbomoso, Oyo, Igbo-Ora, Eruwa, Iseyin, Saki and Igboho are not to be exempted from the violent attacks being planned.
“We have taken necessary action by informing the Inspector General of Police, Director-General of the DSS and others about the development and we are very sure that the concerned authorities would act swiftly to abort the plans of these disgruntled elements who are bent on truncating the peaceful conduct of the election as desired by all patriots. Lastly, we appeal to the Commissioner of Police and the heads all other security agencies in the state to be on the alert and give no room for miscreants and their sponsors to operate before, during and after the election this Saturday.” APC stated.
Five suspected ritualists have been arrested in Ososa, Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The suspects were apprehended following information received by the Police at Odogbolu divisional headquarters.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
He said that the gang, who are responsible for a series of corpse exhumations within the Ososa community, we’re planning somewhere within the town to carry out another round of human parts harvest.
Identifying the suspects as Oshole Fayemi, Osemi Adesanya, Ismaila Seidu, Oseni Oluwasegun, and Lawal Olaiya, the police spokesman accused them of exhuming corpses from their graves and removing parts of their bodies for ritual purposes.
The suspected ritualists have ages ranging from 30 to 60 years old, Oyeyemi added in the statement.
“Upon the information, the DPO Odogbolu division, CSP Godwin Idehai, mobilized his men and stormed the suspects’ hideout where five of them were apprehended,” he said.
“On interrogation, the suspects made confessional statements that they were actually into the business of exhuming corpses from their graves and that they used to sell parts of such corpses to their standby buyers who need it for money-making rituals.”
Reacting to the arrest, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, directed that the suspects be transferred to State Criminal Investigation Departments for discreet investigation and possible prosecution.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Alani Akinrinade (Rtd) has said former President, Olusegun Obasanjo is always against Yoruba presidency because he is not comfortable with his people.
Akinrinade, in an interview with New Telegraph, monitored by ODUDUWA NEWS, said there had been claims that Obasanjo doesn’t have any form of roots in Yorubaland.
“If he feels otherwise, he needs to go and take a DNA test to ascertain if he is truly a Yorubaman and if not so, he needs to go back to his kith and kin in other areas.
“I don’t think Obasanjo is comfortable with his Yoruba people at all. I’m saying this because each time we have this kind of disaster, he is always at the heart of things, whether it was with late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, or Moshood Abiola and now Bola Tinubu,” he said.
On Obasanjo’s call for cancellation of the presidential election because of some issues, Akinrinade said Obasanjo is being ingenious, saying that “we have travelled this road before. If I’m to tell you, he was the one who engineered the last one. If he likes, let him take me to court.”
“I will remind him that some people were still alive when trouble started in AD. When we went to bury the father of our late friend, Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua, in Katsina, we flew back, (from Katsina) with him (Obasanjo) after which he went back to Abuja.
“We met in a guest house with some people to prepare some papers with the likes of late Chief Anthony Anenih and some other people that I don’t want to name, so as not to embarrass them. They prepared a document calling for the establishment of an Interim National Government during the heat of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election.
“They took it to Ibrahim (Babangida). They were on his (Babangida’s) throat urging him to sign the document to establish the Interim Government. I saw his signature and I saw the comments that he made. They (Obasanjo and others) now began to state that the elections will not stay,” he said.
The Western Nigeria Security Network(WNSN) popularly known as Amotekun Corps Osun state chapter, has revealed that its men arrested a 24-year-old suspected rapist in Iwo, Osun on Friday.
He was alleged to have been keeping a 16-year-old girl in his room for three days while having carnal knowledge of her.
The Commander of the corps in Osun, retired Brig.-Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, told newsmen in Osogbo on Saturday that the security outfit arrested a 28-year-old herbalist almost in Iwo.
The herbalist allegedly defrauded some persons and was also found to be in possession of fake 100 dollar and N1,000 notes.
“The suspects were arrested at different locations in Iwo on Friday after reports were made to Amotekun about their nefarious activities.
“Upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to the crimes and were handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution,’’ Adewinmbi said.
The Amotekun commander urged Osun residents to always assist security agencies with information that could help to prevent crime and apprehend criminals.
