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Emefiele Overruled Buhari’s Approved Design, Printed His Preferred Naira Notes Design As Central Bank Governor –Witness
Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been accused of disregarding the new currency note designs approved by the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari and instead printing his own preferred designs.
This allegation was made by Ahmed Umar, a former director of currency operations at the CBN, while testifying in a court case against Emefiele, The Nation reports.
The anti-graft agency had filed a four-count charge against Emefiele on May 15, and the case is being heard by Justice Maryanne Anenih of the FCT High Court.
Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the amount of N300 million.
During the trial at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Ahmed Umar, a former CBN director, testified that the design elements approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari differed significantly from the design that Emefiele ultimately ordered to be printed.
Umar said: “The design approved by the President had a QR code, which the currency in circulation does not. The positioning of the portrait was on the right side, that printed by the CBN was on the left and the number scheme approved by the President is different from what the CBN produced.”
Emefiele is currently standing trial on two different criminal charges. One of the charges is for approving the printing of N684.5 million notes at the rate of N18.96 billion.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed charges against Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja. The charges, filed on behalf of the federal government, allege that Emefiele unlawfully approved the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. The EFCC accuses Emefiele of willfully disobeying the law, with the intention of causing harm to the public, during the implementation of the naira swap policy under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. The charge, dated April 2, 2024, was filed by EFCC prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) and eight other lawyers acting on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation.
The statement of offence against him read, “Public Servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury to the contrary to and punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.
“PARTICULARS OF THE OFFENCE: That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”
President Bola Tinubu will hold first presidential chat since assuming office on Monday night.
Accoding to a statement released by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the chat will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on the stations of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast.
“The first Presidential Media Chat with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Monday, December 23, on the Nigerian Television Authority and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.
“All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast,” the statement.
The US President-elect took to the stage AmFest in Phoenix to talk about his contact with the Russian leader.
He told the crowd: “President Putin has said he want to meet with me as soon as possible.”
Trump went on to brand the war “horrible” and stated it needed to end. It is not known whether or not this meeting will take place in person. His comments at the event in the US come as Putin met with another world leader.
Putin held talks in the Kremlin today (December 22) with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.
Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
Stanley Alieke, the counsel for popular controversial rapper, Darlington Achakpo, aka Speed Darlington, said the singer has been granted bail after nearly a month in police custody.
Alieke disclosed this on his Instagram handle on Monday.
“Apki has been granted bail by the court,” he wrote without including much information.
The rapper was arrested on November 27 while performing at a show in Owerri, Imo State.
His arrest was connected to an alleged abuse of Afrofusion star, Damini Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy.
Darlington’s counsel, Deji Adeyanju also confirmed that Burna Boy was responsible for his arrest.
Darlington had taunted Burna Boy over his affiliation with the embattled United States rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs who is facing multiple charges for sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
This prompted his first arrest. On his arrival, Speed Darlington swore never to back down on calling out the Grammy award winner because of his association with the embattled Diddy.
Earlier, Darlington’s lawyer, Adeyanju said that the singer would be arraigned within 48 hours or be released on bail.
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“Our FREP application for Speed Darlington a.k.a has been granted by the court. He is to be arraigned within 48 hours or released. Issues around injustice may take time but justice will always prevail,” he wrote.
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