Deborah Onyofufeke, and Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The operations manager of a commercial bank in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was yesterday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for hoarding N29m of new notes.

The anti-graft agency shared details of the arrest in a statement released yesterday.

This came just as a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory yesterday restrained President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria, its governor, and 27 commercial banks from extending the deadline for use of the old naira notes.

In the operations manager’s arrest, the EFCC said the bank official was arrested after refusing to load the bank’s automated teller machines (ATMs) despite having N29m in the vault.

“Before he was whisked away for further questioning, the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes,” the statement reads.

“This discovery, which indicates sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks, was made by the EFCC in continuation of the ongoing surveillance and visit to banks across the country to access their vaults and verify whether they were deliberately refusing to dispense the redesigned naira notes.

“More than five bank branches were covered today by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises are ongoing in zonal commands across the country.”

The arrest is coming two days after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) apprehended the manager of a bank in Osogbo, Osun State, for loading ATMs with cash bundles wrapped with nylon, and as such, could not be dispensed through the machines.

Over the past few days, Nigerians have been battling with the scarcity of new naira notes, a development that has led to queues at banking halls and ATMs.

The naira notes paucity, coupled with the scarcity of petrol, has also led to protests in some parts of the country.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given a deadline of January 31 for the use of old naira notes but it was recently extended to February 10.

On Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed doubts about the commitment of banks to the success of the naira redesign policy, describing them as “inefficient, greedy, and selfish”.

Court Stops PDP From Suspending, Expelling Governor Wike

*Court restrains CBN from extending the deadline on the use of old notes

Meanwhile, Justice Eneojo Eneche of the FCT High Court stopped President Buhari and others from suspending, stopping, extending, or interfering with the currency redesign terminal date of February 10 or issuing any directive contrary to the February 10 date.

Delivering a ruling on Monday in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023, the court restrained the CBN from extending the deadline on the use of old naira notes.

The CBN, President Muhammadu Buhari, and several banks were included as defendants in the suit.

Justice Enenche ordered the CBN not to extend the deadline pending the determination of the suit.

“An order of interim injunction is hereby made restraining the defendants whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever not to suspend, stop, extend, vary or interfere with the extant termination date of use of the old N200, N500, and N1000 bank note being 10th day of February 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” the court held.

The judge also made an order of interim injunction “directing and mandating the defendants whether by themselves, staff, agents, officers, interfacing banks or whosoever described to comply with, implement and give effect to the currency redesign and restructuring of the old N200, N500, and N1000 bank note on or before the last day of 10th of February, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice”.

The court further directed the bank heads, chief executive officers, managing directors, and/or alter egos “to forthwith show cause as to why they shall not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by their illegal act of hoarding, withholding, nor paying or disbursing the new N200, N500, and N1000 bank note, being the legal tender of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite supplies of each such currency note by the 2nd and 3rd defendants, thereby leading to the present scarcity of currency notes in circulation”.

The order will be for an initial period of seven days until the motion of notice is heard on February 14.

The plaintiffs are Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and National Rescue Movement (NRM).

*Suspend naira redesign policy or we pull out of polls, 14 political parties tell CBN

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties chairmen and candidates for the forthcoming election slated for February 25 have rejected alleged plans by some people to force the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the ongoing Naira Redesign Policy.

The political parties’ chairmen and their candidates stated this in Abuja on Monday at a joint news conference addressed by their spokesperson, Kenneth Udeze, who is also the Chairman of Action Alliance.

Flagbearers and chairmen of the 14 political parties threatened to pull out of the election if the CBN was forced to suspend the policy.

They disclosed that credible security reports in their possession indicated that there was a plot to instigate violent disturbances to provoke civil unrest aimed at forcing the CBN to postpone the policy

Udeze said, “We hereby announce our resolution that at least 14 of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general election and indeed we shall withdraw all our participation from the electoral process if these currency policies are suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted.

“Having stated our views clearly, we now bring to the notice of the nation and particularly the security agencies that we have intercepted very credible intelligence of a well-financed plot to instigate violent disturbances, incite and provoke civil unrest aimed at undermining the President, and causing a shift in the election date or causing his administration to come to an abrupt end.

“We were approached to lend our support, generous promises were made but we believe that Nigeria comes first before any other mundane consideration.

“Painfully, we must state that this voice of dissent is coming from within the political party of the President. Elements of the party that should have been the first to embrace these policies are the party championing the opposition against it.”

They alleged that the charge was being led by the governors of Kaduna and Kano states, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

They also claimed that Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State were part of the alleged plot.

The political parties said they were backing the policy because it would improve the credibility of the elections.

According to Udeze, “It is only election riggers, vote buyers, bandits, corruption merchants, and their accomplices that are against these policies.”

He said, “The Nigerian people are in support and are currently waging war against these identified groups of unpatriotic Nigerians who are deliberately sabotaging the policies so that the Federal Government and the Central Bank will succumb to their plot and cancel or reverse the policies.

“We hereby call on the Department of State Services to put these governors on the watch list as they are seriously mobilising miscreants to begin as quickly as possible protests which will commence from naira scarcity protests and graduate quickly to Buhari Must Go protests which is the ultimate aim where the President refuses to bulge.

“In all these, we asked ourselves, what is the offence of President Muhammadu Buhari? Even though President Buhari is not our friend and ally, we have observed that his only offence is his insistence to leave a legacy and conduct a free, fair, and credible election.

“This insistence has made these few governors of his party begin to speak ill of the President. Shockingly, it is the same President that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai eulogizes and worships that he now disparages and ridicules.

“These planned violent protests are billed to commence on Thursday. They plan to deploy the people who they have already recruited to heighten drama at the banks including going naked, fighting, making statements that will sway emotions in their favour, and all such other acts.

“They believe that if such acts are sustained for three days, they would have gotten enough sympathy and evoked enough emotions to launch the violent protests on Thursday.

“They plan to torch some banks and other public infrastructure attack individual bank staff and bring mayhem upon the country of unimaginable proportion as they termed it. Again, we call on all security agencies to be on the lookout from today when they start.

“While these actions are going on, their media warriors will also be massively deployed to various Television and radio stations to send the message in one direction that the action of the governors is based on their love for the suffering poor people of Nigeria.

“They agree that the foundation already laid by Governor el-Rufai and Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is solid enough for others to build on.

“On this, we ask when Nigerian governors began to so love the suffering masses of Nigerians that they could have mobilised to want to pressure and mislead the President on the true state of affairs about these policies of the CBN.

“Most of these Governors had not reckoned with President Buhari insisting on fulfilling his promise of a free and fair election and had relied on buying votes and all of a sudden President Buhari has taken a decision that has scattered their plans, hence these plots and claiming it is for the people.

“We say it is not for the people that they are fighting. The governors are one of the last groups of people who have not taken their monies to the bank because they believe they will stop these policies.

“We remind them again, to take all the money stashed in the basements and attics of the various government houses back to the bank or the money will turn to paper in their hands.

“Mr President, please listen to us. We know that there are hitches in the process, Nigerians are asking that you direct the CBN to concentrate on ameliorating the sufferings quickly and rule out cancellation or suspension of the policy.

“These evil plans are targeted at coinciding the disturbances with the seven-day grace Mr President asked Nigerians to grant him to solve the crunch.”

Also present on the occasion were the National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) Chief Isaac Udeh; National Chairman of Accord, Mohammed Lawal Nalado; National Chairman of Action Alliance (AA); National Chairman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM) Alhaji Yusuf Mamman Dantalle and the National Chairman of Action Peoples Party (APP) Chief Uchenna Nnadi.

Some presidential candidates, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly candidates were also present.