Tag: Buhari

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President Buhari Meets Behind Closed Doors with President-elect Tinubu

President Muhammadu Buhari and President-elect Sen. Bola Tinubu met behind closed doors on Friday to mark the end of the 30-day Ramadan fast and offer Sallah prayers at the State House Mosque in Abuja.

In a statement released by Malam Garba Shehu, the two leaders discussed several issues of common concern during the day and I their private meetings.

President-elect Tinubu was accompanied to the State House by several prominent politicians, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila and two Governors, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara.

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Business & Economy Politics

Naira Note: Why Buhari Is More Corrupt, May End Up Like IBB – CSO

A Civil Society Organization, Journalists  for Open Government & Inclusion (JOGI)  has said that the refusal of the federal government of Nigeria to obey the recent Supreme Court ruling on the new naira note swap exposes the depth of corruption in the person of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“In case Mr President did not know, the worst form of corruption is the disobedience to court orders,” Comrade YAQOUB POPOOLA, the executive director of JOGI, said in a terse press statement release to the media.

“Again, any government that initiates a policy without a proper implementation plan and strategy also indulges in corruption. 

JOGI’s statement called on the the President Buhari “to act as a true statesman and obey the Supreme Court verdict on Currency Swap Policy.”

The group cautioned that the growing bitterness in the land due to the currency scarcity could snowball into civil unrest “unless the government acts responsibly.” 

Comrade Popoola  said, “it was quite unfortunate that a government that is  still battling with poverty and  insecurity could allow the nation slide into chaos due to needless, irresponsible, and Ill-conceived policy.”

JOGI advised the  President to direct the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria( CBN) to “respect the Supreme Court verdict and allow the old and new currency to float side by side in the open market.” 

“With the untidy manner in which President Buhari is handling the delicate matter, it is obvious now that Buhari is pursuing a hidden agenda at the detriment of the nation’s wellbeing. 

“As we speak, most Banks in the country have been shut down due to fear of being attacked by angry residents, and President Buhari still finds it convenient to dish out insane directives. ” 

JOGI further warned that Buhari’s government might end up like the inglorious regime of former troops President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, which annulled the most accessible and fairest Presidential poll in the history of Nigeria.

“It is also clear that Buhari and his voodoo economic advisers are working in cahoots with anti-democratic elements in the country to truncate the  Presidential poll.

“How on earth would a government deny the people access to their legitimate earnings and expect them not to be vulnerable to vote- trading during elections?

“When you deliberately impoverished the people ,you are making them vulnerable to all forms of abuse .This is pure madness! 

“Today, the only thing Nigerians and the world remember about the eight-year regime of IBB is the annulment of the June 12, 1993, General Election. 

“With the untidy manner the CBN is going about implementing its  naive policy, the level of vote-trading in the General Election would be unimaginable.

Since the wake of this crazy policy, many lives have been lost while many public infrastructures, including Commercial Banks,  have also been destroyed. Angry  Nigerians are beginning to regroup to launch massive civil unrest, and a government supposedly planning peaceful and credible elections for Nigerians is not seeing the handwriting on the wall. 

“The truth of the matter is that the CBN under the headship of Emefiele is grossly incompetent to carry out any real economic reform or fight corruption since itself, a harbinger of bribery.

“If we may ask, how were the new notes found their way into the hands of hawkers even when they were not available in the  Banks? It is simple logic   Emefiele who could not stop his men from corruption, and sharp practices cannot lead any genuine anti-corruption  war in Nigeria.” Enough of this madness. 

“As a group committed to excellent and open governance, we want to use this medium to admonish Nigerians to remain calm, even in the face of this naked provocation from the sitting President. We must not play into the hands of anti-democratic forces. May Nigeria succeed.

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Business & Economy Politics

#NewNairaNotes: “I Authorised Change of Naira Notes To Punish Money-Bag Politicians” – Buhari

President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, minced no words in explaining why he authorized currency swap some few months before the general elections. To deal with rich politicians who wanted to use raw cash to win the next election.

His action was a vendetta against those who denied him the advantage of using his office to install a notherner as his successor.

Mr. Buhari lost his bid to install senate President Ahmed Lawan as the APC presidential candidate and Rotimi Amaechi as the running mate.

Tinubu Bola Ahmed won the APC presidential primaries using his influence as a popular politician and his money as a rich man to get the ticket.

The naira note swap was meant to deny politicians from using money to win 2023. A policy that has almost squandered what remained of the APC goodwill among Nigerians.

Many Nigerians have died, and many are starving because of the Naira swap. Bankers are attacked; banks have been burnt and citizens have taken to the street to protest the unfriendly policy. Children can not go to school; workers have to trek long distances to work because drivers won’t take old notes, and they won’t accept the transfer of funds because the networks have clogged.

Addressing the matter for the first time, the president said he is happy that the money in circulation is back into the banking system and the politicians are suffering to campaign without cash – a system that brought him to power.

He said his greatest accomplishment was that he had denied those who want to succeed him access to cash for vote buying.

“I am aware that this new monetary policy has also contributed immensely to the minimization of the influence of money in politics,” he said.

“This is a positive departure from the past and represents a bold legacy step by this administration, towards laying a strong foundation for free and fair elections.”

The president said this in a nationwide broadcast. Read his speech:

My Dear Compatriots,

​I have found it necessary to address you today, on the state of the nation and to render account on the efforts of our administration to sustain and strengthen our economy, enhance the fight against corruption and sustain our gains in the fight against terrorism and insecurity which has, undoubtedly, been impacted by several internal and external factors.

2.​Particularly, I am addressing you, as your democratically elected President, to identify with you and express my sympathy, over the difficulties being experienced as we continue the implementation of new monetary policies, aimed at boosting our economy and tightening of the loopholes associated with money laundering.

3.​Let me re-assure Nigerians, that strengthening our economy, enhancing security and blockage of leakages associated with illicit financial flows remain top priority of our administration. And I shall remain committed to my oath of protecting and advancing the interest of Nigerians and the nation, at all times.

4.​In the last quarter of 2022, I authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the N200, N500, and N1000 Nigerian banknotes.

5.​For a smooth transition, I similarly approved that the redesigned banknotes should circulate concurrently with the old bank notes, till 31 January 2023, before the old notes, cease to be legal tender.

6.​In appreciation of the systemic and human difficulties encountered during implementation and in response to the appeal of all citizens, an extension of ten days was authorized till 10th February, 2023 for the completion of the process. All these activities are being carried out within the ambit of the Constitution, the relevant law under the CBN Act 2007 and in line with global best practices.

7.​Fellow citizens, while I seek your understanding and patience during this transient phase of implementation, I feel obliged to avail you a few critical points underpinning the policy decision. These include:

a. The need to restore the statutory ability of the CBN to keep a firm control over money in circulation. In 2015 when this administration commenced its first term, Currency-in-Circulation was only N1.4trillion.
b. The proportion of currency outside banks grew from 78%in 2015 to 85% in 2022. As of October 2022, therefore, currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion; out of which only N500 billion was within the Banking System while N2.7 trillion remained permanently outside the system; thereby distorting the financial policy and efficient management of inflation;
c. The huge volume of Bank Notes outside the banking system has proven to be practically unavailable for economic activities and by implication, retard the attainment of potential economic growth;
d. Economic growth projections make it imperative for government to aim at expanding financial inclusion in the country by reducing the number of the unbanked population; and

e. Given the prevailing security situation across the country, which keeps improving, it also becomes compelling for government to deepen its continuing support for security agencies to successfully combat banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria

8.​Notwithstanding the initial setbacks experienced, the evaluation and feedback mechanism set up has revealed that gains have emerged from the policy initiative.

9.​I have been reliably informed that since the commencement of this program, about N2.1 trillion out of the banknotes previously held outside the banking system, had been successfully retrieved.

10.​This represents about 80% of such funds. In the short to medium and long terms, therefore, it is expected that there would be:

a. A strengthening of our macro economic parameters;
b. Reduction of broad money supply leading to a deceleration of the velocity of money in the economy which should result in less pressures on domestic prices;
c. Lowering of Inflation as a result of the accompanying decline in money supply that will slow the pace of inflation;
d. Collapse of Illegal Economic Activities which would help to stem corruption and acquisition of money through illegal ways;
e. Exchange Rate stability;
f. Availability of Easy Loans and lowering of interest rates; and
g. Greater visibility and transparency of our financial actions translating to efficient enforcement of our anti- money laundering legislations.
11.​I am not unaware of the obstacles placed on the path of innocent Nigerians by unscrupulous officials in the banking industry, entrusted with the process of implementation of the new monetary policy. I am deeply pained and sincerely sympathise with you all, over these unintended outcomes.

12.​To stem this tide, I have directed the CBN to deploy all legitimate resources and legal means to ensure that our citizens are adequately educated on the policy; enjoy easy access to cash withdrawal through availability of appropriate amount of currency; and ability to make deposits.

13.​I have similarly directed that the CBN should intensify collaboration with anti-corruption agencies, so as to ensure that any institution or person(s) found to have impeded or sabotaged the implementation should be made to bear the full weight of the law.

14.​During the extended phase of the deadline for currency swap, I listened to invaluable pieces of advice from well meaning citizens and institutions across the nation.

15.​I similarly consulted widely with representatives of the State Governors as well as the Council of State. Above all, as an administration that respects the rule of law, I have also noted that the subject matter is before the courts of our land and some pronouncements have been made.

  1. To further ease the supply pressures particularly to our citizens, I have given approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023 to April 10 2023 when the old N200 notes ceases to be legal tender.

17.​In line with Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, all existing old N1000 and N500 notes remain redeemable at the CBN and designated points.

18.​Considering the health of our economy and the legacy we must bequeath to the next administration and future generations of Nigerians, I admonish every citizen to strive harder to make their deposits by taking advantage of the platforms and windows being provided by the CBN.

19.​Let me assure Nigerians that our administration will continue to assess the implementation with a view to ensuring that Nigerians are not unnecessarily burdened. In this regard, the CBN shall ensure that new notes become more available and accessible to our citizens through the banks.

20.​I wish to once more appeal for your understanding till we overcome this difficult transient phase within the shortest possible time.

21.Fellow citizens, on the 25th of February, 2023 the nation would be electing a new President and National Assembly members. I am aware that this new monetary policy has also contributed immensely to the minimization of the influence of money in politics.

22.This is a positive departure from the past and represents a bold legacy step by this administration, towards laying a strong foundation for free and fair elections.

23.​I urge every citizen therefore, to go out to vote for their candidates of choice without fear, because security shall be provided and your vote shall count.

24.​I however admonish you to eschew violence and avoid actions capable of disrupting the electoral processes. I wish us all a successful General Elections.

Thank you for listening. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Features Politics

Mamman Daura and the Next President of Nigeria

By Wale Adebanwi

Whoever wins the February 2023 presidential election in Nigeria would have done so chiefly because of, or, in spite of, Mamman Daura, the 83-year-old senescent nephew of President Mohammadu Buhari. This might seem an ostentatious claim or an inflationary attribution of power to a man whose only claim to it, in the present circumstances, is that the president is his younger nephew. Yet, this is an open secret among those with a deep knowledge of the current struggle for the presidency and the nature of power under the Muhammadu Buhari administration. But most people are not eager to discuss the matter directly in public, either because of discretion and/or fear of the ‘almighty’ Daura.

However, between the candidate of the ruling party, Governor Bola Tinubu, and the candidate of the main opposition party, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, there is a clear recognition of the central role that Daura is playing and would play regarding who becomes the next president of Nigeria. For the former Lagos Governor, this could not have come as a surprise. He recognizes that the presidency, which has been, for the most part of the last eight years, effectively under the control of Daura, is being mobilized one way or the other against him. Perhaps more than any other person, it is Daura who has ensured that Tinubu would not reap, as ‘designed,’ the full benefits of his total investment in making Buhari president.

When Buhari declared upon acceding to power that he “belonged to nobody,” it was in part a ventriloquist shot from his nephew in the direction of the man who had assumed that he would be the power behind the throne. At the centre of the process that eventuated in the much analyzed “outburst” of the Jagaban at Abeokuta, when he let it be known to the world that “emi lo kan” (“it is my turn”; or “I am next”) was Daura’s machinations to ensure that Tinubu would not be the presidential candidate of the ruling party, let alone succeed Buhari.

Those who thought that the outburst sealed Tinubu’s fate were to realize later that the man has not governed Nigeria’s most important state either directly or by proxy for 22 years for nothing. By taking the battle to Buhari and his handlers, the Abeokuta wager turned out to be a courageous venture that helped to stop Daura and his constituents in their tracks – and thus, made a mockery of their desperate bid to hand over the party’s ticket to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan. If Tinubu’s spirited survival of the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led “tsunami” that swept all the other AD governors out of power in 2003 did not convince most people about the man’s political genius, how he retrieved every single South-western states in installments from the opposition and ended up installing Buhari as president in concert with other forces, should have confirmed his unusual political potency. No doubt, that potency was at its most vulnerable when he formally joined the bid to win the APC ticket – and remains so now that he goes for the ultimate prize. Yet, it was also the point at which all of his accumulated political assets had to be mobilized in the service of his life-long ambition.

However, it must be noted that it was not until Tinubu encountered Daura that he experienced his first major sustained checkmate in the politics of the Fourth Republic. The man who has since become the most valuable player in Yoruba politics was dealing with an unusual adversary in Daura. None of those that Tinubu had had to wrestle with since 1998 – that is, when he started his campaign to be the governor of Lagos State – possessed the strategic advantage of a combination of stealth, reticence and unaccountable power as Daura does.

Cerebral, generous but taciturn, Mamman Daura, the fascinating power-monger par excellence, and the former newspaper editor and manager seems resolved to terminate Tinubu’s political ambition on the eve of the latter’s ultimate home run.

As the only surviving member of the triumvirate that can lay claim to almost unbridled influence over Muhammadu Buhari, Daura is well-placed to either hinder or advance the ambition of the two leading presidential contenders, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar in the February 2023 presidential election. And he is not shy to use his leverage in tipping the scale against the former Lagos governor.

With the passing of the two other closest people to Buhari, that is, the late Emir of Borgu, Haliru Dantoro Kitoro III, who died in October 2015, barely five months after Buhari came to office, and Liman Ciroma, Nigeria’s first qualified archaeologist (who the Guardian of London described in an obituary in 2014 as a “a fine public servant” who was ‘courteous, considerate and generous”), the Daura-born presidential nephew has had no counter weight since 2015. Had he lived well past 2015, the late Emir, who was singularly responsible for brokering the rapprochement that made the “political marriage” of Buhari (CPC) and Tinubu (ACN) possible, would not have allowed the deliberate distancing between the two that followed Buhari’s ascendancy to power.

The first lady, Aisha Halilu Buhari, could not replace the late Borgu monarch. Her intrepid effort to stand up to Daura ended in semi-exile in Dubai, as her husband declared that her place was in the “other room.” But the resolute woman is back with vengeance. Now, as we move towards February 25, she wants to ensure that Daura’s reign would end with that of his kin.

It was as if fate was conspiring against Tinubu and Nigeria in the passing of the Emir of Borgu and Ciroma. Not a few around Buhari believe that his administration would not have come to this sorry pass if the two had lived longer. At least, Daura would not have had a debilitating unchecked leverage over Buhari in the last eight years, which most people believe to be a tragedy for Nigeria. These two late gentlemen, not having to be around the Villa like Daura, would have provided some other avenues of reaching Buhari in moderating the excesses of those who have determined the terrible trajectory of his headship of the Nigerian state. But those who know Daura well still wonder how such an otherwise fine mind and quiet soul had turned into one of the most consequential and hindering power mongers in Nigeria’s history.

Those in this category even insist that Daura’s influence on Buhari and his leverage in this government have been overstated. They would add that if the country were to have been differently organized, the suave, lettered and cultivated man would have been the president and his not similarly lettered uncle would have been his aide.

But the reality of Daura’s influence and imprint on the most devastating actions and inaction of this administration are too glaring. Take the way he has preserved and protected the tragedy that answers to the tag of the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele – even encouraging, as many believed, the latter to run for the presidency, and keeping Emefiele in office after that abortive ambition. How could such a man who clearly had a conflict of interest be allowed to not only continue in office, but claim to be changing the colour of the currency in order to affect the outcome of the presidential election? Imagine the untold suffering of the poor masses of the country that this ill-considered measure has caused.

Whatever you think of the leading contenders for the presidency, his adversaries would insist, there are fewer stronger examples of Daura’s gamble with the fate of the nation and of democracy than the recent moves by edgy fifth columnists of all stripes.

For those still wondering what happened to the candidness of ‘Candido,’ the famed masked newspaper columnist of the defunct New Nigerian: it is power. This is what power does to human beings, especially when they assume that they have Power with a capital “P” – though all that any of us can have, even in the best of circumstances, is only power with a small “p.” No one can have Power. It eludes even the most deranged among us throughout human history. Yet, that does not stop some people from attempt to play God.

Will Daura’s role as the “unseen god of the Aso Rock Villa” in the last eight years be confirmed or repudiated in the next presidential election? We have only a few weeks to find out. But whatever happens, Daura would no doubt have done his best to determine who would (not) be our next president.

*Adebanwi, author of Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, is the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

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Business & Economy Politics

Buhari Approves New Deadline on Old Naira Notes Hours After Meeting With Tinubu

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the Jan. 31 deadline for exchanging old naira notes by extra ten days.

This CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said a new deadline of February 10, 2023, was approved on Sunday by President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in Daura, Katsina State.

Mr. Buhari made the decision shortly after a closed doors meeting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, who visited him in Daura on Saturday.

Mr Tinubu had on Wednesday during a campaign rally in Southwest Nigeria that the issues of naira change and fuel scarcity in the country could be a policy targeted against his chances of winning the February 25 Presidential election. A statement his media team said was mistaken as an affront on the administration of Buhari.

Emefiele was summoned to Daura on Sunday morning to a closed-door meeting with the Buhari from where he received the approval to extend by ten days.

The CBN Governor said the ten days window provides opportunity for Nigerians who are yet to change their old Naira notes to new ones to “now do so”.

“This in an opportunity that people must utilise, because the deadline will not be extended again,” he said.

Nigeria government had I’m November 2022 unveiled the redesigned notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations and said the existing ones cease to be legal tender by January, 31,2023.

Weeks to the end of the deadline, tension mounted across the country as citizens panicked while traders began to reject the old notes in fear of rumours that banks have no adequate new notes for everyone.

The National Assembly had to sit in a joint session to call for many months’ extension, especially as Nigerians lament that most Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country were still handing out the old Naira notes. Many fuel stations had to stop operation to avert the situation of collecting old naira notes, thereby causing artificial petrol scarcity.

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President Buhari Extends IGP’s Tenure Beyond 2023 Elections

President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has prolonged the tenure of the country’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, beyond his retirement age.

The IGP was born on March 1, 1963, in the Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State and enlisted in the Nigeria Police on March 15, 1988, at 25.

IGP Baba has been in the police force for about 35 years, the limit set for all civil servants to function before retirement. The law also said that a civil servant who attains the age of 60 should equally proceed on retirement.

The IGP’s date of birth and the date of enlistment coincides with the two requirements for retirement. Either way, his retirement is, by dual default, scheduled for March 2023.

The new Police Act has pegged the tenure of an IGP to four years. And IGP Baba is just in his second year.

However, the president has the power to keep his service chiefs or any other officer in whose services he finds pleasure beyond these constitutional barriers.

It was on that note that the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, disclosed today that IGP Baba would tarry till the end of Buhari’s tenure or even slightly beyond that until a new President decides otherwise.

The minister confirmed that the IGP was supposed to retire “midway into the general elections”, but has already “gotten a letter of extension.”

The minister explained the Police Act 2020 has changed the rules for an IGP’s retirement, adding that the new law makes the tenure of the Police boss a four-year period.

By the provision of the Police Act 2020, the IG is now supposed to have a kind of four-year period and Mr. President has already given him a letter of appointment in that regard. So the issue of IG going out during this election period does not arise.”

Dingyadi said the FEC approved the draft bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Police Institutions, which he said is to provide legal backing to the existing training institutions across the country and not to build new ones

The minister said despite the public out about conduct of the police, “the level of corruption within the Nigeria Police has drastically reduced.”

IGP Baba was appointed to head the Nigeria police on April 6, 2021. The Police Council confirmed him as the substantive Inspector General of Police June of the same year.

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