Obi takes campaign to Nnewi, condemns overtaxation
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP), Peter Obi, has decried the poverty level in the country, vouching that if elected, the LP government would lift no fewer than 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
Obi who stated this at Nnewi, Anambra State on Wednesday regretted how the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) impoverished millions of Nigerians in its eight years reign.
Addressing the people at the Nkwo Nnewi market, Obi said about 65m Nigerians were poor in 2012, but more than 100m had become poor under the APC government.
He said, he and his running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti-Ahmed were fully prepared to change things positively.
He said, ” We are going to transform the economy and living standard of all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, religion, gender, social class or political affiliation.
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“We have chosen to build a new Nigeria where there will be the security of life and property. When I was governor, bank robbery and allied criminality were almost impossible; all the bandits were sent out. We are going to do the same nationwide.”
Tinubu meets Wike in Rivers
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, his running mate, Kashim Shettima, the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Wike, during the meeting urged Tinubu to prevail on the Federal Government to ensure that the 2023 general election is not truncated.
Wike noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s flagrant disregard for the Supreme Court order on the naira swap policy should worry the APC-led Federal Government, particularly as the 2023 general elections draw nearer.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Kelbin Ebiri, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday night.
Governor Wike, who thanked God that the APC presidential rally in the state was devoid of violence, however, expressed reservation whether the APC-led Federal Government was interested in conducting the 2023 general elections particularly with the lingering naira swap crisis.
Wike stated, “Do you people really want this election to take place or not; or you have an agenda to truncate this election. I don’t know. Look at what is happening in Oyo today, Edo, Delta. See what is going on.”
Protests break out in Nigerian city over cash shortages
Angry bank customers burned tyres and blocked streets in a southwest Nigerian city on Wednesday in protests over the scarcity of naira cash, police and residents said.
The protests in Ibadan, 130 km (80 miles) north of Lagos, were the latest in Africa’s most populous nation over the central bank’s push to replace old naira notes with redesigned new ones.
Banks have limited access to cash and ATM withdrawals because of a scarcity of new notes, and some businesses refuse to accept old naira, causing huge lines, angering customers and disrupting businesses.
The cash crunch comes as Nigeria prepares for a presidential election on February 25 when voters will chose the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Oyo State police said protests broke out in some parts of Ibadan, the state capital, early Wednesday, but were soon brought under control
APC PCC kicks as police invite Fani-Kayode
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) yesterday frowned at a new invitation by the Nigerian Police to its Director of New Media, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, over a matter being currently investigated by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The former Minister of Aviation had been grilled on Monday by the DSS for about five hours over a tweet on an alleged meeting a presidential candidate had with some military top brass in Abuja.
Naira Redesign: FG Officials Seeking Out-Of-Court Settlement, El-Rufai Alleges
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday alleged that some Federal Government officials are seeking out-of-court settlement over the controversy trailing the naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court adjourned the suit filed by state governments to challenge the naira redesign policy of the apex bank till February 22.
In a statement released a few hours after the apex court’s adjournment, El-Rufai dismissed reports that some governors had held a meeting with the Federal Government over the issue.
The governor, in a statement by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, said the terms proposed by Federal Government officials were to allow only the old N200 note to remain legal tender and be circulated by the CBN till 10 April 2023.
The security agency asked him to return yeslterday for further interrogation.
But on Tuesday night, the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB) of the Nigeria Police Force sent him an invitation.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the APC PCC’s Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, asked the police to allow the DSS to complete its work and leave the former minister alone.
This content is written by "Newsara"