• Money bouquet now form of naira abuse – CBN
• Peter Obi can only win presidential election if we unite – Kwankwaso
• Buhari signs first business facilitation bill into law
• Failure after 4 years of preparation is inexcusable – CAN tells INEC
• Wike knocks Ayu over ‘PDP has brought us shame’ comment

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

Money bouquet now form of naira abuse – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says money bouquet is now a form of naira abuse.

The apex bank made this known in a tweet on Friday while creating awareness on actions that constitute abuse of the currency.

It said other forms of naira abuse include; spraying, selling, squeezing, and defacing.

The CBN further admonished Nigerians to report cases of naira abuse in the country.

“It is your civic duty to protect the Naira,” the apex bank said.

Last week, the CBN said it would begin to prosecute abusers of the naira in collaboration with other regulatory and law enforcement agencies if such actions violate the law.

The agencies include the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Section 21 (3) of the CBN act 2007 (as amended) stipulates that “spraying of, dancing or matching on the naira or any note issued by the bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute an abuse and defacing of the naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both”.

Similarly, section 21 (4) states that “it shall also be an offence punishable under sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the bank”.

Therefore, the apex bank warned Nigerians, particularly those at social functions, to desist from disrespecting the naira or risk being arrested by law enforcement agencies.

In the same vein, Usman Alkali Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), recently ordered the arrest of persons selling or abusing the naira.

Last Wednesday, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arrested a woman for selling new naira notes on social media.

Peter Obi can only win presidential election if we unite – Kwankwaso

The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso has identified the only step his counterpart from the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi must take to stand a chance of winning the presidential election.

Kwankwaso said Obi’s chances of winning the presidential election depends on a merger with him.

The NNPP presidential candidate spoke while appearing on Channels Television’s ‘The 2023 Verdict’ Friday evening.

According to Kwankwaso: “You see, I can tell you, and I’ve said it here on this chair when we were about to come together, and I said it that the only opportunity they (Labour Party) had was for us to come together.”

A few weeks ago, Kwankwaso disclosed why the proposed merger with Obi did not work out.

The former Kano State governor said it failed because Obi’s LP was at the peak of a media hype.

Buhari signs first business facilitation bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill 2022 (also known as the Omnibus Bill) into law.

The signing of the Bill by the President yesterday marked an important step in the delivery of an enabling environment for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

Presented as an Executive Bill, the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Act, 2023, is a legislative intervention by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which amends 21 business-related laws, removing bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria.

The new law also codifies the Executive Order 001 on Transparency and Efficiency in Public Service Delivery, the administration’s first executive order, aimed at strengthening ease of doing business reforms across the country.

Reacting to the development through a statement yesterday, the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business/PEBEC Secretary, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, stated: “The PEBEC Secretariat is extremely grateful to see this Act come into fruition. It is a culmination of over four years of collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law through the participation of over 40 law firms and consulting firms, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER).”

The Business Facilitation Act, 2023 consolidates the last seven years of PEBEC-led reforms and demonstrates the Administration’s sustained commitment towards making Nigeria a progressively easier place to start and grow a business.

Failure after 4 years of preparation is inexcusable – CAN tells INEC

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has said there is no excuse for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to deliver a spotless process in the forthcoming general elections having had four years to prepare for the exercise.

The apex Christian organisation said this in a statement issued by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, in Abuja on Friday, February 10, 2023.

CAN also urged Nigerians to eschew religious and ethnic bigotry and allow the will of God to prevail in the upcoming elections.

In addition, the body called on Nigerians to see the occasion of the elections as a time of peaceful transition of leadership and not war, reminding the electoral commission on the need to conduct a free, violence-free elections.

Okoh said, “On behalf of the national leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, it is my honour and immense pleasure to join the call on citizens to resist any attempt to cause disharmony and disaffection ahead of the upcoming general elections.

“We must see the elections as a time of peaceful transition of leadership and not war. Consequently, there’s need for all and sundry to put away religious and ethnic bigotry and allow the will of God to prevail.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission, must ensure that this election is seamless, credible, and violence-free. The commission has no excuse to fail. Four years is enough time for it to have perfected the process and eliminated the glitches that featured in past polls.

“CAN calls on the authorities to beef up security, especially in communities vulnerable to attacks and ensure that no citizen is disenfranchised owing to precarious security situation in parts of the country. We charge the security agencies to be unbiased and remain neutral while discharging their duties, especially during the forthcoming general elections.

“CAN urges all the political parties and candidates seeking elective positions during the forthcoming general elections to accept the results of the polls in good faith in the interest of Nigerians and the unity of the country. We note the current sufferings of the people which is gradually becoming unbearable due to the gross shortage of Naira notes in the system and plead with President Muhammadu Buhari to intensity efforts to mitigate the hardship.

“The national leadership of CAN urges all the faithful in the country not to relent in praying for our dear country Nigeria because prayer is the most potent instrument of warfare at our disposal.

“Let us remind ourselves that the economic, political and security situations in the country do not give joy to anyone, but keep our hopes alive at this time. We wish Nigerians peaceful 2023 general elections in advance!”

Wike knocks Ayu over ‘PDP has brought us shame’ comment

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, says the “PDP has brought us shame” comment by Iyorchia Ayu, the chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), shows he is working against the party.

Speaking on Thursday at the party’s presidential campaign rally in Kano state, Ayu had said: “PDP has brought us shame”, but after a few seconds, he corrected himself and said “APC”.

Reacting to the development on Friday at the flag-off rally of the Rivers PDP campaign council in Eleme LGA, Wike said the national leadership under Ayu is bringing shame on the party.

“When you see undertakers, you will see those who came to kill this party. But the party will not die; they will die first. I didn’t know they are wicked to this party. No wonder they left this party and joined ACN before,” he said.

“He (Ayu) said they will not allow PDP to be in power. Is that a good chairman? Is that not anti-party? Is the chairman not doing anti-party? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. For us in Rivers state, our own party is a good party. Our own is a party that has done Rivers state well.”

On the lingering cash scarcity in the country, Wike said as an opposition party, the PDP should stand by the masses who are victims of the policy.

“This is supposed to be an opposition party; is it not? A party that is supposed to identify with the masses. This is a party that is saying the ruling party is not doing well. It is not? It means that for anything that affects the masses, we must be in support of the masses,” he said.

“Are you happy that you have money in the bank and you can’t get your money? Will you be happy? Are you happy?.

“Since the central bank came with this madness, is it not affecting you? But you see my problem, instead of our party identifying with the masses, the leadership of the party at the national level is now saying they are happy with what the central bank is doing. Is that good?

“Instead of us identifying with the masses who are suffering, you’re saying that you are happy with the policy that the central bank and the cabal brought that is making us suffer. You’re saying that it is good. We in Rivers state, we will not support it.”