• Reps committee rejects CBN deadline extension on old naira notes
• Government appointments biased by nepotism, mediocrity, and contempt for merit and ability – Obasanjo
• INEC extends PVC collection deadline
• Eight die as truck falls on bus at Ojuelegba
• N2.7trn kept permanently in people’s homes before we ordered redesign of new naira notes – Emefiele

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

Reps committee rejects CBN deadline extension on old naira notes

A house of representatives ad hoc committee has rejected the deadline extension for the validity of the old naira notes.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had earlier fixed January 31 as the deadline for depositing the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes.

But on Sunday, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has given his permission for the deadline to be extended till February 10.

In a statement on Sunday, Alhassan Doguwa, chairperson of the ad hoc committee on new naira redesign and naira swap policy, said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must “follow the law”.

“The 10-day extension for the exchange of the old naira notes is not the solution. We as a legislative committee, with a constitutional mandate of the house, would only accept clear compliance with section 20 sub 3, 4, and 5 of the CBN act and nothing more,” Doguwa said.

“Nigeria as a developing economy and a nascent democracy must respect the principle of the rule of law. And the House would go ahead to sign arrest warrant to compel the CBN Governor to appear before the ad hoc committee.”

In the statement, Doguwa was said to have described the extension as a “mere political gimmick to further deceive Nigerians”, adding that the CBN governor must appear before the committee as requested.

“Security agencies and their operations, especially at the state level are generally funded through cash advances and direct table payments of allowances to operatives during elections,” he added.

Meanwhile, a house of representatives ad hoc committee has recommended to Femi Gbajabiamila to issue a warrant of arrest against Emefiele for ignoring its summons over the naira redesign policy.

Government appointments biased by nepotism, mediocrity, and contempt for merit and ability – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria is staring disunity in the face because many leaders are more concerned about their selfish interests than the survival and health of the nation.

This is just as he regretted that appointments in government are skewed and lopsided on basis of nepotism and mediocrity and disregard for merit and competence

He said politicians and political parties were trampling on many of the things put in place to give all groups in the country a sense of belonging.

Obasanjo said this while delivering his remarks titled, ‘The Quest For Unity In Nigeria And The Role Of Unity Schools,’ at the 50th anniversary of Federal Government College, Kaduna, on Saturday.

He said, “First, I am concerned that the current state of our nation’s economy has widened the gulf of inequality and left many people in despair. Inflation is on the rise; poverty and hardship have returned to many households. The last decade has reversed many of the economic gains that were made in the first decade of the century. There is a general sense of hopelessness across the nation with seemingly uncontrollable insecurity.

“In addition to the economic hardship is political mischief. Never have we been so politically divided along religious, ethnic, and other fault lines and deliberately so. Appointments in government are skewed and lopsided on basis of nepotism and mediocrity and disregard for merit and competence. Elections are here and may compound the problem.

“Political parties and politicians have now been emboldened to discard some of the things that were put in place to give all groups a sense of belonging. Exclusion is being taken as normal. Disunity stares us in the face and many of our leaders are more concerned about their selfish interests than the survival and health of our nation.

“Let me reiterate that the concerns being raised about the nature of the options before us in the Presidential elections for instance are real and should not be trifled with.

“Nigeria belongs to us all and no part of the country should be left in doubt about their place in this union on any basis whatsoever; ethnic, religious, language, region, culture or social standing.”

Obasanjo said the beauty of democracy is that before Nigerians cannot be imposed on them.

“If we choose to do nothing, we will only have ourselves to blame. If we choose to do the right thing, we will by so doing return this country on the right track; one which gives all our people a sense of belonging and a sense of unity of purpose and a stake in the project Nigeria; a project that will give all of us peace, security, stability, shared prosperity, hope and progress and a place within the comity of nations,” he said.

INEC extends PVC collection deadline

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to February 5, 2023.

INEC earlier extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs but a National Commissioner with the electoral umpire Festus Okoye said the time frame has been pushed forward by one week.

He said the move followed a meeting of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

“Arising from reports from the various States and discussions with Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission has decided to further extend PVC collection in all its Local Government Offices nationwide by an additional one week. The ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide will therefore continue and end on 5th February 2023,” Okoye said in a statement on Saturday.

“This is the second time the Commission is extending PVC collection nationwide and this will be the last extension of the exercise. The collection period has further been extended by an additional two hours and will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.”

He encouraged Nigerians who are yet to pick their PVCs to do so but hailed the progress made so far in the exercise.

“The Commission once again salutes the patience and doggedness of citizens,” Okoye’s statement added.

INEC, therefore, called on Nigerians to report sharp practices in PVC collection centres, assuring that the Commission will act on them.

“The Commission will continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and will ensure that no Nigerian is disadvantaged and all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs,” it said.

Eight die as truck falls on bus at Ojuelegba

A truck fell on a commercial bus at Ojuelegba, inwards Fadeyi, Lagos State, on Sunday, claiming eight lives.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority officials were seen trying to rescue the victims.

According to the agency, efforts were being made to rescue the victims.

“A container laden truck has fallen on a bus at Ojuelegba, inwards Fadeyi. The effort is currently being made towards rescue and evacuation,” the statement by the Permanent Secretary of the agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, read.

“Recovery of the fallen container is still ongoing, though it has been taken off on top of the minibus but is yet to be completely removed from the location, traffic is still on hold, and we have a backlog of traffic presently at Alaka.

“Kindly exercise patience or find an alternative if you are not trapped in the traffic,” he added.

An eyewitness said the truck driver wanted to block the bus from overtaking him.

It was gathered that only one out of nine passengers involved was rescued alive.

N2.7trn kept permanently in people’s homes before we ordered redesign of new naira notes – Emefiele

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele on Sunday, revealed that part of the reasons the Federal Government decided on the redesign of currency denominations was the fact that N2.7trillion was lying idle in people’s homes prior to 2015 when the Buhari administration came on board.

He said as of 2015 currency-in-circulation was only N1.4 trillion, while as of October 2022, currency in circulation had risen to N3.23 trillion, out of which only N500 billion was within the banking industry.

“N2.7 trillion was held permanently in people’s homes,” Emefiele stated after he paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state, where both parties approved of a ten-day extension for old currency swap.

Giving further explanations, the Apex bank Governor said ordinarily, when CBN releases currency into circulation, it is meant to be used and after effluxion of time, it returns to the CBN thereby keeping the volume of currency in circulation under the firm control of the CBN.

He said since the commencement of the currency redesign and other monetary programmes, about N1.9 trillion have been collected, leaving us with about N900 billion (N500 billion + N1.9 trillion).

With the approval of the President, the deadline for the currency swap has been moved from January 31, 2023 to February 10, 2023.

Buhari had on Sunday, urged the CBN to allow more time, discretion and order to enable Nigerians successfully change their currencies to the redesigned notes, and reduce the risk of loss, especially among the underserved in rural areas.