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Oganiru Enugu tackles South East Governors over Ekweremadu’s fate

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South-East Governors have come under attack over their alleged lack of concern in the continued detention of former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu by the United Kingdom government.

Ekweremadu has been behind bars following an order of a London Court after he was charged for alleged organ harvesting.

At a press conference in Enugu on Thursday, the President of Ndi Oganiru Enugu State, Engr. Jude Asogwa, called for an emergency meeting of the South-East Governors over Ekweremadu’s fate.

He equally urged other sons and daughters of the South-East to wake up knowing that Ekweremadu had been fighting for the Igbo cause.

“It baffles us that till now they have not called an emergency meeting of South-East Governors’ Forum and South-East stakeholders’ meeting to find a way of approaching the Federal government to bail an illustrious son and Igbo Senator.

“The check on the family is not enough, with all due respect, we need them to take the bull by the horn.

“We appeal to all sons and daughters of the South-East to wake up and know that Ikeoha have been fighting the cause of Igbo Nation,” Asogwa said.

He also called on the Attorney General of the Federation to intervene in the same manner the government did in the case of a Nigerian lady arrested for drug related offence.

“We also call on ECOWAS as a matter of urgency to call on the UK to release its former Speaker in the person of His Excellency Prof Sen Ike Ekweremadu. Because it’s becoming clearer that he is being held in the UK for nothing.

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“To the UK government, it surprises us that you had a new law on organ donation and His Excellency Prof Sen Ike Ekweremadu wrote to your country through your embassy. It is expected that you guide him by either rejecting the visa or guide him on steps to get it right as your new law states.

“One gets more confused that you offered David the visa and when he got to the UK you now arrested Prof. Ike Ekweremadu. Were you not meant to guide or deny him Visa?

“We learnt that David went to the Police on his own to report and we ask who took him there? David is also asking the Federal Government through his lawyer not to release his data to Sen Ike Ekweremadu for defense, we ask who is using David against Prof. Sen. Ekweremadu because it is very clear there is more to the whole issue.

“Rumors have been flying that the UK government has been influenced to keep His Excellency Prof Sen Ike Ekweremadu till after the 2023 election or even kill him if possible.

“We expected the federal government through the office of the Minister of foreign affairs and the Attorney General of the federation to even request the transfer of the case to Nigeria.

“South-East governors, stakeholders, the Nigerian government, Africa in general needs to wake up and rescue one of their own,” he pleaded.

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Gov. Mbah submits UK Visa renewal application, urges patronage of UK Visa Centre in Enugu

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 •Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah and UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery
Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State, on Tuesday, urged South-East residents to patronise the United Kingdom (UK) Visa Application Centre in Enugu.

Mbah made the call when he submitted his visa renewal application at the centre.

The governor, who described the application process as swift and seamless, used the opportunity to appreciate the UK authorities for opening the centre.

He said the centre would strengthen the UK-South East socio-economic ties.

Mbah also urged Nigerians, especially the people of the South East in and outside the region, to apply for UK visas at the Enugu Visa Centre.

Speaking to newsmen after submitting his application, Mbah said: “It was quite an experience, adding that he was quite impressed.

“I noticed that first of all, the time you spend here to file your application is quite short. We do not have the heavy traffic, as you will experience in other places.

“I should also take this opportunity to call on our brothers and sisters in other South East states to know that there is now a visa centre in Enugu,” he said.

He said there was no need for them to go and stay in the long queues in Lagos and Abuja while they could easily come to Enugu and get their application processed expeditiously.

“If you are coming to a centre like this, you are thinking of comfort, confidentiality and the amount of time you spend being attended to and you have all those benefits here.

“So, it is an opportunity even for those who live in Lagos and Abuja, I will also enjoin them to visit this Enugu UK Visa Center to get attended to as quickly as possible,” the governor stated.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the British High Commission in Nigeria on Sept. 11 announced the opening of a new submission centre for UK visa applications in Enugu State, starting from Sept. 13.

The UK Mission said the facility would operate from the Omedel Luxury Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu, and would offer twice-a-week service on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery, said that the new visa application submission centre followed requests by Mbah and many others during his visit to Enugu in June. (NAN

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Senate confirms Cardoso as CBN Governor, 4 deputies

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•Newly confirmed CBN Governor by the Senate, Olayemi Cardoso
The Senate confirmed the appointment of Dr Olayemi Cardoso as the Governor of the CBN on Tuesday.

It also confirmed the nomination of Mrs Emem Usoro, Mr Muhammad Dattijo, Mr Philip Ikeazor and Dr Bala Bello as the bank’s deputy governors.

Their confirmation followed the consideration and approval of a motion moved by Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti Central).

Before their confirmation, the Senate suspended its orders to facilitate the admittance of the nominees into the chamber.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Abdullahi Gumel led the nominees into the chamber.

Thereafter, the CBN governor and the deputies took turns to highlight their career profiles and professional experiences.

Cardoso said for 12 years, between 2010 and 2022 he had the privilege of serving as the chairman of Citi Bank where: “I dedicated myself to enhancing both the financial and non-financial operations of the institution.’’

He told the Senate that the issue of exchange rate of the Naira to other currencies was worrisome.

“For the type of economy that we want, we need to have an exchange rate that is stable and we must apply short and medium term measures to achieve this,’’ he said.

Cardoso added that CBN’s new management team would evolve rules that were open and transparent and comprehensible by all players in the finance business.

“We cannot expect serious foreign investors, portfolio investors who have an impact on the market to do so if we do not have a transparent system that everybody understands and can rely on,’’ he said.

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On the issue of inflation and costs of goods, Cardoso said the CBN management would adopt evidence-based monetary policies.

“There is the need to significantly revamp the infrastructure at the central bank with respect to data and to ensure that our data gathering capacity is significantly enhanced.

“This is necessary so that we can make decisions based on stellar data. This is crucial in measuring inflation,’’ he stressed.

He added that reliable studies showed that in the past 10 years to 15 years, at least 50 per cent of inflation resulted from money supply and deficit financing.

“This is a big problem; at least it certainly has been over a period of time and it is something we have to face frontally,’’ he said.

Cardoso also told the Senate that the CBN would ensure that the issue of deficit financing ceased to be a national problem.

Earlier, President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio (APC-Akwa Ibom North-West) said the Senate reconvened from its annual recess to expeditiously consider and confirm the nominees.

He said the expeditious confirmation also resulted from of the emergency resignation of the former CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele.

Akpabio urged the Senate Committees on Finance and Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions to regularly conduct thorough oversight of the CBN. (NAN)

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Naira crashes to N1,000 per dollar

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The naira on Tuesday exchanged at N1,000 to the United States dollar at the parallel market, a historic dip that spotlights the weakness of President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to manage the national currency amid runaway inflation.

While the central bank’s rate appeared to stabilise at N768 per dollar over the past week, the currency value has sunk to critical depths for those trying to access it at the parallel market, where most foreign exchange transactions are conducted in Nigeria.

According to Abokifx, a website that aggregates daily rates for Nigerians using parallel market sources, the dollar sold at N1,000 on Tuesday morning.

Abokifx gained prominence shortly after the naira began a steep freefall in 2016, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s brazen display of power over the central bank’s activities, which turned off international investors and reduced dollar inflow into Nigeria even as demand grew from within the country.

Ousted Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) attacked Abokifx in 2021 for allegedly manipulating the exchange rate at the parallel market.

Abokifx’s shutdown in September 2021 has so far done nothing to stop the naira’s free fall and steep crashing at the parallel market. But critics admonished Mr Emefiele at the time to focus on stabilising the naira rather than his 2023 presidential ambition, which appeared to have distracted him from functioning efficiently as Nigeria’s top banker.

The naira has continued to depreciate considerably against the dollar despite Mr Tinubu’s attempt to allow the free market to determine its value. It was exchanging at about N650 when Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Buhari on May 29.

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Spokespersons for both the presidency and the central bank did not respond to requests seeking comments about the naira’s historic fall on Tuesday.

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