The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered licensed Bureau De Change operators to sell dollars to customers at the rate not higher than N386/ $1.

The Apex bank in a circular signed by Director of Trade and Exchange Department, O. S. Nnaji said it will resume weekly forex sales to Bureau de Change operators from August 31.

The apex bank said its decision to resume FX sales to BDCs is to enhance accessibility to forex “particularly to travellers” since the resumption date for international flights has been announced.

Providing a breakdown of the rates, the CBN said: “Please be advised that the applicable exchange rate for the disbursements of proceeds of IMTOs for the period Monday, August 31 to Friday, September 04, 2020, is as follows:

IMTSOs to banks: N382/$1
Banks to CBN: N383/$1
CBN to BDCs: N384/$1
BDCs to end-users: Not more than N386
The volume of sale to each market is $10,000 per BDC.

The apex bank said FX sales to BDCs will hold on Mondays and Wednesdays in the first instance.

“The BDCs are to ensure that their accounts with the banks are duly funded with the equivalent naira proceeds on Fridays and Tuesdays,” the circular read.

“Banks shall continue to sell foreign currencies for travel-related invisible transactions to customers and non-customers over the counter upon presentation of relevant travel documents (passport, air ticket and visa).”

thenigerialawyer

An alleged Fake Lawyer, Daji Ojo Elijah was on Wednesday arraigned before a Magistrate court in Ogun State, for alleged Impersonation.

Daji was arrested by the men of Nigeria police for allegedly parading himself as a lawyer and was accused of extorting the sum of N467,000 as a legal fee.

According to the Charge Sheet sighted by TheNigerianLawyer, the alleged fake lawyer committed the alleged offence around February, 2020.

“COUNT I: That you Daji Ojo Elijah “M” on or 24th February and 26th February, 2020 at about 1545hrs at Akute/Ajuwon in Ifo Magisterial District, did unlawfully personating yourself to be a Legal Practitioner (Lawyer) which you are not and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 109  of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria, 2006″ the charge reads

Daji Ojo Elijah was also accused of obtaining by false pretense for allegedly collecting the sum of N167, 000.00 from one Akande Samuel, N180, 000.00 from Olalekan Adekoya and  N120, 000.00 from Esther Falowo Afolabi with the purpose of offering legal service to them. The charge reads:

“COUNT II: That you Daji Ojo Elijah “M” on same date, time and place in the aforementioned Magisterial District did fraudulently and unlawfully collected money from the following people: (1.) Akande Samuel ‘M’ One Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand Naira (N167, 000.00). (2.) Olalekan Adekoya ‘M’ One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira (N180, 000.00) and (3.) Esther Falowo Afolabi ‘F’ One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira (N120, 000.00) with the pretence of rendering legal services to them, which you never did, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria, 2006″

TNL recalls that Quit Notice dated 4th of May, 2020, full of poor grammar has gone viral in the media purportedly written by the same lawyer. Many lawyers called for investigation to ascertain if the said Daji Ojo Elijah is truly a lawyer

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr. Farouk A. Salim as the new Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

The appointment, which has a four-year duration, takes effect from September 26, 2020.

The appointment of the new DG was conveyed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo, in a letter dated August 21, 2020.

Salim will replace the current DG of the standards regulatory agency, Mr. Osita Aboloma, whose tenure expires next month.

Separately, Buhari also approved the appointment of Bashir Tijjani Babajo as Executive Director Operations, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), for a four-year term in the first instance with effect from August 1, 2020 and further renewed the appointment of Philip Ashinze as Executive Director, Finance and Administration for a second and final four-year term with effect from August 1.

Their appointments were conveyed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono, in a letter with reference number SH/COS/42/3/A/988 and signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

Congratulating the Executive Directors on their appointments, Nanoni urged them to bring their wealth of experience to bear in their tasks and ensure the continuous implementation of NAIC’s mandate in accordance with extant laws and other subsisting rules and regulations.

In a statement by the Director Information, FMARD, Mrs. Theodore Ogaziechi, the minister further advised the EDs to justify the confidence reposed in them by working with all stakeholders to ensure harmony in the agricultural sector and in support of Buhari’s next level agenda.

NAIC, which is wholly owned by the federal government, is an insurance company set up to specially provide agricultural risks insurance cover to Nigerian farmers.

Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has vowed to sign the warrant of the death sentence passed on 22-year-old Yahaya Sharif-Aminu for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.

The Governor, who supports the ruling by Upper Shari’a Court, said he will promptly sign the warrant if Sharif-Aminu does not appeal the sentence.

Sharif-Aminu, a resident of Sharifai quarters in Kano municipal, was sued for “insulting religious creed, contrary to section 382 (b) of Kano State Shari’a Penal Code Law 2000.”

According to the litigation, he committed blasphemy against the prophet in a song he circulated that went viral via WhatsApp in March 2020.

The Shari’a court, presided by Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani, found him guilty of the charge and ordered he should be hanged to death.

Ganduje applauded the judgment while speaking at Africa House, Government House Kano, in a ‘Special Meeting’ with Muslim Ulamahs.

Leaders of the Ulamahs, who represented the three major sects of Islam: Izalah, Tijjaniyya and Kadiriyya, unanimously hailed the judgment.

The meeting had in attendance the Commissioner of Police; Director State Security Service (DSS); Representative of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); Eze of Kano Chief Boniface Ibekwe; Representatives of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Representatives of Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) and Comptroller of Kano Correctional Centre.

The Governor said: “What the Court did is absolutely right. And we support it completely. Such kind of irresponsible act, if not because of the state power, nobody could know what would happen in the future.

“The man who did that (blasphemy), confessed to be a follower of a particular Islamic Sect. But the adherents of those Sects rejected him right away.

“So we need to understand the importance of this judgement. We are lucky that scholars maintained that it wasn’t a case for a particular Sect, but rather of one who just decided to derail.

“The state government has accepted the death sentence verdict and the rule of law surrounding the case. I will not waste time in signing the warrant for the execution of the man who blasphemed our Holy Prophet of Islam.”

The accused, however, has the right to appeal which exhausts at the Supreme Court.

The accused, who was sentenced on August 10, had 30 days to appeal.

“Today (Friday), he has 12 days left to file an appeal, failure to which he will be killed,” the Governor stated.

He added: “If he does not appeal within the 30 days, I, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Executive Governor of Kano, will sign the death warrant.

“If he exhausts his appeal at the Supreme Court, I will not waste a minute to sign the death warrant.”

The prison service said the accused has not appealed the judgment, yet.

No lawyer has also shown up to his defense, it was learnt.

thenigerialawyer

Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel laureate, has condemned a bill seeking to regulate water resources in Nigeria.

Rejected in 2018, the national water resources bill 2020 was reintroduced by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in July, and now awaiting passage by the national assembly.

The bill seeks to bring all water resources– both surface and underground, and the banks of the water sources under the control of the federal government through its agencies to be established by the bill.

But reacting, Soyinka called for the deactivation of the bill.

He accused Buhari and his predecessors of lacking in vision and had been unable to solve the country’s least water problems.

“A roundly condemned project blasted out of sight by public outrage one or two years ago, is being exhumed and sneaked back into service by none other than a failed government, and with the consent of a body of people, supposedly elected to serve as custodians of the rights, freedoms and existential exigencies of millions,” he said in a statement.

“This bill – bill on national water resources 2020 is designed to hand Aso Rock ABSOLUTE CONTROL over the nation’s entire water resources, both over and underground.

“The basic facilitator of human existence, water – forget for now all about streams of righteousness! – is to become exclusive to one centralised authority. It will be doled out, allocated through power directives from a desensitised rockery that cannot even boast of the water divining wand of the prophet Moses. If the current presiding genius – and this applies equally to ALL his predecessors without exception – had a structured vision of Nigerian basic entitlements, Nigerians would by now, be able to boast the means of fulfilling even that minimalist item of COVID-19 protocols that call for washing one’s hands under running water! As for potable water, for drinking and cooking, let us not even begin to address such extra-terrestrial undertaking!

“What next for the exclusive list? The rains? I declare myself in full agreement with virtually every pronouncement of alarm, outrage, opprobrium and repudiation that has been heaped upon this bill and its parentage, both at its first outing and since this recent re-emergence. It is time to move beyond denunciations however and embark on practical responses for its formal deactivation and permanent internment.

“Let all retain in their minds that, from the same source that preached the ‘streams of righteousness’ is encountered the promise of ‘no more floods, the fire next time.’ In any case, let the promulgators of this obscenity, high and low, understand that the placid waters they think to control unjustly and grotesquely, will turn to be Martin Luther King’s ‘mighty stream of righteousness’ that will overwhelm and sweep them off their complacent, and increasingly loathsome sectarian, conspiratorial heights.”

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says President Muhammadu Buhari will leave behind a legacy of massive infrastructure.

Speaking with reporters after a tour of a 1.8 kilometer bridge across river Benue on Thursday, Mohammed said the bridge has helped the communities around it to curtail insecurity.

The information minister was on the tour with Babatunde Fashola and George Akume, ministers of works and housing and special duties, respectively.

The bridge known as “Loko-Oweto” links Nasarawa and Benue states.

According to Mohammed, the bridge which is funded by the Sukuk loan, has reached 97.3 percent completion.

“What this bridge is achieving is that it is linking the northern part of the country and the Southern part of the country,” Segun Adeyemi, special assistant to the president on media, quoted the information minister as saying.

“Even though we call it Loko-Oweto Bridge, which is linking Nasarawa and Benue states,
it goes further to link the south-south and the south-east.

“The communities have been able to highlight how this bridge has also helped in the area of curbing insecurity, as well as fostering integration and friendship between the two communities.”

The minister said the federal government would continue to show to Nigerians that it is “judiciously utilizing the loans it has taken to develop infrastructure across the country.”

On his part, Fashola said the bridge has been completed but the link roads on both ends should be ready by the end of 2020.

The works minister said the bridge would aid the transportation of agricultural produce from the farms around there to markets.

Fashola said the bridge is one of the 37 bridges across the country that is either being constructed or rehabilitated by the federal government.

Also speaking, Akume urged the people of Benue and Nasarawa states to remain peaceful in order to attract more projects to the area.

Human Rights Activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has written a letter to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) demanding information on how the N338.6bn COVID-19 intervention fund was spent.

This is contained in a letter dated 17th day of August, 2020 which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), titled ‘Request for Detailed Information on Beneficiaries of N338.66bn Coronavirus (COVID-19) Intervention Funds Disbursed Across Various Sectors in Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria’.

“We are a law firm committed to the enthronement of the rule of law, social justice and fiscal transparency in Nigeria.

“Our attention has been drawn to an online report relating to the disbursement of the sum of the sum of N338.66 billion as Corona Virus (COVID-19) intervention funds to beneficiaries across Nigerian states.”

Meanwhile, it was noted that the said report did not provide sufficient details of the beneficiaries thereof. Thus, the demand.

“Since the report did not capture the details of persons who benefitted from the disbursement of the funds, we hereby request in line with Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act that you avail us with the details of the disbursement.”

However, seven days ultimatum has been given for compliance with the demand.

“Having made this application in line with the Freedom of Information Act, you are requested to provide the said information within 7 days of the receipt of this letter failing which shall not hesitate to commence a legal action against you.”

Meanwhile, the CBN in a letter dated 26th day of August, 2020, signed by Mr. John S. Onojah which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), however requested for time within which to comply with the demand.

“We refer to your letter dated 17th August, 2020 on the above matter and wish to inform you that the request is being processed and we will revert to you as soon as possible.”

Thenigerialawyer

President Muhammadu Buhari has fired Charles Dokubo as coordinator of the presidential amnesty programme.

Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesman, broke the news in a statement, saying Milland Dikio has been appointed as interim coordinator of the programme.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Col. Milland Dixion Dikio (rtd) as Interim Administrator (Amnesty Programme),” the statement read.

“This followed the President’s approval of the disengagement of Prof. Charles Quarker Dokubo from Office as the Coordinator, Amnesty Programme with immediate effect.

“Prof. Dokubo has been directed to hand over all official matters to the most senior officer of the Programme.

“President Buhari appreciated the services of Prof. Dokubo to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and wished him the best in his future endeavours.”

Buhari had suspended Dokubo in February, saying the action was in line with the recommendation of a caretaker committee set up to look into allegations and petitions against him.

The committee was asked to ensure that allocated resources are properly utilised in consonance with government’s objective of alleviating problems in the Niger Delta region.

The president also directed that the caretaker committee to review the programme and oversee the running of the programme.

Dokubo had succeeded Paul Boroh, who was removed by the president in 2018 following allegations of corruption levelled against him.

Before his appointment, Dokubo was director of research and studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).

He holds a PhD in strategic studies from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, and hails from Abonema, Akuku-Toru local government of Rivers state.