Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the extension of the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, nationwide until February 5 2023. This was disclosed in a statement by Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.
2. The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has said the naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is strangulating Nigeria’s economy. In a statement by the forum’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the NEF said the currency swap has not worked as planned, urging the CBN to revisit and postpone the deadline for the swap of the redesigned naira dominations.
3. The Divisional Police Officer of Jahun Local Government Area, Jigawa State, SP Abubakar Musa, has slumped and died in his office. Spokesman of the State police command, DSP. Lawan Shiisu Adamu confirmed the death in a statement issued to DAILY POST on Saturday.
4. President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, said the government’s currency swap is not meant to target innocent citizens but corrupt persons and terror financiers hoarding illicit monies. According to a statement signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari was reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones.
5. The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has invalidated the existing Police Community Relations Committee Identity Card with effect from December 2022. Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Saturday, in a statement, said the IGP directed that anyone found parading himself with the invalidated PCRC ID card should be arrested and prosecuted.
6. The Central Bank of Nigeria has again said the January 31 deadline for the validity of the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes remains unchanged. The apex bank, via its verified Twitter page, insisted on Saturday evening that January 31, 2023, deadline remains.
7. Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has confirmed that he sent a letter to the Presidency to seek the postponement of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the state for the commissioning of projects. Ganduje made this known during interactive sessions with scholars, legislators, political leaders and the business community in the state at Government House, Kano, adding that the decision was taken to avoid any unforeseen circumstances. The president was expected to pay a one-day visit to the state on Monday.
8. Former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, has asked the Federal Government to put an end to the ongoing fuel shortages and price hikes in the country. Gana said this in Akure, Ondo state, during the anniversary of the Archbishop Vining College of Theology.
9. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in Jigawa State, has engaged the services of more than 200 agents for a cash swap program. The Director of Human Resources of the apex bank and team leader for the cash swap program in the state, Hajia Amina Habib, made this known during a press briefing in Dutse, the state capital.
10. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has discharged any insinuation of friction in his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, insisting his support for the president is unalloyed and enduring. Tinubu stated this while addressing the APC rally in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, on Saturday.
