Connect with us

Headline

Senate to Question CBN Chiefs over Cash Withdrawal Limits Friday

Published

on

The Senate will on Friday grill two deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria over the cash withdrawal limit policy unveiled by the apex bank on Tuesday.

The red chamber planned to seek clarifications on the new directive which restricts over-the-counter cash withdrawal by individuals and organisations to N100,000 and N500,000, respectively, per week.

It also limits cash withdrawals via point-of-sale machines and automated teller machines to N20,000 daily and N100,000 weekly, respectively.

According to a memo signed Tuesday by the CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, withdrawals above the thresholds would attract processing fees of five per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, for individuals and corporate entities going forward.

In addition, third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for OTC payment while extant limits of N10m on clearing cheques still remain.

The circular also directed banks to load only N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs and restricted withdrawal to N20, 000 per day from ATMs.

The policy which will become effective on January 9, 2023, had generated criticisms but the CBN clarified on Wednesday that PoS operators could apply for waivers.

Deliberating on the policy on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, senators said there was a need to debate the policy on the floor of the red chamber.

However, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, directed the Senate Committee on Banking to grill the two re-appointed deputy governors of the CBN, Aisha Ahmad, and Edward Adamu, who will be screened on Friday, on the new cash withdrawal policy.

Senators raise motion

The resolution on the new CBN policy followed a move by Senator Philip Aduda (PDP FCT) to move a motion on the development.

Aduda had sought to rally other senators to deliberate on the policy but the Senate President, Lawan, interrupted him, saying it was too early to debate the circular.

Also, Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP Benue North-East) supporting his colleague and pushed that the motion should be allowed to fly considering the innocent Nigerians that would be affected by the CBN policy.

Addressing Lawan, he said, “I think you should have allowed us to discuss this motion for the sake of Nigerians.”

But Lawan, who appeared not to favour the move, stopped Aduda and Suswam, saying, “No, distinguished (Senators), there is a misunderstanding here. I told you what my personal opinion is. My personal opinion is that this weekend is off. Maybe but we have an opportunity; the Committee on Banking will be screening two deputy governors of the CBN. This is one major issue they should raise with them.

“As good as the cashless policy may be, it shouldn’t be jumped at, at once.  The way the CBN is going about the policy, many Nigerians would be cut off and that won’t be accepted. Motion on the policy will be thoroughly debated in the Senate on Tuesday next week after adequate information has been gotten on it.”

Lawan noted that the newly re-appointed deputy CBN governors would be screened between Thursday and Monday so that by Tuesday, they would have been equipped with enough information to raise a motion in support or shoot down the policy.

He said, “Before Tuesday next week, our committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions mandated to screen the re – appointed deputy governors of the Central Bank should focus its questions on the planned policy.

“The CBN deputy governors must be thoroughly grilled on the policy after which extensive debate on it will be made by Senators on Tuesday next week.”

However, the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central and Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Instructions, Senator Uba Sani confirmed to The PUNCH that the CBN deputy governors would be screened on Friday.

He said, “We are working on their letters, the letters will be served tomorrow (Today)  and the deputy governors of the CBN will be screened on Friday.’’

The Punch

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Headline

I Stand by What I Said, Kemi Badenoch Replies VP Shettima

Published

on

By

The leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has lashed back at Vice President Kashim Shettima over the latter’s reaction to her comments about Nigeria.

Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents.

Badenoch, who attained age 16 in Nigeria before departing the country for the UK where she was elected Conservative Party’s leader, described Nigeria as a nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity.

However, Shettima, while speaking at the 10th Annual Migration Dialogue at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, December 9, 2024, accused Badenoch of “denigrating her country of origin” with her remarks.

The vice-president listed influential people whose families had migrated to other countries, commending former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “brilliant young man who never denigrated his nation of ancestry.”

Reacting on Wednesday, Badenoch lashed back at Shettima, saying she doesn’t do “PR for Nigeria”.

Her spokesperson, as the Tory leader, according to UK Express, said: “Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR; she is the Leader of the Opposition in the UK.

“She tells the truth; she tells it like it is; she isn’t going to couch her words. She stands by what she said.”

Continue Reading

Headline

2027: Nigerians Will Choose Their President, Atiku Berates SGF Akume

Published

on

By

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that the power to decide who will occupy the office of President of Nigeria in 2027 ultimately resides in the Nigerian people.

Atiku’s statement was in response to a comment made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who claimed that President Bola Tinubu’s second term in office for 2027 is a done deal.

Akume had argued that for equity and fairness, it is only right for Tinubu – a southerner – to complete a second term, as the North had already had its fair share of leadership.

Atiku’s Special Adviser (Media), Paul Ibe, responded to Akume’s remarks through a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, asking, “Where, then, does true equity and fairness reside?”

Ibe highlighted that by 2027, the South would have enjoyed 17 years of leadership—eight years under Olusegun Obasanjo, five years under Goodluck Jonathan, and four years under Tinubu—while the North would have experienced only 11 years, with Umaru Yar’Adua serving three years and Muhammadu Buhari serving eight years. This, Ibe argued, creates a six-year disparity between the North and South, affecting the balance of power.

He concluded by emphasizing that the power to elect or remove a government lies firmly with the Nigerian people, who will decide whether the current administration deserves another term. “But has the Tinubu government demonstrated that it deserves to be re-elected? The answer, alas, is as clear as the heavens themselves—God forbid!”

Continue Reading

Headline

John Dramani Mahama: The New Landlord at Jubilee House

Published

on

By

By Eric Elezuo

The phone call from the opposition, New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, and incumbent Vice President, Muhammadu Bawumia, was not just the dose Ghanaians needed to erupt into a frenzy in celebration of the election victory of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, and former President, John Dramani Mahama, it was also the antidote to neutralize any unforeseen electoral brouhaha that might erupt in the near future.

The admission of defeat by Bawumia sent the people of Ghana into loud shouts of victory; singing and dancing to celebrate the return of a man known for his penchant to deliver good governance. To a great number of Ghanaians, even those who did not vote for him as a result of party affiliation, and other technical reasons, another ‘black jesus’, who will restore the economic efficacy of the country has returned to Jubilee House, formerly known as Flagstaff House, the official home of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

Today, Mahama is no longer former President, he is President-elect, waiting to take up the mantle of leadership for another four years. He is the new landlord of Ghana’s Jubilee House!

The President-Elect, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, is not a stranger when it comes to churning out people oriented programmes and initiatives. During his days as minister, vice president and subsequently, the president, Mahama’s landmark achievements have remained a reference to administrators and would-be administrators. His feats have not escaped the discerning minds and eyes, who have showered him with accolades from home and abroad. In Nigeria, he has been recognized on more then many occasions including his state of of ancestral connection, Kwara, where he bagged the title of Aare Atolase of Offa Kingdom, conferred on him by the Olofa of Offa Kingdom.

Also among the avalanche of recognitions the President-Elect has garnered in Nigeria, is the award of honours on his person by the premier private university in Nigeria, the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.

On November 24, 2018, he was conferred with an honourary doctorate degree for his foresightedness, infrastructural development and general achievements which have affected humanity positively.

Mahama, a politician of great repute, was born on November 29 1958, and has been privileged to serve in various civil and political capacities, culminating in holding the highest office in the land from July 24, 2012 to January 7, 2017.

Mahama started his primary education at the Accra Newtown Experimental School (ANT1) and completed his O’levels education at Achimota School and his A’levels education at Ghana Secondary School (Tamale, Northern region). He proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in History in 1981 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies in 1986. As a student, he was a member of Commonwealth Hall (Legon). He also studied at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow in the Soviet Union, specializing in Social Psychology; he obtained a postgraduate degree in 1988.

His catalogue of enviable services include serving as Vice President of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, and took office as President on July 24, 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. He was also a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and Minister of Communications from 1998 to 2001. A communication expert, historian, and writer, Mahama is a member of the National Democratic Congress.

Though he was born in Damongo in the Damango-Daboya constituency of Northern region, he is a member of the Gonja ethnic group, and hails from Bole in the Northern region. His father, Emmanuel Adama Mahama, a wealthy rice farmer and teacher, was the first Member of Parliament for the West Gonja constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Region during the First Republic under Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.

After completing his undergraduate education, Mahama taught History at the secondary school level for a few years. Upon his return to Ghana after studying in Moscow, he worked as the Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra between 1991 and 1995.

From there he moved to the anti-poverty non-governmental organisation (NGO) Plan International’s Ghana Country Office, where he worked as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager between 1995 and 1996.

In 1993, he participated in a professional training course for Overseas Public Relations Staff, organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. He also participated in a management development course organized by Plan International (RESA) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mahama’s first triumph in politics came in 1996 when he was elected to the Parliament of Ghana to represent the Bole/Bamboi Constituency for a four-year term. In April 1997, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications, and barely a year later, was promoted to the post of Minister of Communications, and served until January 2001. During the period under review, he also served as the Chairman of the National Communications Authority, in which capacity he played a key role in stabilising Ghana’s telecommunications sector after it was deregulated in 1997.

As a minister, he was a founding member of the Ghana AIDS Commission, a member of the implementation committee of the 2000 National Population Census and a deputy chairman of the Publicity Committee for the re-introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

In 2000, Mahama was re-elected for another four-year term as the Member of Parliament for the Bole/Bamboi Constituency. He was again re-elected in 2004 for a third term. From 2001 to 2004, Mahama served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications.

In 2002, he was appointed the Director of Communications for the NDC. That same year, he served as a member of the team of International Observers selected to monitor Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Elections.

As an MP, he was a member of Standing Orders Committee as well as the Transport, Industry, Energy, Communications, Science and Technology Committee of Parliament.

In his continued efforts to expand his interest and involvement in international affairs, in 2003 Mahama became a member of the Pan-African Parliament, serving as the Chairperson of the West African Caucus until 2011. He was also a member of European and Pan African Parliaments’ Ad-hoc Committee on Cooperation.

In 2005, he was, additionally, appointed the Minority Spokesman for Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the UNDP Advisory Committee on Conflict Resolution in Ghana.

As Vice-President, he served as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team, the Armed Forces Council of Ghana, the Decentralisation and Implementation Committee and the Police Council of Ghana in this capacity.

Mahama is full of experience, having served at all levels of poltical office, and he brought them all to bear as President, giving out a sterling performance that could only compare with the very best. He was the first, and remains the only Ghana president to have been born after independence.

On March 30, 2014, he was elected to preside over ECOWAS. On June 26, 2014, he was elected Chairperson of the African Union’s (AU’s) High-Level African Trade Committee (HATC).

On January 21, 2016 on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mahama became co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group which consists of 17 eminent persons assisting the UN Secretary-General in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that world leaders unanimously adopted in September 2015.

In December 2016, he was part of the ECOWAS mediation team to resolve the post-election political impasse in The Gambia between the defeated incumbent, Yahya Jammeh and declared winner, Adam Barrow.

Mahama, now a member of the Assemblies of God, is married to Lordina Mahama, and they are blessed with five children named Shafik, Shahid, Sharaf, Jesse and Farida.

Over the course of his career, Mahama has written for several newspapers and other publications both locally and internationally. Additionally, he is also a devotee of Afrobeat music, especially that of Fela Kuti.

The stadium project

Mahama is not new to awards and honours as his good works have paved a broad way for recognitions. He received an honorary doctorate in the field of Public Administration, from the Ekiti State University of Nigeria, formerly affiliated to the Obafemi Awolowo University in “recognition of his politico-socio economic development of Ghana and Africa at various stages of his political career. Later the same university passed a resolution to name its Faculty of Management Science after him.

He was also honoured by the Cuban government with the Friendship Medal for his relentless advocacy for the Cuban cause.

Also, The General Council of Assemblies of God, Ghana has honoured him with its Daniel Award.

The Graduate School of Governance and Leadership also awarded him the African Servant Leadership Award while the Institute of Public Relations recognized Mahama with a prize for his leadership acumen and technocratic flair.

In 2013, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) conferred on Mahama the Africa Award for Excellence in Food Security and Poverty Reduction.

In March 2016, University of Aberdeen held a special convocation to confer him an honorary degree of Doctors of Laws (LLD).

In December 2016, he was honoured with a Life time award by Ovation Media Group during its yearly Ovation Carol.

A Bill Gates Fellow, Mahama was awarded the Great Cross of the National Order of Benin, the highest award in Benin, by President Yayi Boni.

In February 2017, Mahama received the 2016 African Political Leader of the Year Award from the African Leadership Magazine in South Africa.

He honourably left office on January 7, 2018 after losing to main opposition candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, in the general election held a month earlier.

“I will allow history to be the judge of my time,” Mahama said as he address his crowd of supporters as he concede defeat.

He repeated the same lines as he variously defended his administration in a bid to make a comeback during his campaigns.

Mahama has touted the achievements of his government in the areas of power, roads, the economy, water and sanitation. While delivering his final State of the Nation Address to Parliament, he said the government had extended electricity coverage, increased water supply and improved roads.

As president, he deployed emergency plants and sped up the completion of ongoing plants resulting in the addition of more than 800 megawatts (MW) of power over an 18-month period. That, and many more had helped to stabilise the power situation in Ghana.

Working on the standard mantra of achieving “water for all by the year 2025”, Mahama put in extra effort to achieve the target well in advance of the set date by increasing investment in the provision of clean drinking water, citing of boreholes, small town water systems and major urban water treatment. Consequently, by the end of 2015, excess of 76 per cent of both rural and urban residents have access to potable water.

Mahama contended that his tenure of office had seen some of the most massive investments in the road sector in the history of the country.

While he completed road projects he inherited, such as the Achimota-Ofankor, Awoshie-Pokuase, Sofoline and Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta, he also commenced and completed the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, fast-tracked the construction and opening of the Kasoa overhead bridge, completed the Airport Hills/Burma Camp network of roads, as well as the 37-El Wak-Trade Fair road and a host of others.

His trail of achievements are endless. Mahama is just another name for administrative excellence, and Ghanaians are blessed to have him return to complete his secure tenure as the landlord of Jubilee House.

Mahama will be sworn in to run another four-year course of administration on January 7, 2025, having defeated the incumbent Vice President, Bawumia, in a keenly contested election on December 7, 2024.

Congratulations sir!

Continue Reading

Trending