Headline
Godwin Emefiele: The Endless Search for Justice

By Eric Elezuo
After the long drawn brouhaha of arrest, detention and dragging to court, the suspended and later sacked Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, was on July 25, 2023, granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum by the Federal High Court in Lagos State.
He was granted bail after pleading not guilty to the two counts bordering on the alleged illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. It was believed that the search for justice was coming to an end, but that was not to be.
Emefiele was facing two counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition preferred against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice before the vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo.
The Ministry of Justice was prosecuting him on charges of possessing a single-barrelled shotgun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without a licence. He was also accused of illegally possessing 23 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without a licence, offences committed the offences on June 15, 2023, at No. 3b Iru Close, Ikoyi area of Lagos.
But rather than releasing the embattled former governor, the Department of State Services (DSS) physically fought the Correction Centre officials to retain him as their prisoner.
A few days latter, the Federal Government applied to withdraw the ‘illegal possession of firearms’ case it filed against Emefiele, at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that the application followed the result of further investigations made by the government.
Justice Oweibo adjourned till Thursday, August 17, 2023 to rule on the application. The DPP told Nigerians after the proceedings that a fresh 20 counts has been filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court against the then suspended CBN governor.
He said one of the charges proffered against Emefiele is that of “conferring unlawful advantages” making Nigerians wonder if there are no underground currents to denied the embattled Emefiele of justice even as four months has come and gone since he was removed from office and incarcerated.
Matters took a different turn as since the adjournment of the case, it has not been heard. On August 17, the case was stalled, and moved to August 23. Again, it was stalled.
Frustrated by the back and forth attitude of the DSS towards his release, Emefiele had sued the secret Police at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, challenging his detention.
In his originating motion on notice, Emefiele prayed for the court to enforce his right to liberty and freedom of movement, as there is no basis for his continuous detention.
However, the Attorney General of the Federation as well as the DSS have insisted that the detention of the suspended CBN Governor is lawful.
In a preliminary objection filed against the fundamental rights enforcement suit instituted by Emefiele, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the DSS told the Federal Capital Territory High Court that the detention was backed by the order of a magistrates’ court and prayed for the court to dismiss the motion with cost.
They noted that the arrest of the former CBN governor was an administrative decision of the DSS.
The AGF is also challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit, as the originating motion filed by Mr. Emefiele ought to have sought that the court set aside the order for his detention rather than seek enforcement of rights.
An appointee of former President Goodluck Jonathan after Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s tenure was cut short in 2015, Emefiele, was retained by Buhari, and began his second term in office in May 2019 after his reappointment, and confirmation by the Senate. He was thereafter sworn in by the Bank’s Secretary and Director, Corporate Secretariat Department, Mrs Alice Karau, according to a statement by the Director Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okoroafor.
On resumption of office for his second term, Emefiele expressed high hopes, dsiclosing that he will unfold a new roadmap for the Bank and the economy, in the days ahead, after consultations with critical stakeholder groups, and reiterated the bank’s focus to play an active role in supporting job and wealth creation in Nigeria.
In his words: “We must strengthen our efforts over the coming years to stimulate growth and job creation in critical sectors of the economy, which will help insulate our economy from shocks in the global economy.
“We must also work to build a healthy and stable financial system that will contribute to the growth of our economy while preserving price stability”.
Emefiele went ahead to unveil his economic blueprint for the country, promising to recapitalise banks within the next five years to make them contribute significantly to economic growth, promising that during his next five years, which will elapse in 2024, he would pursue an economic agenda that would make the economy grow by double digits through targeted programmes that would boost output, and work with Deposit Money Banks to boost credit to the real sector as well as the creative and education sector. In addition, he said the apex bank will increase its support to farmers in order to bring down the rate of inflation.
However, events began to take a dramatic turn as the matters of the naira showed the traces of a currency given inadequate attention with plummeting agenda against other currencies of the world, coupled with the advent of the electioneering season, which categorically sort of distracted the CBN governor with his overtly ambitions trend to become president, even without resigning his appointment as a public servant.
Earlier, the CBN governor was laced in a scandal following a leaked tape, where he and other senior bank officials were heard discussing discrepancies in the bank’s accounts, addressing a stolen money from the bank’s coffers. Though the tape was audible enough declaring the anxiety in the bank at the time, the authorities promptly denied the development, saying the tape was misquoted out of context, and distorted
Again, the Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okoroafor, was on hand to veil the authenticity of the allegation saying said that no money was missing or stolen from the bank’s coffers as reported in some section of the media. He said that the audio was distorted in a manner which creates a different impression of the matter being discussed, which was to proffer solutions to a misunderstanding that affected the Bank’s balance sheet.
Though the bank threatened to ‘pursue every legal means to bring the perpetrators to justice’, nothing was heard of the matter till date.
Headline
Peddle Drugs and Die: NAFDAC Goes for the Jugular

By Eric Elezuo
Drug peddlers and their sponsors are in for a harder time if recommendations and proposal of death penalty, by the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, sails through.
The formation of NAFDAC was inspired by a 1988 World Health Assembly resolution requesting countries’ help in combating the global health threat posed by counterfeit pharmaceuticals
Speaking bitterly at a live television show on the hard-heartedness of peddlers, whose actions, direct and indirect, have caused the deaths of not a few Nigerian children, and in some cases, adults.
According to the Director-General, only stiff penalties will deter peddlers, especially when it leads to the death of children.
She noted that “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall,” the NAFDAC chief said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty.
“Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine,” Adeyeye said.
The NAFDAC DG is also seeking the cooperation of the judiciary and the National Assembly to make such a move a reality. According to her, the agency is open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter.
“You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem,” she said.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000?
“That is part of our problem. There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.
“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she said.
While NAFDAC has a lot on its plate in stemming drug peddling, Adeyeye decried the shortage of manpower in the agency.
She believes with about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities.
“So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better,” the NAFDAC DG said.
It would be recalled that in times past, and in recent times, the deaths of children from medicine intake has been rift, prompting a form of emergency in the medical sector to checkmate the activities of the saboteurs, who are bent on reaping gains at the expense of life and wellbeing.
Mrs Adeyeye has promptly toed the lines of former NAFDAC DG, the late Dora Akinyuli, who declared an all out against drug peddlers and couriers.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is a federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale, and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water established in 1993 under the health and safety law.
The establishment of NAFDAC was to counter the production and sales of adulterated and counterfeit drugs, which has become a menace in Nigeria, and to Nigerians. It would be recalled also that in one incident in 1989, over 150 children died as a result of paracetamol syrup containing diethylene glycol, among a list of other horrifying incidents.
At a certain stage, fake drugs issue was so severe that neighbouring countries such as Ghana and Sierra Leone officially banned the sale of drugs, foods, and beverage products made in Nigeria.
Headline
El-Rufai Lacks Capacity to Win Even Senate Seat – Presidency

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, has stated that the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the lacks the influence to “unsettle” President Bola Tinubu.
Bwala made the remarks during an interview with TVC News on Thursday, stating that former Kaduna State governor does not have the capacity to win even a senate seat.
He emphasized that President Tinubu is not troubled by El-Rufai’s ongoing criticisms of his administration.
Bwala also noted that el-Rufai only gains political prominence when aligning with a strong, revolutionary leader, adding: “Let me tell you something about my elder brother, el-Rufai, and whether we should be concerned.
“There’s a dynamic around him. El-Rufai needs a solid revolutionary figure to thrive. On his own, El-Rufa’i might not even secure a Senate seat.”
Headline
Reps Propose Creation of 31 More States

The House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution has proposed the creation of 31 additional states in the country.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who presided over plenary on Thursday read a letter from the committee containing the proposed states.
If approved, this will increase the number of states in Nigeria to 67.
The letter read: “This is to inform members that the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), has received legislative proposals for the creation of states and local governments in the following order:
NORTH CENTRAL
1. BENUE ALA STATE from the present Benue State.
2. OKUN STATE from the present Kogi State
3. OKURA STATE from the present Kogi State
4. CONFLUENCE STATE from the present Kogi State
5. APA-AGBA STATE from Benue South Senatorial District
6. APA STATE from the present Benue State.
7. A 37th state, namely FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
NORTH EAST
8. AMANA STATE from the present Adamawa State.
9. KATAGUM STATE from the present Bauchi State.
10. SAVANNAH STATE from the present Borno State.
11. MURI STATE from the present Taraba State.
NORTH WEST
12. NEW KADUNA STATE and GURARA STATE from the present Kaduna State.
13. TIGA STATE from the present Kano State.
14. KAINJI STATE from the present Kebbi State.
15. GHARI STATE from the present Kano State
SOUTH EAST
16. ETITI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
17. ADADA STATE from the present Enugu State of Nigeria.
18. URASHI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
19. ORLU STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
20. ABA STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
SOUTH SOUTH
21. OGOJA STATE from the present Cross River State.
22. WARRI STATE from the present Delta State.
23. BORI STATE from the present Rivers State
24. OBOLO STATE from the present Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
SOUTH WEST
25. TORU-EBE STATE from the present Delta, Edo, and Ondo States.
26. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
27. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State.
28. IJEBU STATE from the present Ogun State.
29. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State and Ogun State
30. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
31. OKE-OGUN and IFE-IJESHA STATES from the Present-day Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states.
The request for states’ creation can only materialise if at least “the third majority of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives (National Assembly) and the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area is received by the National Assembly.”
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