Security operatives have arrested former deputy governor of Imo state, Gerald Irona.
An eyewitness who disclosed this to journalists in Owerri said he was arrested from his Owerri residence at about 10:15 am on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
At the time of filling this report, Irona was said to have been detained at the Imo state police command.
The reasons for his arrest and how he was arrested, according to eyewitnesses who did not want their names mentioned, said: “Some security operatives from the Imo state police command have arrested the former deputy governor of Imo state, from his house in Owerri. They came to his house dressed in black attire. They took him to the State police command and they said his arrest was based on the order from the above. He is now detained at the Imo state police command.”
They alleged that “His offence was because he made a statement that Imo state will be made ungovernable during that Supreme Court battle between Governor Hope Uzodimma and Former Governor Emeka Ihedioha if Ihedioha was removed from the office.
“And that Irona had earlier been declared wanted by the police for unlawful possession of government properties among other offences.”
Some other sources alleged that Irona was arrested based on a court order obtained by the state government.
At the time of filing this report, the Imo state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Henry Okoye, was yet to respond to the matter.
‘No Information On Supreme Court Ruling’ – Central Bank Says
For the second time since the Supreme Court ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes will remain legal tender until December 31, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has refused to speak on the judgement.
On Saturday, March 4, 2023, an official of the CBN toldˆjournalists hat the communications department has not been informed of any new developments on the Supreme Court judgement.
Asked when the CBN will start releasing cash to banks, the official replied they “don’t have that information”.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the old bank notes will remain as legal tenders while also declaring that the N20,000 withdrawal limit set by the apex bank was illegal.
Without any official pronouncement from the CBN, Deposit Money Banks, DMBs, cannot act outside the last instruction by the apex bank that N20,000 will be the withdrawal limit for individual account holders.
The latest withdrawal threshold, The Nation learnt, has put doubts in the minds of many Nigerians who prefer to save their money outside the banking system.
Asked if the Supreme Court judgement describing the N20,000 withdrawal limit as illegal will negatively impact the CBN’s cashless policy, another official of the CBN said: “The cashless policy has been in operation since 2012 and many Nigerians are already keying into the idea”.
It’s Final: ‘Old N200, N500, N1000 Naira Notes Have Ceased To Be Legal Tender’ – CBN Insists
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has declared that the old N200, N500 and N1000 have ceased being legal tender since February 10, 2023.
CBN had originally fixed January 31 as deadline for old notes to be in circulation but extended it in response to pressure from Nigerians.
However, before the February 10 deadline, Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States approached the Supreme Court, seeking that the CBN be restrained from going ahead with the deadline.
The Court answered their prayer and adjourned the case till February 15.
However, there has been silence on the part of the apex bank since the court gave its ruling.
The silence threw Nigerians into confusion on the state of the old notes, which were widely rejected but accepted in some places.
Commenting on the development in a chat with journalists, CBN Branch Controller in Bauchi, Haladu Idris Andaza, said the old notes were no longer legal tender.
“In the last 24 hours, we have been inundated by questions from various angles of the general public about our operational guidelines on the old currency notes, be that as it may, there are so many questions here and there which people have been asking about.”
“So for the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state categorically that CBN is ready and is opened to receive all of those old notes based on certain conditions and criteria. Customers are free to come to the Bank and deposit which they cannot do at the Commercial Banks anymore because the currency has seized to be a legal tender since the 10th of this month.
“Consequently, the management of the CBN decided that those customers will have a sigh of relief by coming to the offices of the CBN in all the 36 states in the Federation including FCT to deposit their money.
“The customer has to go to the CBN portal and fill a form in the portal, there will be a form there concerning this currency redesign and exchange. After filling the form, you generate a code, you either print it or come with it in your mobile phone, give us the code and the information contained therein. In the form, you are expected to provide all the basic information about yourself, your account details and the amount you want to deposit.”
“By the time you have done it correctly, you come to the CBN where the code will be accepted from you as well as the money, process and confirm the genuineness or otherwise of the money to avoid receiving fake notes because there are some fake notes in circulation now.”
Source: Vanguard
