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The Federal High Court in Lagos State, on Wednesday, granted businessman and socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, N10m bail with two sureties in like sum.

Earlier, the celebrity bar man pleaded not guilty to tampering and abusing the naira during his trial.

Cubana Chief Priest was arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare on three counts bordering on abuse of naira by allegedly spraying and tampering with the nation’s currency at a social event, contrary to the provisions of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

He was alleged to have sprayed the naira on February 13, 2024, at Eko Hotel.

Cubana Chief Priest was said to have also committed the offences while dancing during a social event.

He was said to have tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 notes issued by the CBN by spraying the same for two hours.

Details later…

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a further reduction of the price of diesel from 1200 to 1,000 naira per litre.

While rolling out the products, the refinery supplied at a substantially reduced price of N1,200 per litre three weeks ago, representing over 30 per cent reduction from the previous market price of about N1,600 per litre.

A statement by the organisation on Tuesday night explained the significant reduction in the price of diesel is expected to positively affect all the spheres of the economy and reduce the high inflation rate in the country.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, arraign a businessman and socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegation of abusing the Naira currency.

Cubana Chief Priest will be arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare on a three-count charge of allegedly spraying and tampering with the Naira notes at a social event contrary to the provisions of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

In the charge filed on April 4 by the EFFC’s prosecutor, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Rotimi Oyedepo, and seven other lawyers representing the executive chairman of the anti-graft Commission, it was alleged that Okechukwu Pasca on February 13, 2024, at Eko Hotel, within the jurisdiction of the court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.

In count 2, it was alleged “that you, Okechukwu Pasca,l sometime in 2020, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.”

In Count 3, it was alleged: “that you, Okechukwu Pasca,l sometime in January 2024, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.”

Recall that the EFCC on April 5 secured the conviction of popular cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, on similar charges for which he was sentenced to six-month imprisonment.

President Bola Tinubu has declared April 7 as National Police Day.

Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made this known on Monday night during the maiden edition of the Nigeria Police Awards and Commendations ceremony held in the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

The president identified a complete overhaul of institutional mentality and memory of police officers as fundamental in his administration’s ongoing bid to transform the force into a modern, professional and accountable institution.

According to Tinubu, his administration had initiated wide-ranging reforms to revitalize the nation’s police force since assuming office in 2023.

He, therefore, stressed the need to engage men and women of the force in training and capacity-building to equip them with the expertise required to carry out the arduous task of modern policing.

He also disclosed that the Federal Government had approved the first week of April as police week and the last day of the week as the National Police Day.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in our tradition of honouring the Police Force in the life of this great nation, we have approved the adoption of the first week of April as Police Week.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has been suspended by members of his ward, the Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Executive Council of Ganduje Ward led by Haruna Gwanjo disclosed this during a press briefing in Kano on Monday.

Gwanjo said that the former governor has to clear his name of corruption allegations regarding his long-standing dollar case.

More to follow…

The Nigerian Police has apprehended the leader of a “one chance” robbery gang in Abuja who physically attacked a pregnant woman, causing her to lose her pregnancy.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made this known on his X account on Sunday.

Adejobi wrote, “This is a ring leader of one chance robbery gang in Abuja. He used this wheel spanner to beat a pregnant woman (one chance victim) until she had a miscarriage. The woman had been waiting for a child for more than eight years.

“This is wickedness. Anyway, he’s having a trial in the court and has been arrested for the same offence again.”

Nigeria’s electricity grid has collapsed again,
The grid collapsed around 2:42 am on Monday, with generation dropping to 64.70megawatt.

Only one generation company, Ibom Power, was active according to data from the Independent System Operator (ISO), a branch of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, has shown.

This is the sixth collapse in 2024.
LeadingReporters gathered that as of 8am on Monday, the latest data from the ISO showed that the grid is currently generating 266.50mw of electricity from Okpai, Geregu and Ibom power.

Confirming the collapse in a statement, Jos DisCo said: “The current outage being experienced within our franchise States is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid. The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred in the early hours at about 0242Hours of today, Monday, 15th April 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.”

The company’s head of Corporate Affairs, Dr Friday Adakole Elijah, expressed hope that the grid is restored for normal power supply to its esteemed customers.

OFFICIALS of the Edo State State Network and members of the Public Works Volunteers, on Sunday, pulled down the security post in front of the residence of the former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, in the Government Reservation Area, Benin.

Shaibu was impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly last Monday over the allegation of leaking official secrets and perjury.

This followed the consideration of the report of a seven-man panel set up by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Daniel Okungbowa.

The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, had also replaced the impeached deputy governor with Marvellous Omobayo.

Shaibu had since condemned his impeachment and had approached the court to quash the action, stating that he was only being persecuted for exercising his fundamental human rights by wanting to succeed his boss.

On Sunday, the saga took a new twist as the security post which shared the same fence with the golf course was pulled down.

The post served as a temporary shelter or first port of call for Shaibu’s security details before and after the close of work.

Reacting to the demolition, a senior member of one of the agencies which, carried out the exercise, who pleaded anonymity, said the security post was removed since the former deputy governor is now a private citizen and had lost such privilege.

The state Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, Eta Uzamere, whose ministry was fingered for the demolition, said the exercise had nothing to do with the ministry.

He said, “I have seen some online reports linking my ministry to the demolition of the former deputy governor’s security and I can tell you it had nothing to do with my ministry.”

An aide to Shaibu said, “As I am talking to you, they have destroyed Shaibu’s security outpost. The place was not built by the government, it was built by Shaibu himself. You can see how wicked the state government is.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said many celebrities are facing investigations and will soon be prosecuted for naira abuse.

The commission said this in a statement on Sunday, days after securing the conviction of popular crossdresser, Bobrisky, jailed for the same crime on Friday.

Vowing that no one found culpable will be spared, the comission said it “will not relent in its no-sacred-cow mode of operations, and the public should be wary of running afoul of laws against the crime.”

The commission said this in a statement on Sunday, days after securing the conviction of popular crossdresser, Bobrisky, jailed for the same crime on Friday.

Vowing that no one found culpable will be spared, the comission said it “will not relent in its no-sacred-cow mode of operations, and the public should be wary of running afoul of laws against the crime.”

Since the arrest of Bobrisky, whose real name is Idris Okunneye, earler this month, many Nigerians on social media platforms have tagged the EFCC in various posts of video clips capturing apparently worse cases of naira abuse by other celebrities.

The EFCC acknowledged a surge in the sharing of old and new video clips of such naira abuse in the statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Sunday.

It said some celebrities, whose identities it did not disclose, had been invited for investigations and made useful statements.

“Increasingly, members of the public are drawing the attention of the Commission to video recording of abuse of the Naira by Nigerians from all walks of life,” the statement said.

It added, “These gestures amply demonstrate rising consciousness of the public to the sanctity of our national currency and the need for collaborative engagement to sustain the tempo.

“To this end, the Commission will always investigate and prosecute anyone involved in the abuse of the Naira. Old videos being exhumed and flying around for the attention of the Commission are noted as the Commission is sensitive to the fact that its Special Task Force against Naira Abuse and Dollarization of the economy commenced operations on February 7, 2024. However, going forward, new videos of such infractions will be investigated and prosecuted.

“At the moment, the Commission is investigating several celebrities involved in Naira abuse. Many of them have made useful statements to the Commission and many more have been invited by investigators working on the matter.”