Our pastor is not dead; he will resurrect

Our pastor is not dead; he will resurrect on June 27, 2015 / in Crime Guard, News 12:48 am / Comments By Evelyn Usman Commercial activities were, Monday, disrupted for the better part of the day along Oba Kayode Way, in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, following sporadic gunshots from three heavily-armed men operating on a motorcycle. The gunshots sent fear-stricken motorists and passers-by scampering for safety. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/our-pastor-is-not-dead-he-will-resurrect/#sthash.xpYVh9Mm.dpuf

In their desperate bid to leave the scene, motorists increased their speed limit while companies, including transport operators around the axis, hurriedly shut their entrance gates, depriving those who attempted to take cover in their premises, from entering. By the time the dust settled, some vehicles were reportedly discovered to have sunk into the numerous potholes covered by flood, with the drivers abandoning them at the mercy of the gunmen. Death at noon Shockingly, the driver of one of the vehicles was seen lying helplessly inside his bus in a pool of his blood. He was the victim of volleys of bullets released by the gunmen. By the time curious on-lookers checked, the man was found stone dead while reclining on his seat with head facing downwards. On closer observation, he was discovered to be wearing a lemon-coloured reflective jacket of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, whose headquarters is located in Ijesha, not too far away from the scene of the tragedy. The bus he drove was also discovered to be owned by the church. Visit to bank The victim was later identified as Pastor Chukwuemeka Augustine Okpokpo, the Lagos State Coordinator of the church. Information at Crime Guard’s disposal has it that he left the church that fateful day, informing some of his members that were with him that he was going to the bank to withdraw some money. But shortly after he left the bank his assailants came calling. Eyewitness accounts Eyewitnesses told Crime Guard that it was obvious that Okpokpo was the target of the gunmen. This is because they focused their attention on him while shooting. They were said to have apparently trailed him right from the bank before releasing some shots. An eyewitness who simply gave his name as Ndubuisi said: “I had gone to the bank to deposit some money and was on my way back to Okota when the bandits started shooting. I hurriedly parked my vehicle on reaching the bad spot and ran into the bush by the median, where I laid flat, praying to God to spare my life. “From there, I saw a Lord’s Chosen bus slow down on reaching the bad spot and immediately the robbers got to the bus, they shot at the tyres. A man on the steering was about to come out and escape, only for one of the robbers to move close to him and shot him at close range. Thereafter, he (the gunman) opened the door and brought out a nylon containing some money. He came back to where his victim was, looked at him for some seconds and nodded his head before joining his two other colleagues on the motorbike. They made a U-turn and disappeared the same way the came.” Controversy trails killing However, controversy has begun to trail the death of late Okpokpo, as many are of the view that the gunmen were assassins. Those close to him, however, did not rule out the fact that his killers could be close associates from the same vineyard whom they alleged may be envious of him. Pastor Okpokpo, as gathered, reportedly incurred the envy of some of his church members, owing to his uprightness in executing projects entrusted to him. His killing, as gathered, might not be unconnected with his position as the Ministry’s Lagos State Coordinator and one of the right-hand men of the General Overseer of the church, Pastor Lazarus Mouka. A member of the church in the ministerial cycle who did not want his name in print told Crime Guard that there was more to Okpokpo’s death than mere armed robbery operation, hinting that the deceased attained the position of the church’s state coordinator, owing to his stand against corruption and unnecessary inflation of projects. According to him: “Pastor Chukwuemeka,” as they all called him, “was one of the trusted hands in the church. In fact, he wormed his way into the G.O.’s heart through honesty, hard work, dedication and commitment to the well being of the church. The first time he was given a building project of N1.2 billion to execute, he rendered account accurately and even brought the balance of money, an act that had never been done by those who handled such projects in the past. Others would not render account and would, rather, demand for more money. Since then, our G.O. entrusted key projects to him. This created an open rivalry as most people saw him as a stumbling block to their financial uplift. He usually queried inflated projects which put those involved in a bad light.” Another area which generated controversy was the fact that the bus with plate number EPE 101 BE that was driven by him, reportedly had no stain on it. Relatives of the deceased who saw the bus told Crime Guard that there was no sign that someone who was shot in the stomach was brought out of the bus. Premonition Crime Guard gathered that Pastor Okpokpo could have had premonition of the tragedy that befell him, as he reportedly complained of tiredness and boredom before leaving his 41 Adisa Cooker abode in Iju area of the state, where he lived in a one room sublet of a three-bedroom flat. The deceased, as gathered, only returned from a crusade from one of the South-Western states last Saturday, and was actively involved in the preparation of a forthcoming crusade billed for July 4 and 5, 2015 at the church’s headquarters in Ijesha, Lagos, with the theme ‘It is God’s time’. He was said to have coordinated the posting of bills and tying of banners for the crusade in every nook and cranny of Iju as well as other areas and complained of exhaustion. But little did he understand the message being passed through his instincts. With a declaration of faith, he stepped out of his house and drove the missionary bus assigned to him, without the slightest inclination that he would never live to witness the success of the crusade he had put so much energy. Journey to Europe Crime Guard gathered that before branching into ministry, the late Okpokpo who was from a humble background, had like others, travelled to Europe in search of greener pastures. He reportedly lived in Greece and Italy for several years, before returning to Nigeria in 2003, to attend one of his cousin’s wedding but could not return to Europe since then. It was in the process that he was introduced to the church by his eldest sister who passed on six months ago. Pastor Chukwuemeka is not dead Efforts to speak with the church’s spokesperson, Mr Chidi Louis, failed as he was said to be in the church when this reporter visited, Thursday. He affirmed that in a text sent to his mobile line with a reply saying: “In the service, please.” Attempt to get the reactions of some members of the church was greeted by expression of surprise on their faces as they claimed that their Pastor was alive. In fact, one of them, a woman with the lemon-coloured reflective jacket gazed at this reporter, saying: “Who told you he is dead? That is how you journalists will be talking anyhow. Pastor Chukwuemeka is not dead. He has performed miracles that were beyond human comprehension through the power of God and such a person cannot go down the grave like that. God’s power is still at work and will do the miraculous in his life.” It was gathered that after he was shot dead, the body of Pastor Okpokpo was taken to the church clinic where it was discovered that he was shot in the stomach and the bullet pierced out from the back. Undaunted by the bodily damage, as they put it, members of the church prayer warriors reportedly went into warfare prayer from 12.30pm to 8pm, believing firmly that he would resurrect. Although the body has been taken to the home town of the deceased in Amizi, Ikwuano Local Government Area, Umuahia, Abia State, where it was deposited in a morgue, church members are still hopeful that he would resurrect from the morgue. When his twin sister, Evangelist Augustina Chibueze was contacted, she asserted authoritatively that her twin brother was not dead. According to her: “He cannot die because it is not yet time for him to die. Our Pastor (Pastor Mouka) has said that nobody is permitted to die a day before God’s pre-destined time. The God of Chosen whom I serve will resurrect Chukwuemeka. That grave that rejected Jesus will also reject Chukwuemeka. He is not dead. We are still praying. No matter how long he stays in the morgue, he will resurrect and come to testify because God of Chosen will bring him back to life,” she stated with all sense of conviction. Mouka rains curses on killers On his part, Pastor Mouka was said to be too devastated to speak when he met with some family members of the deceased in the church . Trying hard not to betray his emotion, Mouka was quoted as saying that he was overwhelmed by the tragedy because the deceased was close to him. Crime Guard gathered that he later held a meeting with all Pastors where news of the death of Pastor Okpokpo was officially announced. A visibly angry Mouka was said to have placed curses on whoever had a hand in the death of Okpokpo. He was quoted as saying: “Anyone who has a hand in Pastor Chukwuemeka’s death will never see good.” The Police on their part said, investigation had begun. Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Kenneth Nwosu said: “We have begun investigation to unravel the killers and bring them to book.” - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/our-pastor-is-not-dead-he-will-resurrect/#sthash.xpYVh9Mm.dpuf

Aba leather workers to produce military wears

Security agencies in the country may no longer rely on importation of wears for their personnel as Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has said that plans were underway by Aba shoe and leather workers to produce shoes and belts for the Nigerian Army, Navy and other security personnel in the country. Gov. Ikpeazu disclosed this at the Government House, Umuahia when he met with shoe, bag, belt and trunk bus manufacturers association of Abia state who paid him a courtesy visit. He stated his administration’s willingness to encourage and empower Aba shoe makers, bag and leather manufacturers to excel in their trade. According to him,Abia is blessed in commerce with a lot of craftsmen and promised to give the association priority in his government’s scheme of things. He said that the government was working on plans to ensure that there exists an industrial cluster for shoe and allied products manufacturers in Aba. Governor Ikpeazu was of the view that it was only when the association was in a cluster that the members could enjoy economy of scale and directed the permanent secretary, ministry of commerce to ascertain why the Umukalika industrial cluster has not taken off. He promised that the government would take some of the local shoe and leather manufactures on a foreign trip to see how things are done over there and urged members of the association to support and cooperate with his administration. Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Rowland Anyanwu appreciated the governor for having their interest at heart and for undertaking the repair of some roads in Aba especially the Old Express where their members do business. In his remark, the secretary of the association, Mr. Nnabugwu Osondu who regretted that the leather industry had been neglected said that the industry could help drive the nation’s diversification quest and called on government to help them with an industrial park as well as machinery and tools as their members were scattered in Aba. He called on the state government to provide them with the enabling environment as the leather industry is the highest employer of labour in the state as well as to sponsor them to international trade fairs. - See more at: http://nigerianpilot.com/aba-leather-workers-to-produce-military-wears/#sthash.gAk1yqMZ.dpuf

Buhari fires Ekpenyong, appoints 62-yr-old kinsman DSS DG

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Director-General of Department of State Service, DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, and replaced him with his 62-year-old kinsman, Lawal Musa Daura. The appointment of Daura was conveyed to him yesterday in a letter by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, HoS, Danladi Kifasi. According to a statement made public by HoS’ Director of Communications, Haruna R. Imrana, Daura’s appointment is with immediate effect. Daura was born in Daura, Katsina on August 15, 1953. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977-1980. He started his carrier in the State Security Service, SSS, in 1982 and rose to the rank of director. He was at one time the Deputy Director Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre at the Presidential Villa, Abuja between 2003 and 2007. Daura also served as the State Director of SSS at various times in Kano, Sokoto, Edo, Lagos, Osun and Imo states. The sack of Ekpenyong, who has been heading the secret police since September 2010, did not come as a surprise to many watchers of security matters since Buhari was sworn-in as President on May 29. Nigerian Pilot learnt that Buhari is dissatisfied with the operation of the DSS as he (Buhari) has hinted that the secret police had become more political in their operations than its professional duties, and consequently caused a committee to look into the activities of the agency and report back to him before end of June. Besides, the body language of Buhari had shown that he was not pleased with Ekpenyong hence his sack yesterday. Sources said that the President was angered by the fact that the DSS flouted his (Buhari’s) orders when he issued a directive to the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy and the DSS to furnish the Presidency with the list of personnel who would constitute the presidential security detail. The sources said this was to give the Presidency enough time to screen the officers before they arrived at the Villa. “All the service chiefs immediately complied, except Mr. Ita Ekpenyong. Instead of complying with the presidential directive, the DG posted 253 of his selected henchmen to the Presidency on Wednesday, June 10, 2015 without approval. The reason for his non-compliance is best known to him.” It was further learnt that the President lost confidence in the DSS and that was why he replaced its operatives with the military in the Presidential Villa. The Strike Force, which is a special security outfit saddled with the responsibility of protecting the President and the seat of power, currently comprises only officials of the Department of State Services. The source said a Lieutenant who will be leading 21 other military officers had been transferred to the Strike Force to take over from the DSS officials. With the development, military personnel will take over from them henceforth. “We are aware that the situation is causing tension as there is a possibility of a showdown. But we are working hard to ensure that the situation did not degenerate,” one of the sources said. Nigerian Pilot further gathered that Ekpenyong recommended some personnel of the service for promotions to former President Goodluck Jonathan before he (Jonathan) left office. Another source said: “Before former President Goodluck Jonathan left office, the DG recommended senior officers from the rank of deputy directors for promotion and many are not happy with the development. Those in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states where there is restiveness caused by Boko Haram, had not benefitted from this promotion. Our investigations revealed that the recent promotion is against the backdrop of the fact that the new administration may force some officers of the Service on compulsory retirement.

18 Children Escape Unhurt As Truck Falls On School Bus

But for divine providence, the families of many pupils of a nursery and primary school in Okota area of Lagos State could have been thrown into mourning by now. A truck plying the pothole-riddled Ago Palace Way, Okota, lost control and hit a school bus that was conveying pupils to school. The incident happened on Tuesday. An eyewitness told Daily Sun that the truck was trying to avoid some other tankers that were parked along the road, thereby narrowing it to a single lane. In the process, the truck hit the school bus that was filled with children on their way to school. According to him, as a result of the accident, all the doors of the bus became forcefully locked, leaving the terrified children screaming and weeping uncontrollably. They had to be rescued through the window. Speaking with Daily Sun at the scene of the accident, Prince Nixon Okwara, Chairman of Ago Phase Two United Forum, the umbrella organisatrion of all the estates in the area, on Ago-Okota Road, said that was not the first time such was happening on the road. Prince Okwara, who is also the Chairman, Green Field Estate Community Development Association, recalled that sometime ago, a container fell on the car of a young couple driving on the road and crushed the duo to death while they were going to church for a wedding ceremony. He said the situation was worse at night when trucks and tankers were usually parked on both sides of the road, thereby reducing the road to one lane and causing accidents and serious traffic problem. According to him, residents in the area had on several occasions, written to the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, to help them stop the trucks from parking on the Ago Palace Way. He said that they had also sent a save-our-soul message to the new governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode to come to their aid. “We want to thank God that the 18 nursery and primary school pupils escaped unhurt. Just imagine what would have happened if those children, most of them under the age of 10, had died. We have written several letters to the government of Lagos State to notify them about the dangers the trucks that are parking on this road are causing .We have also made a lot of peaceful protests to draw the attention of government to the plight of the people living in this area, all to no avail. It seems government is waiting for something like this to happen before they can swing into action. I want to once again use this opportunity to draw their attention so that they will come to assist in clearing this road of the menace of articulated vehicles. The recklessness and manner of these trucks and trailers are causing untold hardship to the other users of the road. Another resident of the area, Moses Onwughalu, said since the end of the tenure of former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, the contractors handling the Ago Palace Way have withdrawn their services probably because they were not sure if his successor would want to continue with the road project. According to him, this had worsened the state of the road as the graded parts had turned into craters. He called on Governor Ambode to bring the contractors back, adding that the road was very important to residents of the area and the state in general. He also appealed to the governor to exercise his powers in clearing the road of the menace of tanker drivers. “We have been on this matter for more than eight years. There is nothing under the law that we have not done to draw the attention of government to the menace of these truck drivers. The worst of all is that they used to tell us to our faces that there is nothing we can do, that their owners are highly connected in Abuja and other places. So, we are appealing to Governor Ambode to try and save us from the dangers on this road. The innocent school children were lucky to have escaped. But last year, a couple going to church for a wedding ceremony was crushed to death when a container fell on their car at AP Bus Stop. The story on this road has been that of horror. Even hoodlums hide in some of these trucks at night to rob helpless citizens who are going home after a hard day’s toil,” Onwughalu said.

Okonjo-Iweala ‘must state how $2b oil cash was spent’

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole insists former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala must explain how the Excess Crude Account crashed to $2billion. She ran the economy aground, said the governor, who accused the former minister of toying with figures and being economical with the truth on the state of the economy inherited by President Muhammadu Buhari. Oshiomhole insists the Federal Government is broke and would have been in a worse shape than the states if it had not resorted to borrowing to pay wages. He accused Dr. Okonjo-Iweala of granting multi-billion naira waivers to various organisations. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, the Governor said: “With all due respect to the former Minister, Okonjo-Iweala, she knows how to play around with statistics. I have made the point; she keeps opening part of the pages and not the entire book. The logic of transparency is that every minister must publish in full what is accruing to the federation account month-to-month and what is distributed to them. What she has been publishing is that this is what went to the Federal Government, this is what went to the state government and this is what goes to the local government. “What she never published simultaneously is what accrued during the period out of which this was distributed. So we can now know what was collected to what was distributed so we can know what is left in the excess crude account. You can see her changing the goal post. On the authority to spend, Okonjo-Iweala was a member of the National Economic Council, I was a member and I am on record of asking her, ‘don’t give us verbal reports on matters of federation account, give us written report’ and the power to spend is not vested on Commissioners. “Look at the constitution and tell me which section gives the Commissioner for Finance the power, all of them, they are unknown to ballot, they are not elected but the membership of NEC is clear - governors chaired by the Vice President representing the President, the CBN and other relevant ministries. How will she avoid this level of accountability? “The decision to take money from the Excess Crude Account, that power is vested in the National Economic Council. The NEC is an institution created in the constitution. What she is referring to is her own administrative arrangement. The $2 billion is her last sum because in her last report, she said we had $4.1 billion, she said so orally, but it was captured in the minutes, only for her to come around again at the last minute to say “X” figure is left. We asked her, what did you pay for?” On states which owe workers’ salary arrears, Oshiomhole said: “Every employer of labour has an obligation, a contractual obligation to pay those who work. The Bible says a labourer is entitled to his wages. Once you have laboured, it has to be paid for and you don’t pay wages because you are rich and you are able to afford it, you pay wages because the people have worked for it. It is not a gift from a kind-hearted employer; it is an obligation, it is a consequence for work. “I think what has happened is that at the peak of the oil boom, prices were high, people made projections about their expected expenditure and budget on the basis of those numbers. Along the line, there was a sharp drop and this sharp drop that people talk about is not just about a drop in terms of price of crude oil because prices have dropped below this level before. “What is new is the level of so-called crude oil theft. A situation in which certain persons, powerful in the system, pretend not to know what was going on and simply excuse the huge lapses in terms of crude oil theft. So you have a double squeeze of drop in price and escalation in the volume of alleged theft of crude. The combined effect of these is that the total inflow into the federation account dropped sharply. “This is also compounded by the fact that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the two of them working together, simply refused to transfer to the federation account a lot of the money that ought to have accrued. For example, over the past four to five years, the NLNG had every year made huge payment between $1.5 to $2 billion which ought to go to the federation account. This money was never transferred to the federation account, it was unilaterally expended by the Federal Government. “We were not even informed of the fact that these money was paid and each time we asked the then Hon. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy what was happening with the proceeds from the NLNG, no explanation was ever offered whether in black and white or in oral and there are several other federal agencies that made huge sums of money, which were illegally and unilaterally spent by the Federal Government, without being allowed to flow into the federation account. “So when you draw up a budget on the basis of anticipated revenue and there is such a sharp drop in revenue arising from diversion and there is also drop in price; obviously, something will have to give. “The federal finances are even worst-hit. Over the past nine months under the past government, Federal Government could not and have not been able to pay salaries from her legitimate income. What she has been doing, which states could not do, was to borrow, use the CBN through various instruments termed security, etc and basically draw down the pension funds because they are the ones who have liquidity to patronise the bond market. “So if we were to be able to stop the Federal Government from borrowing to pay salaries, Federal Government would have defaulted in payment of salaries much earlier than states and the number of months the federal government would have been owing would be worse than the worst state in the federation. “Just look at the budget of the Federal Government over the past four years and you will see the level of deficit finances that was built into the budget. So, in trying to understand the financial crisis, you shouldn’t limit yourself to those who can pay. Even those who purport to pay, look at their source of funding the payment. If you do, you will find out that whereas the Federal Government frees itself to borrow quite recklessly, reckless in the sense that no serious manager goes month after month to borrow for the payment of salaries. “I speak on my honor that the Federal Government is just as broke and that they are borrowing, using CBN instruments in trillions of naira to pay salaries. “Now part of the problem is talking about taxes and this can be proved in black and white. The Federal Government illegally granted waivers to various organisations, running into hundreds of billions of naira that ought to flow to the federation account. “Now those are taxes. When the Minister grants waivers for you to bring cement into the country; grants waiver for you to bring vegetable oil into the country; grants waiver for you to bring vehicles into the country and when you look at the total sum, sometimes, even VAT, are illegally waived. So how do you get taxes? “There are two kinds of taxes: direct and Indirect tax. Personal Income Tax, which is deducted from your pay before your net gets to you, and indirect tax which is VAT, royalties, import tax where you spend quality of time looking at your tariff policies designed to protect your local industries and discourage importation. All of these are sources of funding of government. “We must understand that in other climes, government does not live on rents from oil money. Governments worldwide are run on taxes. Now this last government is the worst in terms of granting unexplained huge source of money in the name of waivers. Can you believe that even oil companies were granted so-called pioneer status? They will set up a small vehicle in the oil sector, give them certain transactions, give them so-called pioneer status so that they are excused from paying taxes.” On the strike embarked on by members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in the state, the Governor said: “This is what I call power struggle. I had a meeting with JUSUN executives along with the members of the NBA and they said that we were up-to-date with the payment of salaries and allowances and that they are on strike because the national body asked them to go on strike that the Judiciary should enjoy what they call ’First-Line Charge’. “If you ask the Chief Judge of Edo State, he will tell you that Edo State has never defaulted and we will not default and today, as we speak, if they work, they will get their pay. “What I have refused to do is to pay them for the number of months that they have been on strike. For what? You stay at home, talking politics, you didn’t work and you want me to pay you. Because they are judicial workers, they are bound by law. They must be seen to respect the various trade dispute laws which say if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. They say they have a court judgment, which says money should be transferred to the head of court. Is it the business of trade unions to fight for their employers? ‘No unauthorised expenditure was made’ Former Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has responded to the allegation that she spent $2 billion from the ECA without authorisation. She said on Tuesday: “No unauthorised expenditure from the ECA was made under Okonjo-Iweala’s watch in the Finance Ministry. Decisions on such expenditure were discussed at meetings of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) attended by Finance commissioners from the 36 states.” The ex-minister, in a May 25 the advertorial: “The figures show that they (states) received N966.6 billion in 2011, N816.3 billion in 2012, N859.4 billion in 2013 and N282.8 in 2014. The low figure for 2014 reflects the steep decline in revenues due to the impact of the crash in global oil prices which began in the middle of the year. “The summary of the inflows and outflows from the Account shows that the opening balance was $4.56billion in 2011 and reached a peak the following year at $8.7 billion before declining to $2.3billion in 2013. The balance as at May 2015 is $2.07 billion. “Subsidy and SURE-P payments are also made from the Excess Crude Account. “FG’s share from the ECA during the period was N3.29 trillion.”

Elephants’ job latest: Ivorien FA exposes Keshi

BY GEORGE ALUO Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi may still have fresh hurdles to cross over his link with the Elephants of Coted’Ivoire job saga if the latest information coming out of the Glass House is anything to go by. A reliable NFF source revealed exclusively to Daily Sunsports last night that the man sent to Abdi­jan to investigate Keshi’s link with the job by the NFF had returned home with vital documents. According to our source, the Ivorien FA gave the NFF all the info needed, even as they con­firmed that an agent made an application for the El­ephant job on behalf of Keshi. The same agent, we further gathered, later applied in writing with­drawing the Keshi appli­cation. “The NFF now have all the details of how Keshi got linked to the Ivorien job. The man sent to Ab­dijan had returned with all the details. From his findings, Keshi was al­leged to have applied for the job through an agent and the same agent wrote the Ivorien FF withdraw­ing the application. The NFF “envoy” will in the next couple of days pres­ent his report to the exec­utive board of NFF who will now decide on what to do based on the facts before them,” our source said. It would be noted that the NFF Disciplinary Committee summoned Keshi last week over the job saga. Keshi was re­ported to have told the Barrister Chris Green committee that he didn’t apply for the job. The Ivorien FA early this week released a short list of five coaches now to be interviewed, with Keshi not making the list. Keshi had on his part said he was happy with the Eagles job and was ready to see out his two year contract.

Naira falls to 230, dollar supply dries up

These are definitely not interesting times for the nation’s economy, particularly the national currency, the naira, no thanks to the depleting reserves and the subsequent banning of importers of 41 items from the foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Barely 10 days after the CBN stopped forex sale to importers of rice, textile and 39 other items, the naira on Wednesday crashed to 230 against the United States dollar at the parallel market, down from 218 recorded on June 23 when the new forex rule was introduced. The policy, which has pushed huge forex demand from the interbank (official) market to the parallel (black) market and the Bureau de Change retail segment, has led to artificial scarcity of dollar and other major foreign currencies as operators now hoard them in anticipation of higher prices. ADVERTISEMENT The naira had fallen to 220, 223, 226.5 and 228 against the dollar in the past one week. Black market and BDC operators, however, told our correspondent that serious dollar liquidity squeeze was already hitting the market and operators were no longer in possession of huge stock of forex to meet rising demands, especially from the importers of the banned items. Using the CBN figures, analysts had estimated that about $5.7bn quarterly forex demand was being transferred from the official interbank market to the black market. “The situation is getting critical now. There is serious dollar liquidity squeeze in the market now. The demand is overwhelming and both the black market and the BDC segment can no longer meet the demand,” a black market operator told our correspondent on Wednesday. “The market is very volatile now as a result of the restrictions placed on about 41 items by the central bank. Most importers are now patronising the parallel market to source their dollars,” the head of a BDC, Mr. Harrison Owoh, told Reuters on Wednesday,.Meanwhile, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators has written to the CBN asking it to intervene in the dollar scarcity in the parallel market and the BDC segment to save the naira from crashing further. In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, the association expressed its readiness to work with the CBN to stabilise the market. The letter, signed by association’s President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, and Executive Secretary, Uduma Cletus, advised the CBN to increase its weekly forex sale to the BDCs from $30,000 to $50,000. The body also asked the central bank to reintroduce the autonomous market where it could sell about $100,000 to the operators. Gwadabe told our correspondent that it was expedient for the CBN to increase its forex sale to the BDCs in order to stabilise the naira. Some analysts believe the naira may hit 240 against the dollar in the coming days. However, the naira traded at 198.95 to the dollar at the interbank market on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The central bank had lowered its exchange rate peg to N196.95 to the dollar on Tuesday from N196.90 last week Also, a trade of $735.74m went through on Nigeria’s interbank currency market at N198.45 on Wednesday, Thomson Reuters data showed. Market sources said a foreign client had sold dollars to a bank in Nigeria. Total interbank market volumes stood at $1.12bn on Wednesday, far higher than typical trading sessions since the central bank introduced a naira peg in February. Meanwhile, the CBN has reminded dealers and banks that their dollar cash sale for six items, including schools fees, insurance premium, basic travel allowance and monthly mortgage should not exceed $5,000. In a new circular dated July 1, 2015, the CBN also warned banks not to sell forex to the importers of the 41 items that were banned from the forex market last week.