The Supreme Court has held that it is illegal for Governors to dissolve democratically elected Local Governments.

It orders the Federal Government to henceforth withhold allocations to Local Governments governed by unelected officials appointed by the Governor.

The apex court also barred the Federal Government from further paying LG allocations through the State Governments since the practice has been abused by Governors, who retain the funds and utilise them as they please to the detriment of the LGAd for which the monies are meant.

The pronouncements were made in the ongoing judgment of the Supreme Court in the LG autonomy suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi SAN on behalf is the Fed Govt.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is considering conducting bye-elections and rerun elections across the country on Thursday, February 1, 2024, to fill existing vacancies in the state and federal legislature.

The commission's chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a meeting with leaders of political parties to prepare for the elections.

Prof. Yakubu said at the end of litigation, the courts have ordered the commission to conduct rerun elections in 34 federal and state constituencies made up of one in the Senate, 11 federal constituencies, and 22 state constituencies.

In addition, he said the commission will conduct bye-elections to fill vacancies created as a result of resignation or death of members.

He said that an authentic date for the election and a comprehensive timetable will be released at the end of the meeting with party leaders.

Former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, her ex-aide, Gloria Odita and seven others are being arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja over fraud related offences.

They are charged with conspiracy, money laundering and maintaining anonymous bank accounts with First Bank Plc with about N5billion involved.

The 25-count charge is currently being read to them by an official of the court.

They have pleaded not guilty to some of the counts read so far.

The Supreme Court has scheduled judgment for 2pm on Tuesday in the appeal filed by former Osun Governor, Gboyega Oyetola against the election of Ademola Adeleke.

Oyetola is, by his appeal, seeking the reversal of the March 25 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which affirmed Adeleke's victory in the last governorship election in Osun State.

The Appeal Court had, in its judgement, set aside an earlier judgment by the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which held in favour of Oyetola and sacked Adeleke.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court announced the time and date for judgment after taking arguments from lawyers to parties on Monday.

The National Economic Council (NEC) has agreed that the plan to remove petrol subsidy should not be executed yet.

It however said all preparatory plans with various segment of government, including States and the incoming administration should be intensified.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed these to journalists after the Valedictory NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, however added that Council agreed that the subsidy regime must be removed eventually as it is not sustainable.

“Today I was in the National Economic Council, where we discussed the issue of post-subsidy removal. Council agreed that the timing for the removal of subsidy should not be now, but that we should continue with all of the preparation works that needs to be done and that this preparation work has to be done in consultation with the states and other key stakeholders, including representatives of the incoming administration.

“Council agreed that the first subsidy must be removed earlier rather than later because it is not sustainable. We cannot afford it anymore. We have to do it in such a way that the impact of the subsidy is as much as possible, mitigated on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“So, this will require looking at alternatives to the post subsidy that needs to be planned for and subsequently put in place but also what needs to be done to support the people that would be most affected as a result of the removal.

“So, we will be working together with representatives of the States. We will have a plan that we will start working on putting the building blocks towards the eventual removal of the fuel subsidy.

“If I May remind the forum, that the budget for 2023 has provision for subsidy only up to June 2023 and also the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has a provision that requires that all petroleum products must be deregulated 18 months after the effective date of the PMs removal and that period is also up to June 2023," she explained.

The Supreme Court has said its February 8 order barring the Federal Government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes still subsist.

The court made the clarification on Wednesday following complaint by lawyer to Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN) that the Fed Govt and its agencies have failed to comply with the order and have allegedly directed the rejection of the old notes.

Mustapha said the plaintiff filed a notice of none-compliance with the order of the court order made on February 8. And demanded that the court take action against the respondent to protect the dignity of the court.

He added: "That order has been flouted by the government. We are talking of executive lawlessness here. We have filed an affidavit to that effect...We want the court to renew the order for parties to be properly guided."

Justice John Okoro, who presided over a seven-member panel of the court, asked Mustapha to filed a proper application to put forward his complaints and to enable the respondent respond appropriately.

Justice Okoro said there was no need for a renewal of the court's order.

He noted that, since the order made by the court on February 8 was made pending the determination of the motion for injunctions filed by the plaintiff, the order still subsists since the motion was not yet heard.

The court had, in the February 8 ruling, said: "after a careful consideration of this ex-parte application, and the grounds in support of same, this court finds that there is real urgency for this court to intervene by the grant of this application.

"Accordingly, this application is hereby granted as prayed.

"That is to say, an order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government of Nigeria, either by itself or acting through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and/or the commercial banks, its agents; agencies, corporations, ministries, parastatals, organizations or through any person or persons (natural and artificial) howsoever, from suspending or determining or ending on the 10th of February 2023 the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the naira may no longer be legal tender, pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiffs/applicants’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction."

The Supreme Court has however fixed February 22 for hearing of the suit filed Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states challenging the propriety the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.

The court chose the date after joining the Attorneys General of Katsina Lagos, CR, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Sokoto states as co-plaintiffs in the earlier suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.

The court also joined the Attorneys General of Edo and Bayelsa states as co-respondents. Both states elected to side with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) originally listed as the sole respondent.

The court ordered that the suits filed by separately by Nasarawa, Rivers and Kano states on the same issue be consolidated with the one filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.

The court ordered parties to file all necessary documents before the hearing set for next Wednesday.

Justice Okoro, before adjourning, told lawyer to the AGF, Kanu Agabi (SAN) to advise his client to ensure the availability of currency for the people.

"Tell your client to let people have money. If they go to the ATM and the plaintiffs will come and withdraw the case. Make money available to the poor masses.

"You should know that a hungry man is an angry man. I say no more," he said.

Responding, Agabi said Nigerians were only blaming the government for their poverty.

"Many people don't have money. They blame it on the Fed Govt and the AGF. I don't have money too.

"Things have been bad for long. It is not today that the problems started," Agabi said.

Governors Nasir El-Rufai and Yahaya Bello of Kaduna and Kogi states were in court to witness proceedings.

Speaking after the court proceedings, Bello said the states were not at war with the Fed Govt over its cashless policy, but are only concerned about its negative impact on the citizens, who are now denied access to their funds.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday joined nine States as parties in the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara challenging the propriety of the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.

In a ruling a moment ago, a nine-member panel, led by Justice John Okoro, joined the Attorneys General of Katsina, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, Cross River and Sokoto States as co-plaintiffs, while the Attorneys General of Edo and Bayelsa states were joined as co-respondents.

The court ordered the original plaintiffs and the respondent - the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) - to amend the processes already filed to reflect the new parties.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Monday that elections will not be holding in about 240 polling units across 28 States
of the federation during the February 25 and March 11 general elections.

The Commission also warned that it will not accept a situation where two or more party agents report to the polling units, causing confusion, adding that any agent found to be engaged in such act will be arrested and prosecuted.

The poling units where elections will not hold are from one in Edo, Kwara, Rivers and Zamfara States to 38 in Imo State which has the highest.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who disclosed this at a regular consultative meeting with leaders of the 18 registered political parties ahead of the elections said the affected polling units has no registered voter.

He said with the exclusion ot the 240 polling units, election will take place in about 176,606 polling units across the country.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emiefele has said that the apex will not allow itself to be used to frustrate the forthcoming general elections.

Emiefele, who spoke when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu led 11 National Commissioners on a visit to the Bank, said the CBN will make available every cash needed to pay logistics for the success of the elections.

He was responding to a request from Yakubu that the CBN should find a way of addressing scarcity of currency across the country 17 days to the Presidential and National Assembly elections since some service providers to the commission were "unbanned".

He said: "The CBN will not allow itself to be used as an agent to frustrate the forth coming election which is a positive assignment.

"If you require cash to pay some of your service providers, we will make it available to you. We will not allow ourselves to be seen as agents that frustrate a genuine assignment".

The INEC chairman had told the CBN Governor the 2023 polls will be the best in Nigeria's history, adding that concerns have however been raised about the processes leading to the elections.

He said while the Commission has transferred all its accounts at the state and national level to the apex bank, some of the services being rendered to the Commission need to be paid for in cash.

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow the old and new naira notes co-exist to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who spoke to some journalists in Hausa language on Friday, said that while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up over N2 trillion of the old notes, it printed only N300 billion, which he said is not enough.

El-Rufai, who was accompanied by his Kano counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje, said even if the CBN had wanted to implement the cashless policy, it should have printed half of what it mopped up, for a start, which ought to be N1 trillion.

He said they told the President the masses are suffering and traders are losing their goods due to lack of patronage.

He referred to tomatoes seller that travelled to Lagos with their goods but got nothing because people had no money to buy.

The Governor said they appealed to the President to reconsider his stances.

El-Rufai however said Buhari did not tell them yes or no.

He disclosed Chairman of the Progressive Governors' Forum (PGF), Atiku Bagudu, has gone back to meet the President privately with the hope to convince him.

At of the time of filing this report, he was being awaited to address the media.

The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has stated the clerics at the unveiling of his running mate Senator Kashim Shettima were not fake.

He said they were at the event, which was open to all, as genuine well-wishers.

The former Lagos Governor, in a statement by The Tinubu Campaign Organisation (TCO), said the viral videos and pictures of the clerics at the event were the handiworks of political distractors.

The statement by Director of Media and Communication of the organisation, Bayo Onanuga, described the development as unwarranted distractions.

APC presented Senator Shettima to the public and its various organs as the running mate to the party's presidential standard-bearer at the well-attended ceremony at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

But many faulted the presence of Christian clerics at the event, alleging they were hired and fake.

But TCO, in a statement, explained: "The event was an open affair, which allowed members of the public to attend, including the clergymen and some others now being derided by hirelings of the opposition.

"We want to say that those clergymen were not fake, not mechanics or yam sellers as the purveyors of hatred have made Nigerians believe in the social media. They are not big names in Christendom yet, they are gradually building up their missions.

"They are church leaders who genuinely believe that Nigerians must eschew politics of hatred and religious bigotry and rather embrace politics of peace and nation building.

"We, therefore, deplore the hysterical twisting of the presence of these men and women in cassocks and the false accusation against our candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Shettima.

"The orchestrated social media sensation over the presence of the men is needless and all calculated to detract from the huge success recorded at the momentous event on Wednesday.

"We believe Nigerians are too wise and discerning to see through this shenanigan. Asiwaju Tinubu and his running mate and our great party are working very hard to provide purposeful leadership and good progressive governance that will improve the quality of life of Nigerians.

"We are well aware that the opposition parties and the sponsors of the social media charade are jittery and threatened by the intimidating political credentials of our candidates. The only way they hope to shift the attention of public scrutiny away from their uninspiring candidates and credentials is to create social media distraction.

"Our campaign is determined on focusing on core governance issues that affect all Nigerians to confront them and make the desired improvements in the standard of living of our people."