Business
I have no evidence to prove that I collected money for Emefiele –Witness
The second prosecution witness, John Ayoh in ongoing trial of the former governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele who is standing trial over an alleged gratifications and others, has admitted that he has nothing to prove that the defendant instructed money on his behalf .
The witness who was a former CBN director of Information Technology (ICT) admiited this while being cross examine by Emefiele’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo over his testimony that he collected $400, 000 and $200, 000 on behalf of the defendant from contractors.
The witness gave testimony before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court, (Special Offence), Ikeja on
23 -counts charge bordering on abuse of office, accepting gratifications, corrupt demand and others slammed on Emefiele and one other by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ayoh was led in Evidence in Chief by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo in which he detailed his role in the alleged offence preffered against Emefiele by EFCC
However , under cross examination by the defendant’s counsel, Ojo, the witness said his duty as CBN ICT director then, did not required running errands for Emefiele, but he worked directly with the former CBN governor then.
Ayoh testified that he began to worked directly with Emefiele when the former Deputy Governor (Mr Adelabu) resigned .
He admitted that Emefiele was not in charge of the Procurement and Support Services Department is in charge of procurement (PSSD) of CBN , which has the sole responsibility of selecting successful contract bidders.
The witness also admitted that Emefiele didn’t informed him whether the money he collected was for gratification for the award of contracts.
Ayoh also informed the court that he didn’t gave any evidence to proof that he collected money on behalf of Emefiele from contrators to EFCC.
He also revealed that it was CBN’s
Major Contract Tender Committee (MCTC) that takes final decision on award of contract with recommendation from PSSD and . Emefiele was not a member of the committee.
The witness stated that Emefiele was only a member of the Committee of Governors (COG) and their decisions are collegiate;
Ayoh further admitted that he was not told by anybody that the money given to him was briber for contract awarded but he just implied that by himself.
Besides, he also admitted that he did not acknowledge the receipt of the money nor countef it
The naira strengthened marginally against the dollar in the parallel foreign exchange market on Tuesday, Christmas Eve.
A Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Abubakar Alhasan, told Newsmen that the naira appreciated by N3, trading at N1,637 per dollar on Monday, compared to N1,640 previously.
Meanwhile, the naira weakened slightly in the official market, closing at N1,540.45 per dollar on Tuesday, down from N1,539.55 the day before. This development comes as Nigerians prepare for the 2024 Christmas celebrations on Wednesday, December 25.
It is worth noting that Nigeria based its proposed N49.7 trillion 2024 budget on an exchange rate of N1,500 per dollar.
Dailypost
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has again reduced its retail price for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, to N965 per litre.
DAILY POST’s correspondent, who went around NNPCL retail outlets in Abuja, observed that the state-owned oil firm has adjusted its pump price to N965 per litre from N1040.
NNPCL filling stations along Kubwa Expressway now dispense PMS at N965 per litre.
This represents an N75 price reduction. Earlier last week, the firm had reduced its petrol to N1,040 per litre.
Meanwhile, the latest price cut comes after Dangote Refinery, in partnership with MRS filling station, reduced its petrol to N935 from N1,060 per litre.
Accordingly, Nigerians now buy petrol at N965 and N935 per litre at NNPCL and MRS filling stations in Abuja. The differential between MRS and NNPCL now stands at N30 per litre.
It was observed that a PMS price war has broken out between Dangote Refinery and NNPCL.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, the national president of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, and the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, were optimistic about further petrol cuts amid competition.
DAILYPOST
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, has urged Nigerians to expect a reduction in the pump price of the product within the week.
It should be recalled that last week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and the Dangote Refinery reduced the ex-depot price of petrol to N899 per litre in Lagos.
PETROAN President, Billy Gilly-Harry, spoke on when the price change will take effect while appearing on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.
“But I believe from today when members start loading from both NNPC and Dangote at this new price reduction, it will reflect in the market.
“But also I’ll give kudos to some of our members, some of the leaders in PETROAN, you know, that have done so well, especially in Abuja, for even reducing their prices to below N1,000 before even this announcement.
“So, we don’t encourage our members to try to sell products at a loss because our focus is to serve Nigerians. And the only way we can serve Nigerians is when we have the resources to be able to do that.
“The resources can only be there if we’re making marginal profit enough to pay for the cost of money and make sure that we continue to do business. So, never mind, you’ll see the translation of this reduction of prices in the retail outlets hopefully within the week,” he said.
According to him, the inability of members to sell in line with the new ex-depot price is due to some of them having old stocks that were bought at higher prices.
The PETROAN boss commended Dangote Refinery and NNPCL for the reduction in the price of the commodity.
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