The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a three-count charge against prominent Instagram personality Pascal Okechukwu, also known as Cubana Chief Priest, for allegedly spraying and tampering with the naira during a social event in violation of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

Cubana Chief Priest is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The charges was filed on April 4th by EFFC’s prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) alongside seven other lawyers representing the chairman of the Commission.

In Count 1, it was alleged, “that you, Okechukwu Pascal on 13th Feb. 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) 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 2, it was alleged, “that you Okechukwu Pascal 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 Pascal 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”.

This is coming days after the EFCC arraigned controversial cross-dresser Idris Okuneye better known as Bobrisky on similar charges for which he was sentenced to a six-month jail term.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has banned three private jet operators’ permits to conduct commercial flights.

Chris Najomo, the NCAA’s interim director general, announced the suspension of the three private operators in a statement distributed to all airlines on Tuesday.

This comes a day after Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, announced that the federal government would arrest and sanction unauthorised flights and non-certified people.

Najomo stated that the use of private jets for business purposes drew Keyamo’s attention in November 2023, prompting the minister to issue guidelines prohibiting such activity.

“Subsequently, in March 2024, the NCAA had issued a stern warning to holders of the permit for noncommercial flight (PNCF) against engaging the carriage of passengers, cargo or meal for hire reward,” Najomo said.

“The authority had also deployed its official to monitor activities of private jet terminals across airports in Nigeria. As a consequence of this heightened surveillance, no fewer than three private operators have been found to be in violation of the annexure provision of the PNCF and part 9114 of the NCAA regulations.

“In line with our zero tolerance for violation of regulations, the authority has suspended the PNCF of these operators.

“To further sanitise the general aviation sector, I have directed that a reevaluation of all orders of PNCF be carried out on or before the 19th of April 2024 to ascertain compliance with regulatory requirements.”

Najomo also said all PNCF holders will be required to submit relevant documents to the authority within the next 72 hours.

“This riot act is also directed at existing air operators certificate (AOC) holders who utilise aircraft listed on the PNCF for commercial chatter operations,” Najomo said.

“It must be emphasised that only aircraft listed in the operation specifications of the AOC are authorised to be used in the provision of such charter services.

“Any of those AOC holders who wish to use the aircraft for charter operations must apply to the NCAA to delist it from their PNCF and include it into the AOC operations specifications.”

The NCAA also urged travellers not to patronise any airline or charter operator who does not hold a valid AOC issued by the NCAA when they wish to procure chartered operation services.

Najomo also encouraged legitimate players in the aviation industry to report the activities of such “unscrupulous” elements to the authorities promptly for necessary action.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, has confirmed plans to charge new users for posting on the network.

On Monday, he responded to a post on the X policy on new accounts, stating that it is the only solution to the platform’s bot issue.

According to Musk, the explosion of bogus accounts consumes the available space for usernames, resulting in the lack of many excellent handles.

“Unfortunately, a small fee for new user write access is the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots,” Musk said.

“Current AI (and troll farms) can pass “are you a bot” with ease.

“The onslaught of fake accounts also uses up the available namespace, so many good handles are taken as a result.”

Replying to another X account on the new policy, Musk said new users will be able to post for free after three months.

On October 17, 2023, X started charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 per year to access key features, which include the ability to tweet, retweet, like posts and reply to posts.

The social media platform said the aim is to “reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity”.

On April 4, Elon Musk announced that a cleanup to purge the social media platform of bot accounts and trolls was underway and would lead to the suspension of legitimate accounts.

In addition, Musk said the company would also trace the people responsible and bring the full force of the law to bear upon them.