Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is on trial. Ahmed Umar, a former director of operations at the apex bank, on Tuesday, told the court that Emefiele’s late 2022 naira redesign was not approved by the Committee of Governors.

Recall that Emefiele was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 15 before Federal Capital Territory High Court Judge Maryanne Anenih with offences related to purportedly illegal redesign and printing of the new naira notes.

In the charge marked CR/264/2024, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele carried out the naira redesign policy without the approval of the  CBN Board and President, Buhari.

The anti-graft agency said without the approval of the CBN Board and the President Muhammadu Buhari, Emefiele spent N18.96bn for the printing and swapping of new naira notes worth N684.5m.

It alleged that Emefiele, “knowingly disobeying the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007”  approved “the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1,000 notes, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, among other things.”

The EFCC, at the trial opening on Tuesday, fielded ex-CBN Director of Operations,  Umar, as its first witness.

Led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor,  Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Umar told the court that his department in 2022 was directed to come up with the new design for the naira.

“The management of CBN directed my department to come up with a memo on the design of the naira note sometime in August 2022.

“We prepared the bill with the Committee of Governors and passed it through the line Deputy Governor Operations, which he forwarded to the Governor and it was listed for consideration by the Committee of Governors.”

The ex-director, who told the court that he joined CBN 35 years ago and retired in July 2023, explained that the Committee of Governors comprised five members, including the CBN Governor as chairman.

The witness told the court that the naira redesign memo was presented to the Committee of Governors for their consideration/ review on October 26, 2022, but the committee did not approve it.

Umar said, “We humbly requested the implementation of the amendment. (But) the extract from the COG did not approve item one and item three. While item two was modified to include N200 denomination, the proposal for the exercise in 2023 wasn’t approved by the COG.

“The procedure requires the Board of Directors to recommend to the President for design and form.

“The design shall be contained in the currency after the approval of the President then the production of the currency will commence.”

Justice Anenih, admitted in evidence, the Certified True Copy of the memorandum filed by the Operations Department and marked it as Exhibit A.

The EFCC, in the charges, accused Emefiele of spending N4.4bn to print “coloured swapped N500 notes.”

According to the EFCC, Emefiele spent N3.4bn to print “137,070 pieces of coloured N200 notes.”

The EFCC said Emefiele carried out the alleged actions between October 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja in clear violation of Section 19 of the CBN Act.

The EFCC alleged that Emefiele disobeyed the direction of the law with the intent to cause injury to the public with the manner in which he implemented the naira swap policy.

Emefiele was also accused of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8bn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

The ex-apex bank chief, however, denied all the allegations, pleading not guilty.

Ruth Kadiri, popular Nollywood actress and producer, has drawn the attention of the federal government to what she described as the “lack of vaccination in hospitals”.

Immunization is a process by which a person becomes protected against a disease through vaccination. Vaccination, on the other hand, is the administration of a biological preparation to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease.

Kadiri, in an Instagram post on Tuesday, said she took her daughter to a hospital for a Cholera vaccine and MMR Varicella Immunization but was informed they had no vaccines to give.

The mother of two lamented that her daughter had not been vaccinated for over a year.

The film star called on nursing mothers to speak out if they face similar challenges.

The actress also pleaded with the federal government to take urgent action to tackle the issue.

“My nurse just informed me that there are no vaccines for babies at the hospital!!! Mothers are you facing the same Vacination issues,” she wrote.

“Federal Government pls look into this. My daughter needs her immunization. One year and counting.

“MMR Varicella! Cholera vaccines! Help our babies o!”

Kadiri got married in a private ceremony in 2019. Her union is blessed with two daughters.

In January 2020, the movie star revealed how the fear of combining her career and motherhood made her fall into depression during pregnancy.

She also said she was scared she would ruin her career and wouldn’t be a good mother.

Wale Edun, the minister of finance, says economic instability forced 800 companies to shut down operations.

Edun said this on Tuesday in Abuja during the sectoral report of President Bola Tinubu’s one year in office.

According to the minister, these enterprises’ exit was not unexpected.

He claimed that although certain problems—like unstable markets, broken contracts, and unfulfilled promises—had kept them away, they have since been fixed.

“Government did inherit an unstable economy,” Edun said.

“The 800 companies or so did not make up their minds overnight. They stayed until they could stay no more.

“The conditions which sent them packing are no more. Those conditions were a foreign exchange market that was in no way fit for purpose.

“There was no liquidity. They were a general economic regime marked by instability, broken promises, lack of adherence to contracts.”

Edun said the new environment for investors involves tackling inflation, which will eventually result in lower interest rates.

This, he said, will allow investors to leverage the dynamic domestic markets to enhance their equity and invest.

On March 6, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said 767 manufacturers shut down operations, while 335 became distressed, in 2023.