Former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe, has appealed his conviction on money laundring charges by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Justice I. L. Ojukwu on December 19, 2022 convicted him of two counts of money laundering and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of fine.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had told the court that Okupe received over N200m cash from a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), without going through the bank.

The anti-graft agency said he violated the provisions of the money laundering law.

In an appeal filed by his lawyer , Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, on Thursday, Okupe is seeking the reversal of his conviction.

He argued that he received the said sums in cash not in his individual capacity but for the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs.

He said he acted under the instructions of the ex-President and hence, he should not be penalised unjustly.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider has announced the call for participation in the third season of its FirstBank Management Associate Programme (FMAP).

Interested participants are required to submit their application via https://hdbc.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX.

The application is extended to the general public as it closes by 24 March 2023.

The FirstBank Management Associate Programme (FMAP) is a 24-month fast-track comprehensive programme targeted at young, dynamic and highly driven individuals that are passionate about making a difference in the financial services industry. The programme is designed to build the next generation of leaders to drive the Bank’s vision of being Africa’s Bank of First choice.

FMAP equips participants with an extensive wealth of experience comprised of both classroom and real-life work that affords an insightful and balanced insight into the world of work. The programme is targeted at hi-potential young professionals who possess acute thinking skills, financial and methodical skills, and a distinctive ability to communicate effectively and synthesize ideas, information, and data to aid decision-making.

Speaking on the FMAP Season III, Olumuyiwa Olulaja, Group Head, Human Capital Management and Development, said “since its inauguration in half a decade, we are delighted with the giant strides and impact the initiative has had in promoting the career development of emerging talents in the financial services industry as they are instilled with the tenets and ethics of the banking industry in line with global best practice.

The FMAP initiative is amongst the many ways we reinvest in our human capital as we build the next generation of leaders through their exposure to various opportunities essential to preparing their readiness for the future.

Since its launch in 2018, FirstBank has successfully trained and onboarded up to fifty talented individuals in 2 editions (2020 and 2022), who have all been deployed into strategic roles in the Bank and making a difference in the organization, while we continue to support their leadership growth and development.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has been called upon to immediately arrest the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami for their disobedience to a ruling of Supreme Court ordering that old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain valid till December 31, 2023.

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) made the call on Sunday.

The rights group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, claimed that the failure of the AGF and the CBN governor to expressly comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court of March 3, 2023 is treasonable and a direct attack on the supremacy of Nigeria and this affront should not be swept under the carpet.

Already, over one week after the Supreme Court delivered its final ruling in the lawsuit on the old banknotes and extended their validity to December 31, 2023, the scarcity of the currency still persists across the states of the federation even as many Nigerians have refused to accept the old notes following the failure of the CBN to make a pronouncement to that effect.

Nigerians who thronged banks said they were given old N500 and N1000 notes, but lamented that spending the money has not been easy as traders refused to collect them. State governments like Kaduna, Kogi, Kano, amongst others have since warned that those who reject old naira in contravention of the Supreme Court order will go to jail.

Meanwhile, some state governments are planning to initiate contempt proceedings against Malami and Emefiele over their refusal to implement the Supreme Court judgment on the naira redesign policy of the Federal Government.

Reports have it that the Federal Government was served with the enrolled order and Certified True Copy of last week’s Supreme Court judgment, which also ordered that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 should be in circulation alongside the new notes till December 31, 2023.

The silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the judgment of the apex court had fuelled the rejection of the remaining old N1,000 and N500 as legal tender. On Monday, some banks commenced paying customers the old notes in partial compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, but by Wednesday the banks stopped disbursing the old notes as the CBN insisted that it had not given any directive to that effect.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko, however, said, “The flagrant disobedience and arrogance of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami after the Supreme Court order is condemnable and treasonable.

“No individual is greater than the Nigerian State and those who think they are should be met with resistance and the punishment that they deserve. For Section 37 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria provided that any person who levies war against the State, in order to intimidate or overawe the state (here being Nigeria) is guilty of treason, and is liable to the punishment of death.

“Now that cash had dried up in most banks in states due to what senior bankers described as the inability of the CBN to supply them with new naira notes, protests have started to break up in the country. This can threaten the security of the entire nation and the Department of State Services should not fold its arms and watch while Malami and Emefiele plunge Nigeria into chaos and untold hardship.

“HURIWA demand the arrest of CBN governor, the AGF Malami and their trial for treason for failing to comply with the judgment of the highest court in Nigeria. HURIWA also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be democratic and obey the Supreme Court because the apex court on March 3 also pronounced that the February 16, 2023 declaration by the President is dictatorial.”