The Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday, said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has been deceived by the Central Bank of Nigeria led by Godwin Emefiele, over the naira redesign.
“In official briefings to the President, the Central Bank of Nigeria constantly alluded to the fact that the policy also targets politicians who have accumulated a huge war chest for vote-buying during the elections.
“It is now clear that the President has been deceived by the CBN and some elements in his government into buying into this overarching narrative, in the name of ensuring free and fair elections in 2023,” El-Rufai said in his statewide broadcast late Thursday.
The PUNCH reports that Buhari, while addressing the nation Thursday morning, had said the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes were no longer legal tender in the country. He, however, said the old N200 note would be legal tender for the next 60 days, till April 10, 2023, while urging Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the CBN.
But El-Rufai, who knocked the Federal Government for “disobeying the Supreme Court order” restarting her from banning the use of the old naira notes, insisted that the old naira notes remained legal tender in the state.
The governor warned that the state government and its agents would seal any facility that refused to recognise the old naira notes as legal tender in the state.
“The Kaduna State Government and its agencies shall seal any facility that refuses to accept the old notes as legal tender and prosecute the owners. If need be, we shall take further consequential actions according to the law,” he said.
El-Rufai assured that no citizen of the state would lose the old naira notes despite the President’s pronouncement, saying, “Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you.”
The governor in the broadcast titled, ‘Let us stand up strongly for democracy, peace and national unity,’ said, “There is no reason why the old notes and the new notes should not coexist until the old notes are gradually withdrawn over the years as is done in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
“It is unfortunate that in implementing this policy, Nigeria is departing from global best practice, without any compelling justification. The Kaduna State Government did all these, not in opposition to any person or authority, but because we stand with our people and their interests.
“When it was clear that our recommendations will not be seriously considered, the Kaduna State Government decided, along with the governments of Kogi and Zamfara states to declare a dispute with the Federal Government.
“In line with the provisions of the Constitution, we approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to invoke its original jurisdiction to hear us and the cries of our people. The Court did on February 8, and ordered that the deadline of February 10th for all the ‘old’ notes ceasing to be legal tender be rescinded until the determination of the suit.”
El-Rufai said the ruling applied to the Federal Government and its agencies like the CBN, and all commercial banks.
