The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has raised the alarm that people behind the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election are regrouping and using the current crisis generated by the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to undermine Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy.
Ganduje said that these groups of individuals are disguising themselves in unknown political parties and working with the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to further impose an unfeasible cash policy taking its toll on the Nigerian masses.
The governor’s comment was a reaction to an interim injunction issued by Justice Eleojo Enenche of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria from extending the 10-day deadline set for the currency swap.
According to a statement issued by the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, Governor Ganduje said the open support for the policy by the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, also laid bare the grand complicity between the opposition and the CBN “to deliberately thwart the nation’s hard-earned democracy by imposing harsh policies calculated to weaken the masses.
CBN being rigid naira redesign policy implementation
Governor Ganduje accused the CBN and supporters of the naira redesign policy of being rigid in the implementation of the “harsh and insensitive” cash policy, despite the widespread outrage by Nigerians, including the National Assembly and state governors.
- Ganduje in the statement said, ‘’It was unfortunate that the CBN and its collaborators are insisting unnecessarily on the imposition of an unreasonable time frame for the old Naira notes to cease to be legal tender, in total refutation of the obvious national dearth in the necessary technological infrastructure for the process.
- “The rigid insistence on the implementation of these harsh, inhuman and insensitive cash policies to a point of neglecting their widespread rejection by the vast majority of Nigerians including the National Assembly and all state governors, is an ominous agenda for the undermining of the nation and consequent scurrying of a smooth transition to a freely and fairly elected successive administration.”
For the record
- Recall that on February 6, 2023, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court barred the CBN and President Muhammadu Buhari and 27 commercial banks from suspending or interfering with the currency redesign terminal date of February 10 or issuing any directive contrary to the said date.
- The court in its order restrained the CBN from extending the deadline on the use of old naira notes.
- In an ex parte motion by 5 out of the 13 political parties, Justice Eneojo Eneche of the FCT court also granted an order directing the Chief Executive Officers (CEOS) of the banks, to show cause why they should not be arrested and prosecuted for the financial sabotage of the country, by illegally hoarding and not disbursing the new N200, N500, and N1000 bank notes, despite the supply of such notes by the central bank.
Hmmm no vote buying,
Yes, the redesign is a necessary step to mop up excess currency outside banks; but it has been most inefficiently carried out inflicting heavy pain and irrecoverable losses on the masses; the 13 groups demanding for non-extension is a rebirth of the infamous ABN of Babangida fake transition. ABN used the court just as these P=pro-DPD alliance is again using the court. Let us see where these will take Nigeria. After all, them bandits and unscrupulous have access to millions of the new notes while the innocent common man are denied access.