The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, said those against yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court on CBN’s naira redesign policy are ‘misguided’ and ‘blinded by political chauvinism’.
Matawalle disclosed this in a statement on Thursday afternoon in reaction to the ruling and the controversies that trailed it.
Note that he is one of the three state governors, alongside Kaduna and Kogi governors, that sued for a temporary halt to the apex bank’s impending ban on the use of the old currencies.
Since the ruling on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has appealed to the Nigerian Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit by the three states, arguing that the case is without merit.
Misguided comments: But the Zamfara Governor has insisted that anyone against the apex court’s ruling is misguided. He said:
- “Following the uncouth comments trailing the decision of the Apex Court to listen to and act on the demand of the triumvirate governors on naira swap, Matawalle carpeted the attacks as mere political vendetta. I am fully convinced that those against our action and victory at the Supreme Court are either misguided or blinded by political chauvinism.
- “I and my Kaduna and Kogi states counterparts found it necessary to approach the Supreme Court in order to save the economy of Nigeria from being plunged into more crises. And to relieve the pains that ordinary Nigerians are experiencing in the face of scarcity of both the old and new naira notes.”
He added that the decision of the Supreme Court on this matter is the best way to address the current problem and its impending consequences at the moment.”
- “At this critical time of our transition, it is only patriotic for all of us to put political considerations aside and address the challenges at hand so that together, we can cross the bridge ahead of us.”
In case you missed it: Nigeria’s Supreme Court yesterday temporarily halted any plans to ban the use of the old naira notes across the country.
- The ruling was issued on Wednesday morning by a seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, halting an exparte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, as the states dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over the scarcity of old and new naira
- Justice Okoro also adjourned the matter until February 15 for a hearing of the main suit.