Governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) under the aegis of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) on Friday, paid President Muhammadu Buhari a visit, in a push to get him to rescind the currency swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has resulted in naira scarcity across the country.
The governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, disclosed this to journalists after the meeting at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said the forum urged Buhari to allow both the old and new naira notes to co-exist.
El-Rufai had earlier alleged that some policies such as the naira redesign are the handiwork of some elements in the presidency who don’t want the APC to win the February 25 elections. He said that fuel scarcity is also part of their plan to rile people up against the ruling party ahead of the forthcoming election.
The decision of the CBN to introduce the naira redesign policy close to Nigeria’s general elections is seen as part of the plan by the federal government to make the elections credible by curtailing vote-buying. The central bank introduced the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes in November ahead of schedule, with an earlier January 31 deadline for the old notes to be returned to the banks.
However, the policy has been met with chaos as there seems to be insufficient new naira notes to meet circulation demand. The apex bank has been forced to extend the deadline to February 10, given the backdrop of the currency scarcity.
El-Rufai said while the CBN mopped up over N2 trillion of the old note, it printed only N300 billion which was not enough. He said the central bank should have printed at least half of what they mopped up, which is N1 trillion if it wanted to implement the cashless policy.
The Kaduna State governor, who was in the company of his colleagues, including Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, said the governors appealed to the president to reconsider his stance, but he did not tell them yes or no.
He revealed that the PGF chairman, Atiku Bagudu, went back to meet the President privately with the hope to convince him.
The APC is the only political party in the country pushing for the continuous use of the old notes as the CBN implements the circulation of the new naira notes, a situation that is believed to be born of a plan to use stashed old notes to influence the election.
However, in response to the governors’ plea, Buhari asked to be given seven days to decide on the matter. He said having seen reports about cash shortages and the effect on local businesses and ordinary people, the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension will be used to crack down on the encumbrances mitigating the successful implementation of the currency redesign policy.
“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension, he said.
El-Rufai said the PGF reminded the president of the suffering the new policy has put the masses through. He said traders are losing goods and patronage due to the policy.
However, only time will tell if Buhari will yield to the governors’ plea. The president had accused banks of sabotaging the CBN’s efforts to make the new naira notes available.
“Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves, even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away,” he said.
