Senator Datti Baba- Ahmed.
The Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, said at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, that if Peter Obi is elected president, no constituent part of Nigeria would give conflicting directives in powers reserved for the federal government, The Blueprint reports.
He was reacting to questions from journalists on El-rufai's state broadcast on Thursday to residents of Kaduna state, during which the governor directed that both old and new Naira notes remain legal tender in the state until the Supreme Court says otherwise.
The governor's pronouncement contradicts the position of President Mohammadu Buhari who had earlier on the same Thursday, in a national broadcast permitted that only the old N200 Naira notes be pushed back into circulation as legal tender.
Buhari had declared "To further ease the supply pressures, particularly to our citizens, I have approved the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023, when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender."
Datti said El-rufai's conflicting statement is an act of treason and wondered why the president has kept silent about it.
“Should anybody attempt this kind of gross act of indiscipline under our leadership, the full weight of the law will be brought to bear, ”Datti Baba-Ahmed said.
“We have been more than bewildered by failures we have witnessed in the last eight years. However, it is close to an act of treason.
“This is an act of treason if an elected governor of a constituent part of a sovereign will give direct instruction to the contrary, what is constitutionally preserved to the federal government.
"Like it or hate it, Buhari’s government was duly elected and sworn in. Nigeria is a sovereign state, and currency matters are sovereign issues.
Datti Baba-Ahmed further made a veiled criticism of El-rufai's attitude to court judgments and his stance on other "failures" of the Buhari administration.
“No state governor, especially, those who have serially failed in implementing their court judgments in their political career, has the right to challenge the government.
“However, they know themselves better, they know how they came to power, they know how much they collected from each other and what transpired way back in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
"Why a Commander-in-Chief cannot descend, irrespective of immunity of a state governor, and why as a Commander-in-Chief, he gave out the executive order, clean constitutional, a state governor goes to say that people should continue to exchange those currencies, this is to say there are two authorities in our country.
Governor Nasir El- rufai.
“Why President Buhari is silent about this is best known to them. Immunity does not mean that offense is not committed. This is a treasonable offense. Why Buhari is keeping quiet and letting this pass, we don’t know, they know each other better.
“These are state governments that contributed the largest votes to bring in Buhari's government. One is Kano, Kaduna, of course, there is Katsina but we have not heard of Katsina. These are the states that are at the forefront of fighting Buhari’s government because of currency.
“These are state governments who have not fought Buhari’s government for failure to deliver to secure Nigeria. Their states have become so insecure that the train from Kaduna to Abuja was attacked; they have not challenged Buhari on that.
“They have not challenged Buhari on when the naira failed from N200 a dollar to N750 or more. It is only a drama to elections that they challenge the president to the extent of giving order to the extent of treason. Lawyers will tell you better.
Datti Baba- Ahmed also condemned President Buhari's failure to obey the Supreme Court on the extension of the deadline for use of old Naira notes.
"To say the least, it was unfortunate. The least I know is that when a competent court of law, for that matter, the Supreme Court is addressing an issue, all parties stay action until judgment is delivered. How much more the president and commander in chief , with all the instruments of government, for that matter, the office of the AGF?
“We have been more than bewildered by the poor quality of leadership in Nigeria. That is, the only thing that can explain this phenomenon- that the Supreme Court has even adjourned a hearing or reserved ruling and a commander in chief goes out to take another action.
“This is classic poor-quality leadership. It's a standard hallmark of what we have been witnessing. However, we have weeks to go, now, days to the election, maybe a few months. We are now challenging the offshoot of this government.
“Our opponents are the candidates of the APC and PDP and any other party that happens to be around. Right now the best we can get out of this government is some form of credible election for us to ease them out and usher in the Nigeria of our dreams.”
While expressing his confidence that Labour Party will be victorious in the coming presidential election, Baba Datti- Ahmed noted that out of the 18 political parties contesting the position,15 have dropped out of the race because of their inability to undertake nationwide campaigns while both PDP and APC are allegedly engrossed in crisis.
Politics and Opinion.
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