Governor Nasir El-rufai.
Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna state says that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN merely recolored the Naira and has illegally confiscated citizens' money contrary to the currency redesign and swap approved by President Mohammadu Buhari, according to a report by The Vanguard.
In a statement entitled, ‘Nigeria Update: ABC of Currency Redesign vs. XYZ of Cash Confiscation Explained’, which he shared on his Twitter page on Sunday night, El-rufai also accused the CBN of causing trade collapse, economic contraction, and hardship to the citizenry.
El- rufai's comments are in line with his state broadcast last Thursday during which he strongly criticized the federal government and the Central Bank's implementation of the Naira redesign policy.
His tweet reads, “Currency redesign was approved by the President and announced. Currency recoloring resulted.
“Currency swap was envisaged by s.20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act as approved by PMB. Swap means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes & I receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more, no less."
Continuing, he wrote, “During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, currency confiscation was then unilaterally and unlawfully implemented by the CBN.
"Trade and exchange have collapsed. Human suffering, impoverishment, and economic contraction resulted.
Governor El-rufai reiterated that the policy is being exploited to sabotage the coming general elections in the country.
“The policy objective was derailed into a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the elections to prevent vote-buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was lawfully approved failed.”
“Some State Governments had no choice but to approach the Supreme Court for adjudication,” he said.
He further stated that the ruling All Progressives Congress and all the Governors of the party unanimously agree that the Federal Government must review the implementation of the new policy.
In a broadcast to the people of Kaduna state last week, Governor El- rufai said President Buhari was deceived to buy into the program by disgruntled federal officials and politicians who lost out in APC primary elections and are bent on seeing the party lose the elections massively.
He also directed that both old and new Naira notes remain legal tender in Kaduna state until the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.
El- rufai's directive counters President Buhari's declaration earlier that the old N200 note should be released back and allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 Naira notes, until April 10, 2023.
Many have described governor El- rufai's broadcast as an act of treason.
Economy. Politics and Opinion.
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