Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has said that the nationwide address by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday limiting the legal tender status of old notes to only N200 amounts to total disregard and disobedience of the ruling of February 8th which was extended further on Wednesday by the Supreme Court.
He noted that the misguided action of the Attorney-General of the federation to mislead the President into engaging in such public violation of the order of the highest court of the land shows how desperate the policy architects are to cause national chaos, by showing open contempt for the judiciary.
In a broadcast to the people of Kaduna State on Thursday evening, Governor El-Rufai, expressed concern that the peaceful coexistence as a state, and a nation, is being placed under deliberate danger using the intentional combination of fuel and cash supply disruptions.
He accused those in the corridors of power of using the instrumentality of the Federal Government and the President as convenient covers to truncate the nation’s democracy because they have personally lost out.
“It is also quite revealing that the Federal Government and its agencies not only disobeyed the February 8th ruling by continuing to say the February 10th deadline stands. It is shocking to see the blatant violation of the subsisting and continuing order of the Supreme Court that all the old and new notes should continue to be legal tender until it gives judgment in the case filed by the Kaduna State Government along with several others.
According to him, those behind the naira redesign policy are massively deploying resources and tools to defeat the political party that gave them the platform to serve the country just because they could not impose the candidates of their choice.
“The decision by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to recognise only N200 as legal tender till April 10th, that President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Thursday morning was offered to the state governments as part of proposals for an out-of-court settlement three days ago.
“The Federal Government asserted that this was offered because all the ‘old’ N1,000 and N500 notes had been destroyed. We rejected the offer and proved to the officials that not a single higher denomination note had been destroyed. We also believe that circulating N200 only to be inadequate in alleviating the suffering that we see every day. We insisted that all the components of the Supreme Court order should be complied with.
El-Rufai however appealed to the people of Kaduna State to remain calm and peaceful, and support the lawful means being utilised to solve the problems.
He also assured the people of Kaduna State that none of them will lose their money in old notes, even as he asked them to continue to use the old notes in their daily transactions pending the Supreme Court ruling.
“Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you. Whether you live in towns, villages or in our isolated rural communities, do not feel stampeded to deposit your old notes in the banks. Hold on to them. Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No deadline can render them worthless, ever. The law is on your side. The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and the Bills of Exchange Act, both oblige the CBN to recognise your old notes and give you value in new notes whenever you bring them to the CBN, even in the next 100 years.
“Therefore, as your governor, I wish to assure you that the Kaduna State Government, in collaboration with elected legislators, traditional institution, elected local government councils, markets, and traders associations will help you collect, record, document, collate and deliver all your old notes to the Kaduna branch of the Central Bank on your behalf into the new ones immediately after the elections. We will also ensure the delivery of your new notes to your various locations without any hardship or expense on your part. We shall save you any panic and the stress of a long journey from your community to the CBN office in our state capital, from March until December 2023 if need be.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all the old and new notes shall remain in use as legal tender in Kaduna State until the Supreme Court of Nigeria decides otherwise. I therefore appeal to all residents of Kaduna State to continue to use the old and new notes side by side without any fear. The Kaduna State Government and its agencies shall seal any facility that refuses to accept the old notes as legal tender and prosecute the owners. If need be, we shall take further consequential actions according to the law.
“While urging you all not to fall for these antics of the enemies of Nigeria, please be patient and continue to exercise resilience in the face of open provocation and deliberate disinformation. We encourage you to be ready with your PVC to vote in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. We are doing all we can to ensure that it is peaceful, orderly and hitch-free. I appeal to you to understand the shenanigans of these unpatriotic elements in Abuja and ensure you vote massively for the intended victims of these last-minute policies of needless hardship and incitement of the citizens – our party, the APC and its candidates in all the elections”.
“The Kaduna State Government is making this appeal, and taking all these measures to shield our people from the terrible consequences of the currency redesign policy. We seek to protect our people’s hard-earned money, their ability to engage in trade and exchange and buy what they need. We also seek to protect their civic rights, liberties and freedoms under a democratic dispensation. I call on the people of Kaduna State to remain peaceful and vigilant in the face of brazen attempts to engineer crisis in order to get a pretext for unconstitutional or undemocratic actions.
“In conclusion, our Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked me to convey his greetings, empathy and words of encouragement to the good people of Kaduna State. He urges us to remain patient, pray for our country and remain vigilant in our pursuit of Renewed Hope”.
(Channels News)
