Old Naira Notes Remain Legal Tender In Kaduna - Governor El-Rufai
Category: Nigeria News
In a direct challenge to the directive of President
Muhammadu Buhari, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has asked residents of the
state to accept the old N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender.
Mr
El-Rufai gave the directive in a broadcast to residents of the state on
Thursday night.
READ: Banks, Filling Stations, Supermarkets Reject Old Naira Notes
During the broadcast, Mr El-Rufai described the naira redesign policy as
a weapon by members of the ruling party and close allies of President
Buhari
bent on stopping the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC),
Bola Tinubu, from winning the 25 February election.
Describing the policy as
“mindless”, Mr El-Rufai said it has caused untold hardship for ordinary people
of the state, who he said are victims of the policy.
“The sad fact
is that the victims of these mindless policies are the people that elected us.
It is their welfare that is being threatened.
READ: We Have Been Begging Banks To Take New Notes, We Will Start Penalizing Them – CBN
Many of our people have been left in a situation where the money they
put in banks has literally been confiscated, depriving them of the ability to
buy food and basic necessities. Our traders cannot sell as much as they used
to because their customers have no access to their hard-earned money,” he
said.
He said President
Buhari
was deceived by the leadership of the Central Bank to accept the narrative
that the policy was meant to check politicians who amassed huge cash to buy
votes during the elections.
The governor also said the policy was
orchestrated by some members of the ruling party who lost out at the party’s
presidential primary and are now desperate to frustrate the parry and its
candidates.
READ: Naira Notes Will Be Out Of Circulation Soon – CBN Official
“It is important for the people of Kaduna State, and indeed Nigeria, to
know that contrary to the public pronouncements and apparent good intentions,
this policy was conceived and sold to the President by officials who
completely lost out in the Gubernatorial and Presidential Primaries of the APC
in June 2022.
“Once
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
emerged as the candidate in June 2022, and subsequently did not pick one of
them as his running mate, this currency redesign policy was conceived to
ensure that the APC presidential candidate is deprived of what they alleged is
a humongous war chest,” he said.
Mr El-Rufai therefore directed
residents of the state to continue accepting the N500 and N1000 notes as legal
tender.
READ: Naira Redesign: CBN Direct Banks To Open on Saturdays
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The governor’s directive is a direct affront to the directive of
President
Buhari
on Thursday morning which limits the legal tender of the naira to include the
N200 notes.
READ: President Buhari Unveils Re-Designed Naira Notes
Mr
Buhari’s directive was in clear violation of the order of Nigeria’s Supreme Court
which stated that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should remain legal
tender until the determination of a suit brought before it by Mr El-Rufai and
some state governors.
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