Ten Major Highlights Of El-Rufai’s State Broadcast On Buhari, CBN Naira Policy

Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, addressed residents of the State on Thursday night over the ongoing crisis occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new naira policy.

Naija News reports that Nigerians have been lamenting across states as they struggle to meet their basic daily needs while their businesses also suffer losses due to the scarcity of both new and old N1000, N500 and N200 notes in the country.

Recall that the CBN had given February 10th as the deadline for the validity of the old notes. However, some state governors debated the verdict of the apex bank and proceeded to the Supreme Court.

The highest court subsequently granted their prayer and asked that the old and new notes remain as legal tenders until a verdict is given from its ruling.

However, President Muhammadu Buhari, in his national broadcast earlier on Thursday, February 16, declared that the CBN naira policy stands and that both the ₦1,000 and ₦5,000 old Naira notes are no longer legal tenders.

He, however, directed the apex bank to make enough old N200 notes available, which will run concurrently with the new notes until April 10, 2023.

However, Naija News reports that Governor El-Rufai dared the Nigerian leader on Thursday night after he declared all the ‘banned’ notes as legal tender in Kaduna State.

El-Rufai said that until the Supreme Court says otherwise, the state’s residents must continue transacting with the old and new notes.

Naija News deems it fit to extract ten major points from El-Rufai’s statewide broadcast on Thursday night, and they read as follows:

1- El-Rufai Regrets Suffering Of The Masses

The Kaduna State Governor, during the broadcast, regretted the needless suffering the citizens were enduring due to the prolonged fuel shortage and the difficulties occasioned by the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain claimed he understood the people’s pain and assured them that he was working with his counterparts from other states to end their pains.

2- We Are In Support Of The Naira Policy

Governor El-Rufai said, as he had earlier stated, that he and other governors had been officially informed of the currency redesign policy, and they supported it from the start.

He acknowledged that the Naira policy was meant to reduce money laundering and render useless stashes of high denomination of the Naira that many politicians and public officers have accumulated through corruption and other illicit activities.

3- Buhari Was Deceived

Having acknowledged the target of the Naira Policy, Governor El-Rufai said President Buhari was deceived into consenting to the policy, stressing that the policy was implemented at the wrong time.

He said: “In official briefings to the President, the Central Bank of Nigeria constantly alluded to the fact that the policy also targets politicians who have accumulated a huge war chest for vote buying during the elections. It is clear that the President has been deceived by the Central Bank of Nigeria and some elements in his government into buying into this overarching narrative to ensure free and fair elections in 2023.”

4- Naira Policy Targeted At Tinubu’s Presidential Ambition

El-Rufai alleged in his statewide broadcast that the naira policy was conceived to truncate the presidential ambition of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He asserted that the plot began after Tinubu emerged as the ruling party’s flagbearer when it conducted its presidential primary election months ago. The Kaduna state governor alleged that since Tinubu had defeated their (unnamed persons) preferred candidate, they sought to incite the electorates against the APC candidate.

El-Rufai said: “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. They also sought to achieve any one or more of following objectives:

“a. Create a nationwide shortage of cash so that citizens are incited to vote against APC candidates across the board resulting in massive losses for the Party in all the elections;

b. Ensure that the cash crunch is so serious, along with the contrived and enduring fuel shortage existing since September 2022, that the 2023 Elections do not hold at all, leading to an Interim National Government to be led by a retired Army General;

c. Sustain the climate of shortage of fuel, food and other necessities, leading to mass protests, violence and breakdown of law and order that would provide a fertile foundation for a military take-over.”

5- Old And New Naira Notes Should Coexist

Governor El-Rufai insists that the Federal Government should allow whatever remains of the old notes to circulate concurrently with the new notes.

He noted that this was one of their recommendation to the federal government when they filed a suit at the Supreme Court.

“We recommended that the Federal Government should also hasten to ensure that more of the new notes are printed and brought into circulation. We thought that if the Nigerian Mint is incapable of printing the volume of cash needed as it appears, then necessary steps must urgently be taken to get a reliable supply source.

“There is no reason why the old and new notes should not coexist until the old notes are gradually withdrawn over the years as is done in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other countries. It is unfortunate that in implementing this policy, Nigeria is departing from global best practise without any compelling justification. The Kaduna State Government did all these, not in opposition to any person or authority, but because we stand with our people and their interests,” he said.

6- Why We Dragged The Federal Government To Supreme Court

Governor El-Rufai, again explained that he and his other governor friends decided to take the matter up when it dawned on them that their recommendations would not be seriously considered.

He said he and the Governors of Kogi and Zamfara States decided to settle the dispute with the Federal Government in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

The Kaduna State governor said: “We approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to invoke its original jurisdiction to hear us and the cries of our people. The Court did on February 8th and ordered that the deadline of February 10th for all the ‘old’ notes ceasing to be legal tender be rescinded until the determination of the suit. This ruling applies to the Federal Government, its agencies like the CBN, and all commercial banks! We are grateful to the Court for this ruling, and we had hoped that compliance by the CBN and the banks would bring relief to our people. It is clear that the architects of this policy are determined to continue inflicting maximum pain on the citizens to achieve their objectives outlined earlier.

“We hoped that the Federal Government of Nigeria would welcome this injunction as an opportunity to mitigate the needless human suffering being experienced and correct its course on this matter. No emergency situation justifies the rushed and seemingly deliberate incompetent execution of this policy. We suggested that compliance with the ruling would include adopting a whole-of-government approach that involves the agencies of the federal and state governments in modifying the design, and executing the implementation of the currency redesign policy.

7- Buhari Disregarded Supreme Court Order

Governor El-Rufai countered President Buhari’s nationwide broadcast on Thursday morning, saying it was a total disregard and disobedience of the ruling of February 8th, which was extended further by the Supreme Court.

According to him, the misguided action of the Attorney-General to mislead the President into engaging in this 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.

He stressed that the decision to recognise only N200 as legal tender till April 10, the President announced on Thursday morning, was offered to the state governments earlier as part of proposals for an out-of-court settlement, but they rejected it.

El-Rufai alleged the Federal Government asserted that this was offered because all the ‘old’ ₦1,000 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 is inadequate in alleviating the suffering we see every day. We insisted that all the components of the Supreme Court order should be complied with,” the Kaduna state governor said.

8- Be Calm And Peaceful

In his address, El-Rufai allays the residents’ fear, stating they will not lose their hard-earned money. He urged them to remain calm and peaceful and support the lawful means being utilised to solve the lingering problems.

He said: “On behalf of the Kaduna State Government, I wish to assure you that none of you would lose the money you have in old notes. 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.”

9- Get Your PVCs

Speaking on the forthcoming general elections, El-Rufai urged the citizens not to fall for the antics of the enemies of Nigeria, appealing to them to be patient and continue to exercise resilience in the face of open provocation and deliberate disinformation.

He encouraged the citizens to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ready to exercise their civic rights in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He assured them that he and other governors are doing all they can to ensure that the 2023 election is peaceful, orderly and hitch-free.

El-Rufai said: “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 and their ability to trade, 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 a crisis to get a pretext for unconstitutional or undemocratic actions.”

10- Tinubu Sent Me To You

Naija News reports that in the concluding part of his state address, Governor El-Rufai said APC presidential candidate, Tinubu has asked him to greet the state’s people and expressed his empathy and words of encouragement to them amid their current sufferings.

“Tinubu urges us to remain patient, pray for our country and remain vigilant in our pursuit of Renewed Hope. Thank you all for listening. God Bless Kaduna State. God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” El-Rufai concluded.