There was a torrent of gratitude yesterday for the Supreme Court ruling restraining the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria and banks from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old naira notes.
All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said governors elected on the party’s platform saved the country from “avoidable and dangerous political crises” by filing the case.
Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike said the state would join the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states at the Supreme Court.
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said the ruling would relieve the suffering caused by what he called a “callous” and “myopic” policy by the CBN.
The Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN) asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release old and new notes to the economy following the order.
Tinubu: APC governors pulled us back from precipice
Tinubu commended the three APC governors for taking the initiative to institute the suit against the CBN.
In a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, the presidential candidate said the governors acted well on behalf of the hapless Nigerians who have been made to bear the brunt of the poorly-implemented naira redesign policy.
He said: “I want to salute the courage of our governors and most especially the Progressives Governors in APC who acted to save our country from avoidable and dangerous political crises and social unrest which the Central Bank policy on new Naira notes has brought on our country.
“Our country was dangerously careering toward anarchy and political and economic shutdown.
“But with the Supreme Court interim ruling, our country has been pulled back from the precipice.
“We thank our Supreme Court Justices for ruling wisely on the side of the people who have been subjected to undue agony and pains since this policy was announced.
“The Federal Government and relevant stakeholders can now sit down and work out a better framework on how to proceed with the new policy without causing any social and economic disruption and inconvenience to our people.
“We have examples of other countries that have successfully and seamlessly changed their currencies to learn from.
“Those countries give a long time, at least 12 months to effect the currency change. They do not engage in a CBN-like Fire Brigade approach.
“We have seen how a good policy can be poorly implemented to cause unintended problems for the people who should be the beneficiaries.
“While lessons have been learnt, we must now move on as a country and people with a Renewed Hope for a better tomorrow.
“The sole aim of my running to be the president of our country is to make life better and more abundant for our people and this is an ideal to which I will remain eternally committed.”
The APC standard bearer urged the CBN to enforce the Supreme Court ruling by taking all necessary steps to ensure sufficient availability of naira notes (whether old or new) and properly sensitise the public on the ruling and the consequent validity of old naira.
Wike: we won’t support anti-people policies
Wike described the policy as anti-people, following the hardship it inflicted on the economy.
He spoke at the County State School, Emilaghan in Central Abua, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kicked off its campaign at Abua/Odual Local Government Area.
The governor commended the Supreme Court for saving democracy by halting the CBN from banning the use of old N200, N500 and N1000 notes after February 10, 2023.
He described the intervention of the Supreme Court as timely saying some elements were bent on derailing the ongoing democratic process.
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Wike said: “I want to, on behalf of the Rivers State Government, commend the Supreme Court for what they have done to save the masses of this country and to save democracy.
“The Supreme Court has stopped the CBN from embarking on stopping the old Nigerian Naira notes from circulating.
“Let me commend my brother states Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara who took it upon themselves to go and challenge the Federal Government at the Supreme Court.
“I also want to say that the Rivers State Government will join them in that suit to challenge what the CBN is doing.
“We will not support anything that will go against the masses, anything that makes the masses suffer.”
El-Rufia: it’s relief from ‘callous policy’
The Kaduna governor, in a statement by his spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, thanked “the justices for their decision”.
He appealed to federal authorities to treat the ruling “as an opportunity to relieve human suffering.”
The governor said: “The governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states were compelled to approach the Supreme Court to mitigate the needless stress imposed on ordinary people and their livelihoods by the ill-timed, incompetent planning and execution of an overnight cashless policy.”
He argued that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) advanced no emergency justification for “this callous decision to deny people access to their deposited cash”.
El-Rufai added: “We have engaged extensively with the Federal Government and the CBN.
“This has included furnishing evidence-based demonstration of the threat to public welfare and economic activities by this myopic policy that would have been condemned as draconian and insensitive was it being pursued by an occupying power.
“It is not to the credit of a sovereign, democratic government that this level of suffering is being callously imposed when there is neither a compelling emergency situation nor clear benefits for citizens and the economy.”
The statement said the Kaduna State Government hoped that a review of the currency swap policy would be undertaken to fashion out a better implementation programme.
The programme, the governor said, should include a timeline that provides enough old and new currency notes for citizens, prioritises public welfare and restores economic activities.
“Like other elected APC state governments, we have advised that this should be based on a whole-of-government approach that pulls together all the necessary institutions of the federal and state governments, and recognises global best practices and reasonable timeline for implementation,” El-Rufai added.