Naira Scarcity: el-Rufai, APC Governors Dare Buhari

By Eric Elezuo

With the presidential election just a few days away, it appears that these are not the best times for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The party has been enmeshed in one internal crisis after another and cohesion seems to be a far flung option. The ruling party’s myriads of crisis and suspicion against one another resurrected and took a different turn with the designing policy of the naira notes, which affected the higher denominations of 1000, 500 and 200 naira notes.

On October 26, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the introduction of redesigned 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes into the country’s financial system. However, since the notes were unveiled, Nigerians across different parts of the country have been struggling to access them from banks and ATM cash points, prompting the question as to what happened to the new naira notes, and who is hiding them. The scarcity has led to series of frustrations and uprisings including protests in different parts of the country with bank facilities vandalised and lives lost.

The frustration caused by the scarcity of the new notes, which also worsened trade and business transactions, made the CBN to extend the deadline for the phasing out of the old notes from the original January 31 deadline to a new February 10. The measure did not in any way help the situation with blames and counter blames continue to trail the polity as many Nigerians working in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy have been scrambling for the new currency, but all to no avail.

In what looked like respite to some politicians, the Supreme Court gave an interim order for the continued use of all the old notes until it finally rules on a lawsuit brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara challenging the new currency redesign. Though nine other states have so far joined in the suit. In its sitting, the Supreme Court did not reverse that order, but adjourned the suit to 22 February, with a clear indication of maintenance of status quo.

It would be recalled that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, had accused Buhari for causing the fuel and naira scarcity so that his presidential ambition could flop. He alleged at a rally in Abeokuta that he (Tinubu) was the target of all the policies being churned out as well as the fuel crisis that has lingered for close to six months.

However, despite acknowledging the Supreme Court interim ruling in a broadcast President Muhammadu Buhari made, he insisted that the old notes ceased to be a legal tender in what many called frontal attack against the Supreme Court. Though the president said he consulted widely before arriving at his decision, lots of condemnation followed majorly from his party men with Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai leading the pack.

“As an administration that respects the rule of law, I have also noted that the subject matter is before the courts of our land and some pronouncements have been made, I similarly consulted widely with representatives of the State Governors as well as the Council of State,” the president had said in defence.

“To further ease the supply pressures, particularly to our citizens, I have given approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023, when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender,” the president added.

Barely 24 hours after Buhari’s broadcast, the governor of Kaduna State, who also ascribe to himself the status of founding member of the ruling APC, in a statewide broadcast, said that all old naira notes will remain in use the state until and unless the Supreme Court declares otherwise in total defiance of the order made by President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast.

In el-Rufai’s broadcast to the people of Kaduna state, the governor said, “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.”

According to him, “it is bad economics to so curtail economic activity and the velocity of circulation of money. It is also insensitive to deliberately cause cash shortage and then seek to instigate the public against the mostly innocent commercial banks. Even the most honest and prudent action by banks cannot magically make N400bn to look like N2.1 trillion.”

The governor said “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.”

In his broadcast titled “let us stand up strongly for democracy, peace and national unity”, the governor appealed to all residents of Kaduna State to continue to use the old and new notes side by side without any fear.

El-Rufai said “we have been officially informed that the currency redesign policy is to reduce money laundering and render useless stashes of high denomination Naira that many politicians and public officers have accumulated through corruption and other illicit activities.

“We had privately expressed concerns about the timing of the currency design policy and the unrealistic timeline for its implementation. We were assured that all steps have been taken to ensure that we avoid the recent experience of India, where implementation of a similar demonetisation policy targeted at politicians ended up hurting the poorest and small businesses the most.

“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 now 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, in the name of ensuring free and fair elections in 2023.

“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.”

In the same vein, the Chairman of the APC, rising from a meeting with some governors elected on the party’s platform and the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, threw their weight behind el-Rufai and the Supreme Court, asking Buhari to reverse his orders.

Addressing the press after the meeting, which about seven governors, including Kano Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, boycotted, Adamu said; “I am sure you are quite aware of the fact that a meeting comprising of APC governors was held today and the leadership of the NWC of our great party was summoned for this afternoon and we had discussions and at the end of the discussions, we have resolved as follows and this resolution is without prejudice whatsoever to the case that is lying at the Supreme Court at this point in time. This has to do with the issue of currency redesign.

“We note very seriously that the programme and its implementation is causing tremendous difficulties to the people of Nigeria and to the national economy.

“That, we urge the Attorney General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to respect the Supreme Court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting.

“That the meeting is urging His Excellency, Mr President to intervene in resolving issues that are causing this great difficulties to the economy”.

Resonating the chairman’s position, the Chairman of the APC Progressive Governors Forum PGF, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state, said all the parties at the meeting endorsed the resolution.

He said; “We are on the same page. The APC Governors Forum, the NWC is one party. We are all together.

“The chairman said the governors and the party are one and the same and I am very proud about the conduct of our campaigns by our presidential candidate under the able leadership of our party led by Abdullahi Adamu and the DG of the Campaign Council and the governors alongside all our APC candidates across the country who have been doing a tremendous job of mobilizing Nigerians.”

Earlier, Ganduje, had accused President Buhari of plotting to scuttle the forthcoming general election and form an interim government with the naira redesigning policy, adding that he was trying to ensure that the candidate of the APC, Tinubu loses the presidential election.

Ganduje’s outburst was contained in an audio message aired on local radio stations in Kano, where he said Buhari’s “anti-democracy policies” would affect the electoral fortunes of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that Buhari was hellbent on redesigning the currency even to the detriment of his party.

He said: “No doubt, we know the value and worth of a politician. That’s why if you look at the things going on now, you will feel like crying.

“This is someone who had contested many times and lost. We now formed a merger, and he won. But look at what he’s doing now. He is just after destroying the party that brought him to power. Otherwise, how do you explain the essence of this naira redesign policy?

“Have you weighed the implications of this policy in an election period? What is the intention behind this for God’s sake?

“Why can’t he wait till after the election, or why didn’t he introduce it seven and a half years ago?

“So every politician will be suspicious of the motive behind the policy at this time,” Mr Ganduje lamented.

He said it was regrettable that the federal government is still adamant about enforcing the new monetary policy despite warnings from the World Bank and some world leaders.

“How can you allow the CBN governor, who isn’t a politician and lacks knowledge, to influence such a decision.

“As a leader, you allowed the banking sector to be in crisis. If not that our democracy is in shambles, who will allow such a thing to happen.

“So he (Buhari) doesn’t have answers to all these questions, and democracy doesn’t support such decisions. And that’s why we took the matter to court to express our misgivings because we see it as a plot to scuttle the forthcoming election and set up an interim government,” Ganduje concluded.

However, knocks and kudos have trailed the opponents of the president’s decision as well as the APC governors. Constitutional lawyers including Prof Mike Ozekhome, Mr. Monday Ubani and Olu Adegboruwa have faulted both the CBN and president on one hand for flaunting the orders of the Supreme Court, and el-Rufai and his APC colleagues on the other hand for daring the pronouncements of the president. They unanimously agreed that such utterances and affronts are capable of dragging the nation into anarchy.

While the president has maintained a dignified silence ever since, presidential aide, Adamu Garuba, challenged Ganduje and el-Rufai, claiming that it is only those that have stocked up stolen money for vote buying are the ones complaining.

In all these, it is only the APC attacking the APC!