posted February 18, 2023
…tell Nigerians Why You’re Attacking The President
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Friday, wondered why Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; amongst other top-ranking members of the All Progressives Congress are attacking the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) over the naira redesign policy.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said it is surreal that the governors and top echelons of the ruling party are the ones protesting that the naira policy is meant to reduce the chances of APC winning the February 25 and March 11 general elections instead of supporting the policy of their own government.
HURIWA urged the Department of State Services to immediately interrogate El-Rufai and Badaru for declaring old notes as acceptable in their states in clear contravention of Buhari’s declaration of Thursday. HURIWA said rather that rebel against President Muhammadu Buhari’s irregular and prejudicial pronouncement, these governors could have filed a contempt charge against the Federal Attorney General and minister of Justice.
The group asked the APC governors and federal lawmakers including Gbajabiamila and Ado Doguwa why they are afraid of the policy and if they are hiding billions of old N1,000 and N500 notes to buy votes?
Recall that 10 APC governors including El-Rufai, Ganduje, Badaru have sued the Federal Government at the Supreme Court over the deadline for the validity of three old banknotes, insisting that the February 10 deadline be extended by six months or more, after the 2023 general elections.
The Supreme Court this week affirmed that its February 8 order restraining the Federal Government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes still subsisted. The apex court also barred the FG from implementing its demonetization policy and ending the cash-swap policy on February 10, pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiffs/applicants’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction on February 22.
However, the President, in a Thursday broadcast, literally overruled the Supreme Court by banning the old N500 and N1000 notes and extending the validity of old N200 notes by 60 days.
APC governors and stalwarts have since gone on verbal rampage attacking their own President and accusing him of trying to incite a military takeover and interim government by limiting the chances of the ruling party which he is the leader.
HURIWA’s Onwubiko wondered thus: “APC governors owe Nigerians clear explanation why they are attacking President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision on the redesigning of the naira notes and why they think the policy is meant to reduce the chances of APC winning the election.
“Governors Ganduje of Kano, Elrufai of Kaduna and Bello of Kogi are amongst these APC governors relying on their fallacy of fighting for the common man to attack the policy which in itself is not clinically executed by the Central Bank of Nigeria but done haphazardly.
“The DSS should immediately investigate the APC governors trying to cause chaos, especially El-Rufai and Badaru who defiantly said Buhari’s declaration does not matter and consequently ordered residents of Kaduna and Jigawa to keep spending the banned notes, creating commotion at banks and riots in town. The two governors are threatening national security considering that currency matter is on the exclusive list and the prerogative of the executive and the President.
“Are the APC governors hiding billions of old one thousand-naira notes meant to buy votes? This clarification is necessary because some if not all of the attacks by the APC governors on President Muhammadu Buhari sounds illogical and cheap thinking.”