Naira Redesign Policy: Respect Supreme Court Order – Adamu, APC Govs To Buhari

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu on Sunday joined the aggrieved Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) in demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari must respect the existing Supreme Court order suspending the Federal Government’s Naira redesign and swap policy.

Rising from an emergency meeting between the APC National Working Committee (NWC) and the Party’s governors in Abuja, Senator Adamu said it is imperative that the trio of President Buhari, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, urgently retrace their steps in order to cushion the hardship being faced by most Nigerians.

The National Chairman, who spoke at the end of the meeting that lasted more than four hours at the Party National Secretariat in Abuja, said; “We note very seriously that the programme (Naira redesign and swap policy) and its implementation is causing tremendous difficulties to the people of Nigeria and to the national economy.”

Specifically charging the President and his two lieutenants to be law-abiding, he said; “We urge the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to respect the Supreme Court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting.”

Flanked by the APC Governors present at the meeting, Senator Adamu maintained that the lack of respect for the Supreme Court intervention has negatively impacted the nation’s economy and the citizenry, urging the President to make urgent moves to resolve all the issues currently causing great difficulties to the economy.

In his remarks, the Governor of Kebbi State and Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, said; “Once the Chairman spoke, the governors and the party are one and the same. And I am very proud of the conduct of our campaign by our presidential candidate.

“The Director General of the campaign and indeed, governors and the candidates across the country have been doing a tremendous job of mobilising the Nigerian populace and we are very impressed with the support of the majority of Nigeria”, the Kebbi governor said

Reports indicated that the APC presidential candidate, AAsiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who stormed the venue about two hours into the meeting, was, however, not part of the media briefing addressed by the Party chairman.

The former Lagos State governor, who was seen leaving the Party National Secretariat with some of the governors after the meeting, declined to speak with journalists when asked to comment on the meeting’s outcome.

Though not openly voiced out by the APC National Chairman during the briefing, insiders at the meeting hinted it was agreed in principle that there should be restraint by the governors and other party stakeholders in publicly confronting the President over the contentious policy.

Aside from the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) Chairman, Governor Alhaji Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state, in attendance at the Sunday meeting were governors of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Yayaya Bello (Kogi), Mohammed Bello (Niger), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), and Mai Mala Buni (Yobe).

Other State Chief Executives included the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Biodun Oyebanjo (Ekiti), the Deputy Governors of Imo State, Placid Njoku, and Mohammed Manir Yakubu of Katsina State.

Amid the nationwide public outrage over the Naira redesign policy, some APC governors have remained vocal in criticising President Muhammadu Buhari’s stand on the issue, claiming that the N500 and N1000 notes ban was in contempt of the Supreme Court order that the CBN should stay action in implementing the February 10 deadline for use of old Naira notes.

In his anger, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State alleged that the Naira redesign policy was aimed at truncating Nigeria’s democracy, while his Kaduna State counterpart, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, urged residents of the North West State to discountenance the Presidential directive for running foul of the law.

On their part, Governors Dapo Abidoun (Ogun), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) have threatened actions against individuals and corporate bodies found to be rejecting the old N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender in their states.