In a direct defiance to President Muhammadu Buhari's decree, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has advised residents to accept the old N500 and N1000 notes as lawful cash.
Mr El-Rufai issued the command in a broadcast to state citizens on Thursday night.
During the program, Mr El-Rufai branded the naira redesign policy as a weapon used by members of the ruling party and close friends of President Buhari to prevent the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, from winning the 25 February poll.
Mr El-Rufai described the program as "mindless," claiming that it has caused immeasurable misery for regular people in the state.
"The unfortunate reality is that the victims of these stupid policies are the people who elected us. It is their well-being that is jeopardized. Many of our people have been left in a situation in which the money they deposited in banks has been physically taken, depriving them of the capacity to purchase food and other necessities. "Since their consumers can't access their hard-earned money, our traders can't sell as much as they used to," he explained.
He claimed that the Central Bank's leadership duped President Buhari into believing that the policy was intended to rein in politicians who collected large sums of money to buy votes during elections.
The governor further said that the strategy was orchestrated by members of the ruling party who were defeated in the party's presidential primary and are now anxious to derail the party and its candidates.
"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.
"After Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the candidate in June 2022, and later did not choose one of them as his running mate, this currency redesign strategy was developed to ensure that the APC presidential candidate is deprived of what they alleged is a massive war fund," he explained.
As a result, Mr El-Rufai urged state residents to continue recognizing the N500 and N1000 notes as lawful cash.
"For the avoidance of doubt, all old and new notes will continue to be used as lawful money in Kaduna State until the Supreme Court of Nigeria rules otherwise," he stated.
"I, therefore, appeal to the citizens of Kaduna State to continue to utilize the old and new notes side by side without any worry. The Kaduna State Government and its officials would close any establishment that refuses to accept old notes as lawful tender and prosecute the proprietors. If further action is required, we will take it in accordance with the law."
No comments: