Thirteen political parties which had been listed to by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the February 25 and March 11, 2023 have said they would withdraw from the elections, if the Central Bank of Nigeria shifts the February 10 deadline for naira swap.
The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, said on behalf of the other parties that they would withdraw from the 2023 general elections if this currency policy is suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted.”
The parties praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes, and insisted that the policy must stand.
They have also criticized the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments for suing the Federal Government at the Supreme Court to get court injunction to extend the deadline for the validity of three old notes.
It would be recalled that on January 29, the CBN had extended the deadline for the swapping of old naira notes with the redesigned notes till February 10, 2023, after pressure from Nigerians across different quarters especially the National Assembly and the organized Labour among others.
The governments of the state were demanding the FG to stop the full implementation of the naira redesign policy initiated by the CBN.
In the suits as plaintiffs are the three attorney generals and commissioners of justice for the three states, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is the sole respondent.
The three northern states in a motion ex-parte are urging the court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of terminating the February 10 timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the naira would cease to be legal tender.
