Not much of certainty and confidence trickled into Nigeria’s crinkling economy after the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the consolidated suit by 10 state governments challenging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Naira swap policy until February 22, 2023.
The apex court, which heard the case on Wednesday, was filled to capacity with the amazing presence of governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi State), along side a retinue of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and other lawyers.
The nation waited with bated breath in anticipation of a positive ruling from the Supreme Court that will clear the uncertainty that has permeated the atmosphere since the CBN flagged off the cashless policy.
Four states, namely, Kano, Niger, Ekiti and Ondo had applied to be joined with six other states in the suit against the CBN and the Federal Government.
Justice John Okoro, who is leading a seven-man Supreme Court panel, while pronouncing the adjournment, said the court should not lose sight of the case and its intention as it affects the suffering of Nigerians.
Many Nigerians, who endured enormous pain and distress from the CBN’s cashless policy, are however taken aback by the decision of the apex court to adjourn the case till next week. They felt the Supreme Court ought to have at least clampdown heavily on the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele for contempt of court as he flagrantly violated it (Supreme Court) interim injunction restraining the federal government and the apex bank from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the phasing out of the old naira notes.
Emefiele had announced last week that the old Naira notes of N1000, N500 and N200 have ceased to be legal tenders since February 10 heightening tension. By so doing, the CBN seemed to have disobeyed the Supreme Court order as the scarcity of the Naira notes persists, leading to further violence and attacks on some commercial banks in Edo Benue, Kwara, Oyo and Delta states.
Recall that last Friday at the National Council of State, Emefiele reportedly told the meeting that there was no going back with the implementation of the policy, signaling that the federal government had no intention of obeying the Supreme Court injunction.
Interestingly, while Nigerians agonize and wallow in self-pity over the scenario, discord and disharmony seem to be brewing within the ruling party, the APC, between the powers that be in Abuja and the progressive governors, who feel that the new policy is being implemented intentionally to hurt the chances of the party’s presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the forthcoming election. Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai has consistently insisted that a cabal in the Presidency is working against APC’s interests.
Therefore, it did not come as a surprise when few hours after the Supreme Court adjourned the currency redesign case on Wednesday, El-Rufai issued a statement debunking the report that federal government held a meeting with governors with a view to resolving the matter out of court. El-Rufai insists that there was no meeting and an attempt to hold one this week between the federal government and state governors failed through due to the unserious proposals tabled by the federal government.
Speaking through his spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai stated that “there has been no meeting this week between the FG and either the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) or the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), not to talk of one lasting till the wee hours of today, Wednesday, 15 February 2023.”
The Kaduna state governor who was visibly unhappy with some federal government officials for “misleading” Nigerians on the matter.
He said, “The tabling of false facts, inadequate solutions to the sufferings of our people, and the bad faith that some of the FG negotiators displayed in our phone conversations and chats have now been taken further in leaking a false account and context…”
In order not to allow what he termed “an exclusive falsehood” to stand, or even gain the slightest traction, he clarified thus: “Rather, senior officials of the FG reached some governors, including Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on phone to initiate discussions on a possible out of court settlement. The terms they proposed were to allow only the old N200 note to remain legal tender and be circulated by the CBN till 10 April 2023. They claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes that had been deposited, but that those persons who still held the old notes could redeem them up to 10 April 2023.
“These were not considered as serious proposals, for obvious reasons. Circulating the old N200 notes alone would not be sufficient to relieve widespread human suffering in Kaduna State, and indeed in Nigeria today. They knew that and that is why they falsely claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes. This is contrary to the fact available to the governors to the effect that the old notes were in the custody of commercial bank branches throughout Nigeria until the evening of Monday, February 13, and not a single N500 or N1000 had been destroyed.”
El-Rufai, who maintained sufficient Naira notes must be in circulation before any purported dateline by the CBN, said information available to the governors also indicates that the Mint will need “at least 12 months to print the minimum amount of N1trillion needed to ensure a functioning trade and exchange environment in Nigeria.”
The governor declared that he and his colleagues, who are plaintiffs in the case, rejected the draft proposal as insincere, and invested their hopes in the Supreme Court.
El-Rufai, according to his spokesman, will be addressing the people of Kaduna State today, Thursday, February 16 on the Naira redesign palaver and explain the consequences of the extension of the injunction of the Supreme Court.
As we eagerly await Governor El-Rufai’s speech later today, what has become evidently clear is the battle line has been drawn between the embattled governors in APC, spearheaded by the Kaduna State governor, and the powers that be in Abuja. Feelers from Kashim Ibrahim House suggest that the governor will bare all tonight, as he and his colleagues are now pushed to the wall.
From all indications, the federal government and CBN will not go back on the ban of the old Naira notes in order to achieve a certain political objective, regardless of the throes and pains ordinary Nigerians are undergoing.
President Buhari and his inner circle feel the best way to curb vote-buying and voter inducement ahead of the general elections in February and March is to enforce the policy and generate currency scarcity. I believe this measure will only have marginal impact on the political class and money bags who, when the election comes, will usually fashion their way out.
