PDP, APC differ on Buhari’s speech on currency swap

…compel APC leaders to release hoarded Naira notes, PDP tasks Buhari

…Gbajabiamila faults FG’s disregard for S’Court order,

By Tunde Opalana, Tom Okpe

Mixed reactions greeted Federal Government’s further decision on the currency swap as the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while commending the president asked him to prevail on leaders of the riling All Progressives Congress (APC) to release hoarded new naira note, a chieftain of the APC knocked the government for disregarding the Supreme Court ruling on the policy.

The PDP urged President Buhari to assuage the pain and anguish being experience by Nigerians over the current cash crunch in the country by demanding that leaders of APC including its presidential candidate and governors immediately release the hundreds of billions of new Naira notes reportedly intercepted and hoarded by them for vote buying purposes.

Presenting the party’s position, National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba said it is obvious that the PDP has no part in the entire process because the Naira redesign and swap policies are programmes of the APC administration which is also completely in control of the production and circulation of the new notes.

He said the PDP had earlier alerted on how APC leaders allegedly sabotaged the system and diverted the new Naira notes so as to create widespread social unrest to justify their plan to derail the 2023 general elections and truncate our democracy.

In a statement Thursday, Ologunagba said the PDP had also exposed how APC governors are allegedly warehousing the new Naira notes in facilities in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo and other states of the country for the purpose of vote buying in the Presidential election.

“In the same vein, our Party raised alarm on how the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign had orchestrated the current cash crunch as a strategy to cause crisis while inciting Nigerians to insurrection with the view to truncating the electoral process having come to the reality of the fact that the APC and its Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been rejected by Nigerians ahead of the polls.

“Our Party sympathizes with Nigerians over the pain, torture and distress brought upon our citizens by the selfish, vicious and anti-people APC leaders. The PDP again salutes the resilience of Nigerians in the face of APC-induced suffering.

“The APC and its Presidential Candidate must come to terms with the fact that Nigerians are determined to vote in the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, come February 25, 2023. The threats and incitement to violence by the Tinubu Campaign cannot deter the people.

“The PDP calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to put every measure in place to guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections as Nigerians are ready to go to the polls in their determination to vote in Atiku Abubakar as the next President of our country,* the statement read.

However, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila faulted decision of the Federal Government, disregarding Supreme Court order on the controversial currency swap.

The Apex court had last week, given order for the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes to remain legal tender pending the determination of a case brought before it by some state governors.

The apex court had on Wednesday reiterated its order and adjourned the matter to next week Wednesday.

But President Muhammadu Buhari, in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday said he had instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reintroduce the old N200 note until April 10 while the old N1,000 and N500 have stopped being legal tender.

Gbajabiamila, in a statement he personally signed said though the president’s directive was a step in the right direction, the Federal Government could not afford situations that “suggest a wanton disregard for the rule of law.

“This morning, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, announced that he has authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reintroduce the old N200 notes into circulation, pending when the Bank can make sufficient amounts of the new currency available. This is a step in the right direction, and I hope it helps curb Nigerians’ suffering.

“However, the decision still falls short of the order of the Supreme Court that the old currencies remain legal tender pending the adjudication of a pending suit brought by state governments on the legality of the policy and its implementation.

“It is not to the benefit of our country for the Federal Government to act in ways that suggest a wanton disregard for the rule of law. It will be better for us to strictly adhere to the court’s order in this matter pending the adjudication of the substantive suit,” he said.

Acknowledging the hardship Nigerians face, Gbajabiamila urged the citizens to; “bear this moment with equanimity.

“For the sake of our country, we must work together to resist actions that escalate tensions and endanger our democracy at this crucial moment of national awakening and rebirth.

“In all things, let the well-being of our fellow citizens and the survival of our nation be foremost in our hearts and guide all the decisions we make in this historic moment.”

“Citizens and visitors are experiencing grave and unnecessary hardship across our country. They spend hours and days queuing at banks and teller machines to receive stipends of their own money to afford life’s necessities.

“This situation is a consequence of the flawed implementation of the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It is also the result of decisions made by the Central Bank’s Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, to refuse counsel, be guided by precedent or abide by the decisions of superior courts.”

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He said Section 20(3) of the CBN Act, 2007 provides the statutory authority for the apex bank to initiate and implement policies for the recall of Nigerian currency.

The Speaker said based on the provisions of the law, there are three conditions precedent for the CBN to recall existing Naira notes.

Gbajabiamila said: “The first is that the permission of the President must be obtained, and the second is that reasonable notice shall be given. The third is that the Central Bank of Nigeria shall pay the face value of the recalled currency upon receipt.

“Whereas reasonable people may disagree as to whether sufficient notice was given for the implementation of this policy, it is evident that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has failed woefully in its statutory obligation to pay the face value of the recalled currency in the form that is useful to the citizens whose current suffering could have been avoided.

“The current scarcity of cash is happening because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not sufficiently replace the old currency it pulled out of circulation across the country. This created an artificial scarcity that put significant additional pressure on the already epileptic electronic banking channels, resulting in a near-complete collapse of trade in the country.”

He lamented that: “Businesses cannot operate because neither they nor their customers have access to cash, and electronic banking platforms appear to have uniformly collapsed.

“It is unclear what interest is served by persisting in this erroneous course towards an unfolding economic disaster that the country cannot afford. The ongoing devastation of livelihoods is bound to have consequences long after this moment has passed.

“It is disheartening that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has resolutely refused to admit error and change course in the face of mounting evidence that the implementation of this policy has been a devastating failure.

“It is deeply troubling that neither the intervention of the National Council of State nor an order of the Supreme Court is sufficient to cause the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review the decisions that have brought us to this entirely avoidable moment,” the speaker said.