The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has implored the party’s national leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to obey the Supreme Court ruling which voided the February 10 deadline on the swap of old currency notes for new ones.
It particularly urged the President to end what it termed the “current madness”, which has caused untold hardship on the people, even as the APC expressed confidence in Buhari’s democratic disposition to once again display his democratic credentials.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, national vice chairman (North-West) of the party, Salihu Moh. Lukman, said with the general election inching closer by the day, Nigerians were made to face the most uncertain of times by the deliberate cash squeeze enforced by a deliberate policy of the CBN.
He noted that it was partly on account of the frustration by APC, that governments of Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States approached the highest court in the land which quashed the February 10 deadline given by the apex bank to end the validity of the old Naira notes.
The former director-general of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) stated: “With this judgement, it means that even after February 10, the old notes would still serve as legal tender. The big question is, will this end the current Naira (old or new) scarcity? It may not.
“If, however, the speculated objective of any so-called cabal is to frustrate the February 25, 2023 elections by either creating conditions that could mobilize electorates to vote against the APC and its candidates, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, God willing it shall not succeed.
“In all of these, it needs to be clearly stated that throughout the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, nothing tests his credentials as a converted democrat more than the need to demonstrate more listening ears and compassion to the plight of Nigerians.
“As a converted democrat, which I believe he is, President Muhammadu Buhari needs to demonstrate that by respecting the Supreme Court judgment and direct the CBN to end the current madness that imposes Naira scarcity in the country and untold hardship on millions of Nigerians.
“For both APC, as a party, and Nigeria, as a nation, one of the lessons that the current reality imposes is the need to develop our political parties and make them capable of regulating the conduct of elected functionaries. This is not only the case with APC, but also the case with all our parties. Why should we have a challenge with grave consequences on the electoral fortunes of political parties, yet none of the parties contesting the 2023 elections have convened any emergency meeting of their National Executive Committee NEC? Yet, we want elections to produce accountable leaders. Once party organs have seized to be decision making platforms, the domineering control of government institutions by so-called cabals will remain strong.
“Moving Nigerian democracy forward requires all of us as Nigerians to be more honest beyond some partisan permutations about winning elections. As members of APC, we are working hard to win the 2023 elections, but we also will work even harder to ensure that our next government to be led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will come with more listening ears to Nigerians and fellow party leaders.
“God willing, Asiwaju Tinubu’s APC government must be a remarkable improvement on President Buhari’s government whereby party leaders will through all our organs as provided in our constitution effectively and efficiently take all necessary decisions, which would be respected by Asiwaju Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic, God willing, and all elected representatives.”
Noting that only about 39% of Nigerians have bank accounts, Lukman added that more than 300 out of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country have no bank presence or cash centres.
“Where they exist, the bank branches and cash centres are mostly located in the headquarters. Specifically, in terms of cash centres, the total number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in the country is less than 20,000.
“These records suggest the need to take more extra steps to strengthen the banking system in the country to meet up with the new demands that will be occasioned by the new policy. It will clearly require contingency measures to expand the banking system, such that citizens could exchange the old notes in locations that don’t have bank branches or cash centres such as ATMs. Given that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November 2021 reported that Nigeria’s banks closed 234 branches and 649 ATMs, should have given a strong warning that the principles of ceteris paribus (all conditions remaining the same) would translate to failure for the new policy.
“Unfortunately, all these were overlooked. And for whatever reasons, the CBN and the Federal Government continue to delude themselves that the new policy can succeed with a very weak banking reality. In the circumstances, both the old and the new notes have disappeared across every part of the country. Even people with bank accounts can’t access their money.
“Somehow, because we are approaching the election period, the gullibility of Nigerians is being exploited. There are stories about how the new policy is going to block vote buying. There are also other strong narratives about internal sabotage within APC based on how some powerful forces around President Muhammadu Buhari are opposed to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC Presidential candidate as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he stated.
Lukman added that there were also strong concerns about how the combination of cash squeeze and the current fuel scarcity across the country can lead to unrest and possible postponement of the 2023 general elections.
He continued: “Some have even speculated that all these are aimed at creating a situation that would lead to the enthronement of a so-called government of national unity, whatever that means. All these in some ways remind one of Dr Reuben Abati’s article of November 14, 2016, The Spiritual Side of Aso Villa.
“In that article, Dr Abati lamented how ‘People tend to be alarmed when the Nigerian Presidency takes certain decisions. They don’t think the decision makes sense. Sometimes, they wonder if something has not gone wrong with the thinking process at that highest level of the country.’
“Nothing best explains what we are experiencing today. How an excellently desirable policy that would lead to a cashless economy could be designed to fail to beat the imagination of everyone. As a member of APC, I can say with confidence, this wouldn’t have been the objective.
“It is however worrisome how our party leaders are unable to convince Mr President to rethink the implementation of this policy. This has created all manner of frustrations both with the APC, across the country and across all segments of society. The only person that possibly is not frustrated with the policy is Alh. Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the PDP is supporting the policy, which is why many people argue that the ‘cabal’ around the President wants Alh. Atiku Abubakar to win the election.”
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