Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigerian People Party (NNPP), has taken a jab at the All Progressive Congress (APC) governors for criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari over the naira redesign policy.
Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the policy to replace old N200, N500, and N1000 notes with new ones. The apex bank had initially set the deadline for spending the old notes in public for January 31, 2022. This move sparked outrage and controversy across the country, with many individuals and groups calling for an extension of the deadline, News About Nigeria reports.
Following intense pressure, the CBN eventually extended the deadline by ten days. However, some APC governors filed a suit challenging the policy at the Supreme Court, seeking the intervention of President Buhari. The court ordered the CBN not to implement the deadline, but the bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, said there was no need to shift the deadline.
President Buhari partially complied with the court’s ruling by extending the deadline for N200 notes but declared that old N500 and N1000 notes were no longer legal tender. This decision triggered a nationwide outrage, with some APC governors accusing the president of trying to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.
Reacting to the development, Kwankwaso expressed his shock at the behavior of the APC governors. He wondered how they could insult and abuse their leader, Buhari, to that level, especially since the policy had rendered their looted funds useless.
The NNPP presidential candidate called on all agencies to keep their eyes on the governors and assist the federal government in stopping vote buying during elections. Kwankwaso’s comments have further fueled the controversy around the naira redesign policy and raised questions about the relationship between the APC governors and President Buhari.
