The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hailed Governors of the 36 States for standing on the side of the people over the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cash swap, which has subjected the masses to suffering.
He also gave kudos to the three All Progressives Congress(APC) Governors for taking the initiative to institute the suit against the CBN.
The APC flag bearer, in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, said the Governors acted well on behalf of the hapless Nigerians who have been made to bear the brunt of naira redesign policy that has been poorly implemented.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, in a suit brought before it by the governments of Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna States, issued an interim injunction against the CBN and Federal Government, allowing the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to remain legal tender beyond February 10 deadline.
Following the ruling, Tinubu noted the Governors have saved the country from needless political and economic crises and miseries which have clearly become the unintended consequences of the monetary policy of the apex bank.
Tinubu noted the Supreme Court ruling coincided with the advisory of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), urging for the extension of the deadline going by the problems being experienced across the country in getting the new notes.
He said: “I want to salute the courage of our Governors and most especially the Progressives Governors in APC who acted to save our country from avoidable and dangerous political crises and social unrest which the Central Bank policy on new Naira notes has brought on our country.
“Our country was dangerously careering toward anarchy and political and economic shutdown. But with the Supreme Court interim ruling our country has been pulled back from the precipice. We thank our Supreme Court Justices for ruling wisely on the side of the people who have been subjected to undue agony and pains since this policy was announced.
“The Federal Government and relevant stakeholders can now sit down and work out better framework on how to proceed with the new policy without causing any social and economic disruption and inconvenience to our people. We have examples of other countries that have successfully and seamlessly changed their currencies to learn from.
“Those countries give a long time, at least 12 months to effect the currency change. They do not engage in CBN-like Fire Brigade approach.
“We have seen how a good policy can be poorly implemented to cause unintended problems for the people who should be the beneficiaries. While lessons have been learnt, we must now move on as a country and people with a Renewed Hope for a better tomorrow.
“The sole aim of my running to be the president of our country is to make life better and more abundant for our people and this is an ideal for which I will remain eternally committed to.”
The APC standard bearer called on the CBN to ensure that the Supreme Court ruling is effectively executed by taking all necessary steps to ensure sufficient availability of naira notes (old or new) and properly sensitising the public on the ruling and the consequent validity of old notes.
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