It is now abundantly clear that the ruling All Progressives Congress, or APC, will go to the polls as a divided house one week before the 2023 general elections.
The party’s leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is the target of criticism from his former allies and close friends.
The governors running on the party’s platform have gone on the attack against the president, with some of them openly stating that they would not follow the president’s directives regarding the Naira redesign policy.
On Thursday, Buhari gave his approval for the old N200 notes to once again be accepted as legal tender in a national broadcast. The deadline for the old N1000 and N500 notes, he claimed, remains February 10.
Buhari said, “To further ease the supply pressures, particularly to our citizens, I have given approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation.
And that from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023, when the old N200 notes stop being legal tender, it should also be permitted to circulate as legal tender alongside the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes.
Governors, however, would not support it on the platform of his party, the APC.
They maintain that Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, was prevented from winning the election by the policy, which was created by “certain elements” in the presidency.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, the governor of Kano State, and Badaru Abubakar, the governor of Jigawa, are leading the assault.
El-Rufai and Ganduje assert that a plan to stifle the nation’s democracy and impose military rule existed.
Their claim is very similar to those made by Femi Fani-Kayode, who is now a frequent visitor to the Department of State Services (DSS) due to his accusations.
The military also quickly asserted that it had no intention of interfering with the nation’s democratic process and cautioned politicians to watch their words.
However, the President’s former aides are now criticizing his administration more openly.
On Thursday night, El-Rufai addressed the people of his State and urged them to keep using the old Naira notes. This is a complete violation of the President’s earlier directive.
El-rufai urged them to stand up strongly for democracy, peace and national unity.
He said, “Let us stay calm and peaceful, and support the lawful means being utilised to solve our problems. On behalf of the Kaduna State Government, I wish to assure you that none of you would lose the money you have in old notes.
“Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you. Whether you live in towns, villages or in our isolated rural communities, do not feel stampeded to deposit your old notes in the banks. Hold on to them.
“Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No deadline will ever make them useless. You are supported by the law. Both the Bills of Exchange Act and the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, require the CBN to accept your old notes and give you value for new notes whenever you present them to the CBN, even if that is one hundred years from now.
Because of this, as your governor, I want to reassure you that the Kaduna State Government, working with elected legislators, traditional institutions, elected local government councils, markets, and traders associations, will assist you in gathering, documenting, compiling, delivering, and exchanging all of your old notes for new ones at the Kaduna branch of the Central Bank as soon as the elections are over.
While toeing the same path earlier, Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State came hard on President Buhari, accusing him of refusing to abide by the Supreme Court order.
In an audio recording, Ganduje was quoted in vernacular asking, that, “President Buhari should remember that for several times he was trying to contest Presidency but he couldn’t make it until there was an alliance, but now after enjoying everything, he turned back against the same democratic system that saw him to office”.
He accused the President of refusing to heed genuine advice but chose to do the bidding of those misleading him, even at the detriment of his party, the APC.
“I wonder why the President is hellbent on making the same Party that helped him to win elections lose out, what did we do to him that he is this ignorant on several pieces of advice forwarded to him.
“This same Buhari he contested again and again but he couldn’t win not until there was an alliance. Now he wins and wins again for the second term, now that he is leaving, he wants to cripple the same Party that brought him to power why?
“This Currency Swap Policy, why didn’t the President bring it seven and a half years ago or after elections, but now one must be compelled to think that there is an ulterior motive in the whole thing,” the Kano Governor said.
In Jigawa, the State Government has also said the old naira notes remain legal tender pending the judgement of the Supreme Court.
This was stated in a statement released on Thursday by the state’s commissioner for information, youth sports, and culture, Bala Ibrahim Mamsa.
He states that “Jigawa State is one of the States before the Supreme Court of Nigeria the CBN and the court have issued an order “…restraining the CBN from suspending or determining or ending on the 10th of February, 2023, the time period in which the now-outdated 200, 500, and 1000 denominations of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on notice.”
It commanded its citizens to stop breaking the law and burdening the state’s residents.
The Jigawa State government advised the general public to report to the closest competent authorities any trader or business organization that refused to accept the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes as legal tender.
Mazi Okechukwu Iziguzoro, the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, stated that the APC governors would be held accountable if the upcoming general election were to be short-circuited.
He questioned why governors should take the lead in organizing a backlash against a party-sponsored policy.
It is indeed an interesting time, he said. Nobody would have predicted that El-Rufai and Ganduje, who have been portraying themselves as Buhari’s men, would now come out and so brazenly defy his (Buhari’s) orders.
“They are talking about disobedience to the Supreme Court order. But let me ask the governors- what did they say when the Federal Government refused to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu despite an order of the Court of Appeal? Have they been obeying all the court orders in their various States?
“The answer to the above questions is obvious. So, they should stop deceiving Nigerians. They are fighting the policy not because they so love the masses. The truth is that it is for selfish reasons.
“However, Nigerians are watching and listening to their utterances too. Should anything happen to the country’s democracy, they should be held responsible.
“Why should they be talking about military takeover everyday? Is there anything they know which we don’t know? These governors should not hide under immunity to undermine the country’s democratic process.”
“Right now, they are enthroning anarchy and security agencies should not allow it. We cannot understand a situation where a governor would openly counter the President’s order on such a sensitive matter. It is an invitation to anarchy.
The Ohanaeze scribe continued, “But let it be emphasized here that those governors have plans to set the country on fire and the federal government must use its apparatus to stop them.”
Shehu Sani, a former federal lawmaker, warned President Buhari to expect additional attacks from the governors in response to the recent events.
“The President should expect more attacks from the Governors of his Party,” he tweeted.
He wants to leave his men in the middle of the Red Sea after using the miracle stick to cross.
As tension continues to rise in advance of the presidential election, it remains to be seen what will transpire over the coming days.
