By Lateef Adegbite
Ahead of the February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Assembly elections, in which the Federal government , has spent billions of naira to finance the Independent National Electoral Commission , INEC, to conduct the election, in electing a Leader that will pilot the affairs of Nigeria for the next four years from May 29, 2023, there appears to be multiple crack in the APC, over the naira swap policy .
Godwin Emefiele , led governor of Central Bank of Nigeria , CBN, redesigned N200, N500, and N1000, cash withdrawal limit and Naira swap policy, according to informed sources has divided the party into Camps: those in support and those against the policy.
Many had expected the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to be against the CBN, naira swap Policy but it is not to be. Instead, those opposed to the policy are drawn from the party and are ready to any length to stop the government from implementing the February 10, 2023, deadline to phase the three big old naira Notes.
Adams Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo state and one-time National Chairman of the party who had appeared on Channels Television recently may have shocked Nigerians when he dropped the bombshell that the Naira swap policy and the fuel scarcity that had hit the country in the recent time was a ploy’’ to scuttle the 2023, general elections’’.
Recall that the CBN had said that it has taken deposits of over N2.7 trillion out of circulation into the banking system by January 31, 2023, which Financial analyst had said was far below the N3.3 trillion hitherto in circulation between September 2022 and now.
Nigerians had expected the apex bank to replace the withdrawn amount, since it has gotten the Presidential approval to redesign the N200,N500, N1000, Notes through the Nigerian Minting and Printing Company. The CBN , governor has given President Muhammadu Buhari the impression that the Company has the technical knowhow, equipment and manpower to print the new naira Notes without throwing the country into crisis.It was said to have only printed about N400 million new Notes valued at N300 billion, which was not enough for the country.
Note that the total capacity of the Nigerian Minting and Printing Company, according to a CBN , official is N1 trilion per annum , meaning that it will take about three years to replace the currency in circulation that was withdrawn with the new Notes.
Out of the n300 billion that was said to have been printed by the Nigerian Minting and Printing Company, for the CBN, less than N100 billion was said to have been distributed to the 27 Commercial Banks operating in the country.
The largest banks like First Bank, UBA, Union Bank, Zenith, Access and GTB, according to a source typically get daily allocations that translate to N1 million per branch, which was not enough to meet Customers demand. It was not surprising why there was the cash crunch and the hardship in the country.
Given the hardship caused by the naira swap policy, the APC, governors had met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Villa pleading with him to use his Executive powers to extend the February 10, 2023,deadline set by the CBN, for the validity the old currency Notes to ease the suffering of the people.
The response of the Katsina state born Nigerian President may have encouraged governors Nirsiru el-Rufai, Bello Matawalle and Yahaya Bello, of Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi states, respectively , believed to be close political ally of Buhari , to head to the Supreme Court to challenge the CBN and government approved naira swap policy of February 10, 2023, deadline.
Until the APC governors went to Court to Challenge the naira swap policy deadline, the apex bank may has been jubilating that it has the backing of the Nigerian President and a Federal High Court , which had ruled that it should not extend the deadline of the naira swap policy or phase out the old N200, N500, N100 Notes, forcing to be more committed in implementing the policy.
Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Assistant to el-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor had said that the three APC governors were compelled to approach the apex Court ‘’ to mitigate the needless stress imposed on ordinary Nigerians and their livelihoods by the ill-timed , incompetent planning and execution of an overnight cashless policy’’.
Adekeye may have spoken the mind of governor el-Rufai when he said that ‘’the CBN, advanced no emergency justification of the callous decision to deny people access to their deposited cash’’.He may have shocked Nigerians when he disclosed that the governors had at various times engaged extensively with the Federal government and the CBN, furnishing them with evidence –based demonstration of the threat to public welfare and economic activities in the country by this myopic policy that would have been ‘’condemned as draconian and insensitive where it been pursued by an occupying power’’.
Recall that the International Monetary Monetary Fund, IMF, which had advanced much Loan to the Nigerian government may have known that Nigerians are finding it difficult to get the new CBN Notes that it had advised the Buhari government to extend the February 10, 2023, deadline for the validity of the three big old naira Notes.
Ari Aisen, the IMF , Representative in Nigeria, had said that ’’in the light of the hardships caused by the disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank Notes available to public’’ , despite the measures that had been introduced by the CBN o mitigate the challenges in the bank Note swap access, ‘’ the CBN , should consider extending the deadline, should the problem persist in the next few days’’.
The apex Court had further ruled that the CBN and the27 Commercial banks operating in the country ‘’must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice of the issue of February 15, 2023, thus making the old naira to continue to be used as legal tender in Nigeria’’. Emefiele may have known that the game is up that he had rushed to the Presidential Vila, hours after the Supreme Court ruling to brief the President . Whether the government will abide by the Supreme Court ruling remain to be seen.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations , CSOs, of Nigeria would not take it. The CSOs had said that the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, February 7, 2023, stopping the CBN, from implementing the February 10, 2023, deadline for the validity of the three big naira Notes, N200, N500,and N1000 Notes is designed to enable corrupt politicians to share the old naira Notes during the February 25, 2023, Presidential and National Asembly lections. That much was said byObed Okwukwe, the National Coordinator of CSOs, had said in a Statement.
He had said that it is a plot ‘’to open the bank vaults to enable buyer and hoarders of illicit wealth to have cash to buy votes’’’’, urging the Nigerian President to sign an Executive Oder to overthrow the ruling of the Supreme Court as he is empowered by section 5 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended to do so.
In spite of the fact that the CSOs had rejected the apex Court ruling on the naira swap policy, February 10, 2023, deadline, describing it as favourable to the corrupt politicians to share their old Notes stashed away during the upcoming elections, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state and a member of the G5, now Integrity Group, in the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, opposed to Senator Iorchia Ayu, as the National Chairman of the party, thinks differently has commended the Supreme Court ruling.
The Rivers state governor has described it as ‘’saving the Nigerian masses and the Nigerian ascent. Democracy . He had said that the state government will join Kaduna, Nasawara and Kogi states government in the suit against the Federal government , noting that’’ the PDP government in the Niger Delta state is not in support of the naira swap policy’’.
Aware that Nigerians are watching every step he takes towards the conduct of the 2023, general elections, which former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described as crucial, may have informed why he has extended invitation to Emefiele, Prof. Yakubu, the INEC, Chairman and Usman Alkali Baba, the Ispector General of Police, IGP,, to attend Wednesday , February 8, 2023, Federal Executive Council Meeting, FEC, to brief the Council on preparations for the elections.
The INEC boss may have assured the Council that the Commission is fully prepared for the elections based on the outcome of the meeting with the CBN, governor and his officials on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. The INEC boss had said that the meeting with Emefiele, the CBN, governor and his officials was necessary because of the apex bank unique role in the conduct of the elections. He had said that ‘’the meeting had focused on the apex bank recent cash withdrawal policy’’the Commission had persistently challenged the policy because of the fear that it might scuttle the elections if not properly addressed. This is because ‘’there exist lots of services the Commission must render cash’’.
Given an insider information of the conduct of elections in the country, he had aid that that ‘’most of the logistics services that are needed in the elections are rendered by the unbanked and relying on cash payment’’. The CBN, governor may have known that he has no hiding place any longer over the cash withdrawal Limit and naira swap policy, which has been seen as ploy to scuttle the 2023, general elections to reiterate the cbn’s longstanding support for INEC, reassuring the INEC officials at the meeting to find out how best to address the situation that it will continue to support the Commission not to fail on its mandate.
Emefiele was said to have assured Prof .Yakubu and his team, at the meeting with the apex bank officials that because of the premium the regulatory body had placed on the 2023, general elections , ‘’it will make whatever that is needed available for INEC , to pay for its logistics’’.
This may have informed why the INEC’s helmsman was enthusiastic and confident to brief the FEC, last Wednesday that the Commission is fully prepared to conduct of the 203 elections but that was how far he could go.
Given that the Katsina state born Nigerian President is ready to go on May 29, 2023, may have informed why he has approved the establishment of a Presidential Transition Council for Facilitating and managing the 2023 transiton programme. He was said to have also signed the Executive Order No.14 of 2023 on the Facilitation and Management of Presidential Transitions. This should gladden the heart of Nigerians.
