El-Rufai wants naira redesign policy canceled as FG seeks out-of-court settlementÂ
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state has revealed he advocated the cancellation of the naira redesign policy during a telephone conversation he had with some senior officials of the federal government.
According to the him, the officials decided to reach out to some governors including himself to seek their understanding and approval of a fresh deadline for swapping of old banknotes for new ones. El-Rufai also claimed that the officials told him that the government was ready to allow the re-circulation of only N200 notes while they suggested April 10 as the fresh deadline for cash swap.
In addition, the governor said that the officials told him that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had destroyed the N500 and N1, 000 notes.
However, Governor El-Rufai stated that the claim that the CBN had destroyed the old higher denominations is false.Â
He said , “Circulating the old N200 notes alone would not be sufficient to relieve widespread human suffering in Kaduna State, and indeed in Nigeria today. They knew that and that is why they falsely claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes.”
He added, “This is contrary to the fact available to the governors to the effect that the old notes were in the custody of commercial bank branches throughout Nigeria until the evening of Monday, February 13, and not a single N500 or N1000 had been destroyed.”
“Information available to the governors also indicate that the Mint will need at least 12 months to print the minimum amount of N1 trillion needed to ensure a functioning trade and exchange environment in Nigeria.
“The tabling of false facts, inadequate solutions to the sufferings of our people, and the bad faith that some of the FG negotiators displayed in our phone conversations and chats have now been taken further in leaking a false account and context to a respected medium. The plaintiff governors rejected the draft proposal as insincere, and invested our hopes in the Supreme Court of Nigeria, ” he said.
