Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has tackled the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), alleging that the apex financial institution confiscated naira notes, instead of implementing the cash swap policy approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
El-Rufai made this allegation in a series of tweets cited by BizWatch Nigeria.
The Kaduna governor explained that after the CBN withdrew more than N2 trillion from members of the public, only about N400 billion were printed and given back to them.
His tweets read: “Currency redesign was approved by the President and announced. Currency recoloring resulted.
“Currency swap was envisaged by s.20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act as approved by PMB. Swap means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes & I receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more, no less.
“During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, currency confiscation was then unilaterally and unlawfully implemented by the CBN. Trade and exchange have collapsed. Human suffering, impoverishment, and economic contraction resulted.
“The policy objective was derailed into a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the elections in the name of preventing vote-buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was lawfully approved failed.
“Some State Governments had no choice but to approach the Supreme Court for adjudication. The APC as a party and the Progressive Governors Forum are unanimous that policy implementation must be reviewed, and full compliance of the subsisting ruling of the Supreme Court be observed until a final judgment on the suit instituted by the State Governments.”
The governor made this allegation following his defiance to Buhari’s directive that the old N1,000 and N500 have ceased to be legal tender, the El-Rufai-led Kaduna government directed ministries, departments, and agencies to accept payments in the old naira and new notes.
El-Rufai had asked residents of the state to continue using the old naira notes
