NAIRA SCARCITY: EL-RUFAI, MATAWALLE OR BELLO DESERVE TO BE THE NEXT CBN GOVERNOR
Nigerians will remember Governor El-Rufai, Governor Yaya Bello and Governor Matawaile over CBN naira redesign policy. The three governors rescued over 200 million Nigerians from bad financial policy introduced by CBN. I want to commend Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Governor Yaya Bello of Kogi State and Governor Matawaile of Zamfara State for rescuing Nigerians from naira scarcity policy introduced by Central Bank of Nigeria. President-elect, Bola Tinubu should please consider one person among Gov El-Rufai, Gov Bello or Matawaile as possible replacement of Godwin Emefiele as Governor of Central Bank. El-Rufai, Bello and Matawaile have etch their names in gold as heroes of Nigeria’s naira scarcity. Posterity will judge Emefiele harshly for allow million of Nigerians to die due to naira scarcity.. When CBN lost sense of direction concerning naira scarcity, El-Rufai, Bello and Matawaile pointed out the way to progress by approaching Supreme Court. Governor El-Rufai and others were worried about naira scarcity in 2023, war in Uktaine 2022, the pandemic induced recession in 2020, Nigeria’s economic growth recovered but macroeconomic stability weakened. Amidst global commodity shocks, a depreciating currency, trade restrictions, and monetization of the deficit, inflation is surging and pushing millions of Nigerians into poverty. Since 2021, Nigeria is also unable to benefit from the surging global oil prices, as oil production has fallen to historic lows and petrol subsidy continues to consume a larger share of the gross oil revenues. The three governors have returned Nigerian farmed back to farm, traders are back to markets and every Nigerians are back to business.
Governor El-Rufai, Governor Bello and Governor Matawaile are worried that in 2018, 40% of Nigerians (83 million people) lived below the poverty line, while another 25% (53 million) were vulnerable. With Nigeria’s population growth continuing to outpace poverty reduction, the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty is set to rise by 7.7 million between 2019 and 2024
According to Governor El-Rufai, On behalf of the government of Kaduna State, expressed his deepest regret at the needless suffering you are enduring as a result of the prolonged fuel shortage and the difficulties occasioned by the so-called “currency redesign” policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We understand your pain. I assure you that as your State Governor, I have been working with my other colleagues to do everything in our power to end these pains.
Three governors—Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara—filed an ex parte motion before the Supreme Court petition for a temporary restraining order to stop President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime and the Central Bank of Nigeria from continuing the implementation of the naira redesign policy.
The scarcity of the new naira notes and the short deadline issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria had generated tension in the country. In the last one month, many Nigerians have thrown caution to the wind by invading several banks to register their displeasures in bizarre manners.
Viral pictures and video clips of bank customers breaking down financial institution gates and stripping naked inside banking halls abound on the internet. Similarly, El-Rufai and other governors like Dr Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State had knocked the CBN governor for allowing Nigerians to pass through such a harrowing experience.
The governors contended that the latest extension of the deadline for submitting old notes was insufficient to remedy the numerous issues plaguing the policy, citing a severe shortage of new notes in Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.
The governors said the policy’s short implementation timeline, coupled with its attendant chaos and the misery it is causing Nigerians was unacceptable.
They were also requesting a declaration from the court that, in light of the plain stipulations of Section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, the federal government, acting through the CBN, lacks the authority to set a deadline for accepting and redeeming banknotes issued by the Bank, with the exception of the circumstances described in Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007.
However, their lordships disagreed with the President on this naira redesign policy. In their judgment recently, the seven-member panel unanimously decided that Buhari breached the constitution in the manner he issued directives for the redesigning of the naira. On the disobedience of the Supreme Court’s earlier order on the new notes, Justice Agim said Buhari’s broadcast of February 16, 2023 that only the N200 note should remain legal tender made the country’s democracy look like a mere pretension. The court also dismissed the preliminary objections by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as well as those of Bayelsa and Edo states, and stated that it had jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Justice Agim held that the President failed to consult the National Council of States, the Federal Executive Council and the National Economic Council before directing the CBN to introduce new naira notes. The apex court maintained that Buhari usurped the powers of the CBN when he issued the directive banning the old naira notes from February 10, 2023 and by doing so made the action ultra vires. It held that the unconstitutional use of powers by Buhari on the naira re-designing breached the fundamental rights of the citizens in various ways, adding that such use of powers by the President was not permitted under democracy and was an affront to the constitution. Among others, the Supreme Court held that unlawful use of executive powers by the President inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens. The court also ruled CBN out of order for placing withdrawal limits on money deposit bank customers.
