Naira redesign: El-Rufai hails Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court’s decision to extend the usage of the old naira notes through the poorly thought-out date of 10 February 2023 is welcomed by the Kaduna State Government and millions of its inhabitants.

The Special Adviser on Media and Communication for Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Muyiwa Adekeye, expressed gratitude for the justices’ judgment in a statement on Wednesday and made an appeal to the federal government to view the decision as a chance to alleviate human suffering.

According to the statement, the “governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states were forced to approach the Supreme Court to ameliorate the undue stress inflicted on ordinary people and their livelihoods by the ill-timed, incompetent preparation and execution of an overnight cashless policy.

Adekeye contended that CBN failed to provide any evidence of an emergency in support of what he called “this cruel move to deny people access to their deposited funds.”

“We have interacted extensively with the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the Special Adviser stated.

He continued, “This has included providing evidence-based illustration of the damage to public welfare and economic activities by this narrow policy, which would have been denounced as harsh and unsympathetic were it being pursued by an invading power.

The statement warned that “imposing this level of pain callously when there is neither a compelling emergency crisis nor evident benefits for individuals and the economy is not to the credit of a sovereign, democratic government.”

Adekeye claims that the Kaduna State Government is hoping that a review of the currency swap policy would be made in order to create a better implementation plan.

He suggested that the proposal contain a timeframe that gives our residents access to adequate old and new currency notes, prioritizes public welfare, and boosts economic activity.

In line with other elected APC state governments, he continued, “we have suggested that this should be based on a whole-of-government approach that brings together all relevant federal and state government institutions, acknowledges international best practices, and has a reasonable timeline for implementation.