Abuja – The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu and the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) on Sunday called on the Federal Government to respect the rule of law by complying with the Supreme Court order on naira swap policy.
This was the outcome of a meeting held in Abuja between the National Working Committee of the APC and state governors elected on the platform of the party .
The Supreme Court had granted an interim injunction, suspending the Central Bank of Nigeria’s February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500, and N1,000 as legal tender.
The court gave the ruling on a suit filed by Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi States government
Contrary to the ruling, President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast last Thursday announced that only the old N200 notes will be allowed to remain in circulation with the new denominations for only 60 days.
Buhari’s announcement percentage ved as outright disrespect for the rule of law has continued to attract criticism from within and outside the country.
It has also set the president in a collision cause with some APC governors who are insisting that the order of the court should be obeyed.
The APC national chairman, reading the resolution of the meeting with the PGF, saod “we note very seriously that the currency redesign is causing tremendous difficulty to Nigerians.
“We urge the Attorney- General of the Federation and the Central Bank Governor to respect the supreme court order of interim injunction which is still subsisting.
“The meeting is urging President Buhari to intervene in resolving the issues causing great difficulty to Nigerians.”
The policy spearheaded by the CBN seeks to curb vote-buying and tackle hoarding of illicit funds with its issue of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
The three-month notice for Nigerians to exchange the old currency for the redesigned notes was undercut by an interim injunction of the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the policy.
Amid the standoff between the governors and the Federal Government, currency scarcity has led to riots breaking out across the country, as crowds inundate branches of the apex bank in an attempt to turn in their old notes.
(vitalnewsngr.com with additional report from Channelstv)