President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is supporting the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he is the best person to take over from him and continue his legacy.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Buhari stated this on Thursday, February 9, 2023, when he led the APC Presidential Campaign Council on a courtesy call to the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, in Sokoto.
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Buhari said if elected, Tinubu would consolidate on the gains made in the fight against insurgency and banditry, adding that with the APC flagbearer, Nigeria is in a safe hand.
President Buhari disclosed that the APC campaign team was at the palace to solicit continuous support of the monarch and appealed to Sultan to support Tinubu ahead of the February 25 presidential election.
He said, ”We (him and Tinubu) have been together for more than twenty years. I know him as a very committed Nigerian. I can attest to his qualities as a leader and I can assure you with him Nigeria will remain in safe hands.
“I came to solicit your support for our candidate and I know you will continue to support us.”
President Buhari said he chose to join the campaign train of the APC presidential candidate because they have been friends for the past 20 years.
The Nigerian leader asserted the fact that he performed wonderfully well when he was Governor of Lagos State and won the APC presidential primary in a free, fair and credible process.
He added: “The third one is that Tinubu won my party’s presidential primary in a free, fair and credible process and therefore, he is the legitimate candidate of my party.”
Speaking earlier, the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu told the Sultan that he was in the race to win.
He said, “It is a great honour to be here particularly in company of the Prwsident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to visit the caliphate. You already know but I must repeat, this is a visit to introduce me as the presidential candidate of my party, the APC.
“We recognize you don’t play politics but we have to show our respect when we come to town for campaign.
“We noted one thing on our way to the palace. The enthusiasm of our people. We are grateful to the peace and co-existence of individuals and your accommodation to various people living in Sokoto.
“We want to win election and since that is what we come for, we seek your blessing and endorsement. It is something you cannot reject because Mr. President is here.”
Three APC-ruled state governments have taken the Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari to court over the Naira Redesign Policy, which has resulted in a severe cash shortage in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari
The three states – Zamfara, Kaduna, and Kogi in a motion ex-parte filed before the supreme court, seek for an an interim injunction stopping the CBN from ending the timeframe within which the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will cease to be legal tender.
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The Plaintiffs in the suit are the three Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states, while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is the sole Respondent.
The Plaintiffs said that since the announcement of the new naira note policy, there has been an acute shortage in the supply of the new naira notes in Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States and that citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes have increasingly found it difficult and sometimes next to impossible to access new naira notes to go about their daily activities.
They also cited the inadequacy of the notice coupled with the haphazard manner in which the exercise is being carried out and the attendant hardship same is wrecking on Nigerians, which has been well acknowledged even by the Federal Government of Nigeria itself.
The Plaintiffs further maintained that the ten-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges bedeviling the policy.
Recall that over the weekend, the CBN Governor at a press conference held in Lagos insisted that the apex bank will not extend the deadline for swapping old naira notes with the newly redesigned ones.
In the suit filed at the apex court, the Plaintiffs have also filed a motion on notice to abridge the time within which the Respondent may file and serve his Counter-Affidavit to this Suit and an order for an accelerated hearing of this matter.
The states are seeking a declaration that the Demonetization Policy of the Federation being currently carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in compliance with the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and actual laws on the subject.
They are also asking the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the expiration of which will render the old Banknotes inadmissible as legal tender, is in gross violation of the provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 which specifies that Reasonable Notice must be given before such a policy.
The Plaintiffs are also urging the court for a declaration that given the express provisions of Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, has no powers to issue a timeline for the acceptance and redeeming of banknotes issued by the Bank, except as limited by Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007. The Central Bank shall at all times redeem its bank notes.
The Plaintiffs further want the court to direct the immediate suspension of the demonetisation of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria under the directive of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until it complies with the relevant provisions of the law.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit and sworn to by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kaduna State, Aisha Dikko, she averred that although the naira redesign policy was introduced to encourage the cashless policy of the Federal government, it is not all transactions that can be conveniently carried out through electronic means.
She maintained that several transactions still require cash in exchange for goods and services hence the need for the Federal Government to have sufficient money available in circulation for the smooth running of the economy.
Dikko also pointed out that the Federal Government has embarked on the policy within a narrow and unworkable time frame, and this has adversely affected Nigerian citizens within Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States as well as their Governments, especially as the newly redesigned naira notes are not available for use by the people as well as the State Governments.
“That the majority of the indigenes of the Plaintiffs’ states who reside in the rural areas have been unable to exchange or deposit their old naira notes as there are no banks in the rural areas where the majority of the population of the states reside.
“Most people in rural areas of the Plaintiffs’ states do not have bank accounts and have so far been unable to deposit their life savings which are still in the old naira notes.
“There is restiveness amongst the people in the various states because of the hardship being suffered by the people, and the situation will sooner than later degenerate into the breakdown of law and order.
“The Plaintiff State Governments cannot stand by as they are duty-bound to protect citizens in their states and prevent the breakdown of law and order.
“I know that if the Federal Government of Nigeria had given sufficient and reasonable time for the naira redesign policy, all the current hardship and loss being experienced by the Plaintiffs’ State Governments as well as people in the various states would have been avoided.
“I know that the 10-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges bedevilling the policy. I also understand that the Federal Government cannot bar Nigerians from redeeming their old naira notes at any time, even though the senior notes are no longer legal tender.
“Unless this Honourable Court intervenes, the Government and people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara State will continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great loss as a result of the insufficient and unreasonable time within which the Federal Government is embarking on the ongoing currency redesign policy,” she stated.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
