Why we rejected Buhari’s out-of-court settlement — El-Rufai

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that federal government officials approached him and some other governors over the new naira policy. However, they rejected the offer made by the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, he said.

Mr. El-Rufai said the federal government has proposed to end the circulation of the old N200 note until April 10. In return, the governors must withdraw the claims filed by their states in court.

The governor, in a statement issued by his media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, on Wednesday, said report that the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and the federal government held a meeting on Wednesday night before the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday is false.

He said there was no such meeting. However, there was a conversation on the phone where the officials made a concession to keep the old N200 note in circulation while the governors dropped the case.

He stated that the federal government said that the old notes of the higher N500 and N1,000 denominations are now being destroyed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The proposed condition is to only allow the old N200 note to remain valid and circulated by the CBN until April 10, 2023,” he said.

Mr. El-Rufai said the proposal was rejected because retaining the old notes would not address the economic challenges caused by the shortage of naira currency.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that Mr. El-Rufai’s Kaduna State, together with Kogi State and Zamfara State filed a joint suit against the federal government at the Supreme Court over the currency policy.

Those states, then joined by seven others, asked the Supreme Court to prevent the federal government from imposing a February 10 deadline to use the old notes. However, despite the interim order from the court, the central bank insisted on the deadline, thus maintaining a shortage of cash due to insufficient new notes.

After the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday, the court adjourned till February 22 to decide on the policy.

Protests have rocked several cities across the country with commercial banks the target of attacks.

Read Mr. El-Rufai’s full statement below.

Hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the “currency redesign” case today, The Cable, a respected publication, published what it described as an exclusive story about the Federal Government’s intentions on the matter.

Malam Nasir El-Rufai wants to clarify that The Cable has been misled by sources on this matter. There is no meeting this week between the FG and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) or the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), not to mention what will happen until today, Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

However, senior FG officials reached several governors, including Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on phone to initiate discussions on possible court settlements. The conditions he proposed was to allow only the old N200 notes to remain valid and distributed by the CBN until April 10, 2023. He claimed that the CBN had destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes it had kept, but the people. those who still hold old notes can redeem until April 10, 2023.

This is not considered a serious proposal, for obvious reasons. The circulation of the old N200 note alone will not be enough to alleviate the human suffering that is rampant in Kaduna State, and in Nigeria today. This is contrary to the fact available to the governor to the effect that the old notes were in the custody of commercial bank branches throughout Nigeria until the evening of Friday 13. February, and not one N500 or N1000 has been destroyed.

It is also a non-starter to insist on a new cut off date without first assuring that enough new notes will have been printed and distributed. Information made available to the governor also indicated that the Mint will need at least 12 months to print the minimum amount of N1 trillion required to ensure a business and exchange environment in Nigeria.

The tabling of false facts, inadequate solutions to the sufferings of our people, and the bad faith shown by some FG negotiators in their chats and phone conversations has now been done by leaking fake accounts and contexts to respected media. The plaintiff governors rejected the draft proposal as insincere, and invested our hopes in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Malam Nasir El-Rufai will address the people of Kaduna State on this currency redesign mess, the consequences of the injunction extension from the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and related issues tomorrow. But the Kaduna State Government feels it is important tonight not to allow the exclusivity lie to stand, or even get a little traction. This statement is issued to place the record.