El-Rufai speaks after Supreme Court judgment on old naira notes

Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said the Supreme Court’s decision had vindicated his stance on the naira redesign policy implementation by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s judgment, El-Rufai refuted claims that his position on the naira redesign policy was politically motivated.

Instead, he said the policy had brought untold hardship to Nigerians.

“Today is a day of happiness to all Nigerians; the Supreme Court has relieved us. That all our prayers through the court have been [answered],” he stated.

El-Rufai said: “We disagreed with Buhari on the policy implementation; we are grateful to the court for the unanimous decision by ordering the federal government to allow the validity of the notes till 31 December. We went to court, not because of the general election but because Nigerians are suffering an untold hardship due to the naira redesign policy.”

According to him: “The policy is unlawfully conceived and implemented. Our disagreement with the policy is not a rebellion but reform.”

Earlier, El-Rufai, Kogi governor Yahaya Bello and their Zamfara counterpart, Bello Matawalle, dragged the federal government to court over the naira redesign policy aimed at phasing out N200, N500, and N1000.

The judgment, if executed by President Muhammadu Buhari, means the old notes would co-circulate with the new naira notes till 31 December.