The vice‑presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba‑Ahmed, has called the comments made by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El‑Rufai on the naira redesign policy “treasonable.” In a state broadcast on Thursday, El‑Rufai criticised President Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to re‑introduce only the old ₦200 banknote as a measure to curb the country’s cash crunch. He noted that the old ₦1,000 and ₦500 notes remain legal tender in Kaduna and claimed that the redesign aims to sabotage the general elections, paving the way for an interim government led by a retired army general.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Baba‑Ahmed said the governor’s remarks amount to treason and questioned why the presidency remains silent. He argued that only the President has authority in Nigeria and wondered how a sub‑national official could counter a presidential directive.
El‑Rufai alleged that the redesign was intended to ensure that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and other party candidates lose. He claimed that those who were defeated in the APC’s June 2022 primaries were behind the plot. According to El‑Rufai, the policy was “conceived and sold to the President by officials who completely lost out in the gubernatorial and presidential primaries of the APC in June 2022.” He asserted that after Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the APC candidate and did not select any of these officials as his running mate, the currency redesign was designed to deprive the APC of a “humongous war chest.”
El‑Rufai outlined several alleged objectives of the policy: creating a nationwide cash shortage to drive voters away from APC candidates; intensifying the fuel shortage that began in September 2022 to the point where the 2023 elections could not be held, leading to an interim national government headed by a retired army general; and sustaining shortages of fuel, food, and other necessities to provoke mass protests, violence, and a breakdown of law and order that could facilitate a military takeover.
He further claimed that two presidential candidates and a running mate from opposition parties own or have preferential access to some licensed banks. Through clandestine arrangements, these politicians allegedly have access to hundreds of millions of the new notes, while ordinary traders, merchants, students, and citizens queue for days to withdraw only a few thousand naira for basic necessities. Within two to three weeks of implementation, El‑Rufai said it became clear that the architects of the policy were affecting the people, not the politicians. He lamented that many politicians, insulated by their ownership of banks or privileged access to money, recklessly endorse a policy that is being badly implemented and harms the “talakawa.”
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