Governors never held any meeting with the federal government this week over the ongoing currency swap crisis, either as Progressive Governors or under the Nigerian Governors Forum, contrary to report, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state has said.
Speaking on Wednesday in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication), Muyiwa Adekeye, in reaction to an online story that said the governors had a meeting with federal government till the wee hours of Wednesday, el-Rufai said: “A few hours after the Supreme Court adjourned the currency redesign case today, The Cable, a respected publication, published what it described as an exclusive story regarding the intentions of the Federal Government on the matter.
“Malam Nasir el-Rufai would like to clarify that The Cable has been misled by its sources on this issue. There has been no meeting this week between the Federal Government and neither the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) nor the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), not to talk of one lasting till the wee hours of today, Wednesday, 15 February 2023.
“Rather, senior officials of the FG reached some governors, including Malam Nasir el-Rufai on phone to initiate discussions on a possible out of court settlement. The terms they proposed were to allow only the old N200 note to remain legal tender and be circulated by the CBN till 10 April 2023. They claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes that had been deposited, but that those persons who still held the old notes could redeem them up to 10 April 2023.
“These were not considered as serious proposals, for obvious reasons. Circulating the old N200 notes alone would not be sufficient to relieve widespread human suffering in Kaduna state, and indeed in Nigeria today. They knew that and that is why they falsely claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes. This is contrary to the fact available to the governors to the effect that the old notes were in the custody of commercial bank branches throughout Nigeria until the evening of Monday, February 13, and not a single N500 or N1000 had been destroyed.
“It is also a non-starter to insist on a new cut off date without first assuring that sufficient new notes would have been printed and circulated. Information available to the governors also indicate that the mint will need at least 12 months to print the minimum amount of N1 trillion needed to ensure a functioning trade and exchange environment in Nigeria.”
