FOLLOWING uncouth comments trailing the decision of the Apex Court to listen to and act on the demand of the triumvirate Governors on naira swap, Governor Bello Matawalle has carpeted the attacks as mere political vendetta.
In a statement on Thursday made available to News Point Nigeria, the governor said he is fully convinced that those against their action and subsequent triumph at the Supreme Court are either misguided or blinded by political chauvinism.
“I and my Kaduna and Kogi states counterparts found it necessary to approach the Supreme Court in order to save the economy of Nigeria from being plunged into more crisis as well as relieve the excruciating pain the ordinary Nigerian is experiencing in the face of scarcity of both the old and new naira notes” Governor Matawalle noted.
Governor Matawalle observed that “It is common sense to say that the CBN and Commercial banks must make the new naira notes available for day-to-day business transactions before the old naira notes are declared illegal”.
However, the governor expressed his dismay that due to myopic political rivalry, some political parties and disgruntled politicians are challenging the decision of the Apex Court which is rightfully taken in the interest of the ordinary Nigerian and the survival of, especially, our micro economy.
Governor Matawalle believes that, “the decision of our wise and revered Supreme Court Judges on this matter is the best way to address the current problem and its impending consequences at the moment”.
He advised that, “at this critical time of our transition, it is only patriotic for all of us to put political considerations aside and address the challenges at hand so that together, we can cross the bridge ahead of us”.
News Point Nigeria reported that, worried by the effects the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their states, the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara have dragged the Federal government before the Supreme Court, seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the policy.
In a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN) obtained by News Point Nigeria, Monday morning, the three northern states are urging the apex court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.
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.
