Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State accused the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, of withdrawing N2 trillion from circulation and replacing the old banknotes minting only N400 billion.
El-Rufai made this accusation in a tweet via his verified Twitter account on Sunday.
He said that the main bank only confiscated the currency compared to what was obtainable in the currency exchange policy.
His tweet reads: “During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation, but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, the CBN unilaterally and illegally implemented the currency forfeiture. Trade and exchange have collapsed. The result was human suffering, impoverishment, and economic contraction.
“The policy objective was derailed in a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the election to prevent vote buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was legally approved failed.”
The governor claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the redesign of the naira, but the CBN did something different regarding the redesign and redemption of the currency.
According to El-Rufai, President Buhari approved the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes, while CBN only recoloured.
He stated: “The president approved and announced the redesign of the coin. The color change of the coin resulted.
“The currency swap was provided for by s.20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act passed by PMB. Exchange means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes and receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more no less.”
Remember that the naira crisis reached its peak last Thursday after the national broadcast of the president, who responded to the Supreme Court by extending the validity of the old N200 notes, while insisting that the old N500 and N1,000 were still being illegal.
Buhari urged Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the CBN, adding that the old N200 note would be legal tender for the next 60 days until April 10.
