According to reports, if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extends the deadline for the use of old naira notes, 14 of the 18 registered political parties will allegedly threaten to abstain from the general election.
The deadline for using old naira notes was set by the apex bank for February 10.
The CBN originally set the deadline for January 31 but changed it because many Nigerians were unable to access the new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
At a press conference held by the Forum of Chairmen of Nigerian Political Parties and the Forum of Candidates for the 2023 General Election on Monday, Kenneth Udeze gave a speech.
The deadline already set by the apex bank, according to Udeze, national chairman of the Action Alliance (AA), cannot be changed.
“We hereby announce our resolution that at least 14 of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general election, and we actually shall withdraw all our participation in the electoral process,” Udeze said. “If these currency policies are suspended or cancelled, or if the deadline is further postponed, we will withdraw all our participation in the electoral process.”
The parties also criticized the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara for petitioning the Supreme Court for a court order extending the deadline for the validity of three old notes.
The state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara have taken the Federal Government before the Supreme Court in an effort to stop the full implementation of the Central Bank’s naira redesign policy.
The three attorney generals and commissioners of justice for the three states are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuits, and Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, is named as the only respondent.
The three northern states are asking the court to grant them an interim injunction to prevent the Federal Government from carrying out its plan to end the February 10 deadline within which the now-outdated 200, 500, and 1000 denominations of the naira would cease to be legal tender. The three northern states are asking this in a motion ex-parte.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party, criticized his remarks and labeled him a “enemy” of Nigeria.
Nigerians were asked to give President Muhammadu Buhari seven days to resolve the crisis brought on by the lack of new naira notes on Friday.
Nigerians were asked to give President Muhammadu Buhari seven days to resolve the crisis brought on by the lack of new naira notes on Friday.
The president claimed to have seen reports on cash shortages and their impact on neighborhood businesses and common citizens.
He declared that the final seven days of the 10-day extension will be used to crack down on the obstacles impeding the currency redesign policy’s successful implementation.
“I’ll get back to you, CBN and Minting Company. In the final seven days of the 10-day extension, there will be a decision made either way, the president said.
After the APC governors requested that the old and new notes be permitted to coexist, he made his position known.
Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president, has nonetheless requested that the CBN not extend the deadline for exchanging the old notes.
In response to the pain and hardship that citizens must endure in order to access the new notes, protests have erupted in numerous cities across the nation.
