Naira crises: Buhari may have been ill-advised – Keyamo

THE spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), Festus Keyamo, has suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive on the currency swap policy may be have been ill-advised.

Buhari ordered that the old N200 banknotes continue in circulation until April 10, while the old N500 and N1,000 bills are no longer legal money in a national broadcast yesterday.

The strategy was initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in October 2022, when it issued a redesign of the three highest denominations of the naira, which was officially completed and unveiled in November 2022.

However, the original date of January 31, 2023 was then extended to February 10, but with the governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara petitioning the Supreme Court, an interim order was issued halting policy implementation.

The resulting currency scarcity however has sparked protests around the country, with ATMs, financial institutions, and property being vandalized in many cases.

“My view is that the President acted honestly without intention to slight the Supreme Court, but he may have acted on wrong advice,” Keyamo said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Friday.

“I did not give that advice; it is not my responsibility. I don’t know who gave that advice. I want to say this openly because tomorrow, people will ask me where I stood at this time.”

Keyamo stated that Buhari’s speech acknowledged that there were certain matters in court and that the President believed he was playing safe by purportedly intervening to quell the growing tension across the country.

“He thought he was playing safe by saying, ‘Before you decide this matter in court, may I just provide some middle ground so that country burning, there are riots everywhere, so let me just try and provide some succour to the people, whilst acknowledging the matters are in court.’

“Now, if I were to advise him, I would have advised differently. I did not advise him. It’s not my responsibility; I don’t know who,” Keyamo said.