Ganduje: Emefiele introduced naira redesign because he failed in his presidential bid

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, says Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), introduced the naira redesign policy because he failed in his presidential bid.

Speaking with BBC Hausa on Friday after the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari, Ganduje alleged that Emefiele and those around the president do not want elections to hold.

In October 2022,  Emefiele announced the plan to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, and asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023, when they would cease to be legal tender.

Although the deadline has been shifted to February 10, many Nigerians have found it difficult to obtain the new naira notes.

The governor of Kano said the naira redesign policy was not part of the agenda of the APC.

“The naira redesign is not the agenda of the APC, it is the agenda of those who are around the president and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who wanted to run for president but wasn’t successful,” he said.

“They don’t want the elections to hold or want another party to win. But we in our states we have to ensure that things don’t go out of hand and if the president is listening to them then we (governors) must show our capacity just as we’ve done now.”

Responding to a question on whether the governors will part ways with the president on the naira redesign policy, Ganduje said, “No. We are against this policy of naira redesign by the governor of the Central Bank and those who the president is surrounded by.”

Also speaking with BBC Hausa after their meeting with Buhari, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, said they met with the president to resolve issues caused by the naira redesign.

“Our fear is if this issue is not resolved, it may bring chaos in the country and may even disrupt elections or lead to the elections not holding,” el-Rufai said.