Berates Kaduna, Zamfara, Kogi govs

From Sola Ojo, Kaduna

The Unified Northern Nigeria Youth Forum (UNNYF) on Wednesday called on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to ignore criticisms against him including the recent temporary banning of the old naira notes by February 10 by the Supreme Court.

The group also called out Governors Yahaya Bello, Nasir El-Rufai, and Bello Matawalle of Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara State, respectively, on their moral grounds to challenge the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Executive Council decision on new naira policy when the said governors have failed to govern their states successfully in terms of security and social protection.

To this group, all the emerging backlashes against the Governor of the apex bank could be best described as “corruption fighting back”, especially by those who have corruption allegations against them in their respective states.

Publicity Secretary of the Group, Ali Muhammad in a terse statement said, “we are calling on the CBN to ignore all criticisms, see it as a mere distraction and not extend its deadline in other not to allow some mischievous set of individuals who are out to pursue their selfish and hidden agenda”.

According to Muhammad, “the ongoing swap of the old and re-designed 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes as mandated by the CBN’s new policy has been trending in the media attracting comments and utterances from some Governors, calling for an extension of the deadline.

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“As we earlier stated, only corrupt politicians, their children, and associates will come out openly to criticise the CBN’s new policy.

“It’s not surprising that Governors Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Yahaya Bello, Nasiru El-Rufai, and Bello Matawalle of Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, and Zamfara States are against this policy because they are corrupt themselves and it’s only normal as corruption begets nothing but corruption.

“It’s ironic that such people with millions of questionable characters and allegations of corruption have the moral ground to stand against a man who has only done nothing but put the interest of Nigerians first. These people only care for themselves and no one.

“These policies introduced by the CBN Governor have already reduced drastically the level of kidnapping and ransom payment, strengthened the naira, reduced the cost of certain commodities in the market and a potential checker for vote buying during the general election”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Supreme on Wednesday temporarily halted the move by the federal government to ban the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.

The apex court via a seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro halted the move of the federal government in a ruling in an ex parte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.