Akeredolu’s SOS To Buhari Says Naira Redesign Is Causing Untold Hardship

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The Governor of Ondo State  Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu has passionately appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to come out to play the role of a Statesman at this crucial moment of Nigeria preparing for a change of leadership.

He said it was  apparent because of the  crises, which the current policy on currency swap had created and  “continue to spiral menacingly”.

In a two page letter contents shared below Arakunrin sad the failed implementation of the policy the effect of which “compels the whole country to groan, immeasurably, at present.

Here is the full text:

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MR PRESIDENT SHOULD HALT THIS SEAMLESS DRIFT

“The crises engendered by the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign some
currency notes, threaten to disrupt, not only the forthcoming general elections, but the peace in the country.The events ot the past days, culminating in the intervention of the apex court in the land,
and the increasing gale of violence sweeping through the country, portend serious
danger to the current democratic governance. Consequently, this period invites all
patriots to speak out with a view to proffering practicable solutions and not project
cheap partisan interests.
I seize this opportunity to appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, CCFR, to play the role of a Statesman
at this crucial moment. It is apparent that the crises, which the current policy on
cu rrency swap has created, continue to spiral menacingly.
There is incontrovertible evidence bordering on miscalculation, error of judgement
and/or disinformation on the part Of the policy makers, especially the Covernor Of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on the failed implementation of the
policy. the effect of which compels the whole country to groan, immeasurably, at
present.
There is hardly anyone who contends with either the statutory functions of the Central
Bank of Nigeria or the occupier of the office of its Governor, one of which is the
monetary policy. It is also not debatable that the President and the Commander-in• Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is empowered, under our law, to exercise certain executive power. It can, however, not be the original intendment of the drafters of the relevant statutes that the implementation of any policy should occasion widespread hardship and pervasive agony in the land.
The safety Of the people is the supreme law. Any measure, purportedly designed to ameliorate their conditions, must not reduce the entire populace to a beggarly existence. There is pervasive discontent in the land. A policy, presented as currency
swap, must not be construed by both the reasonable members and people of average
intelligence in the society to convey the deplorable impression of contrived subterfuge manifest in the official confiscation of legitimate deposits of the people in banks, as a counter measure against electoral malfeasance, terrorism and banditry.
Desirable as the policy appears to be, its implementation excites curiosity as regards
the real motive Of its drivers, especially at this time when the conduct Of generalelections is almost here. The mere knowledge that the NIOOO and N500 notes represented 82% of the currency in circulation and that the N200 note. whose validity
has been extended, by fiat, for another 60 days, represented 7%, expose the mendacious slant in the advice given to Mr President. This counsel clearly misrepresented, deliberately, the facts as they existed before the commencement Of
the implementation of the policy. The implementation of this policy has been woeful despite claim,s to the contrary, The
suffering of the masses, occasioned by the non-availability of new notes to replace the
old ones, equally decreed out of existence by presidential fiat in contravention of the
CBN Act, 2007, could have been averted if the strategy of a gradual and systematic
withdrawal of the old currency notes had been adopted. I make bold to assert that the
unfolding events across the country show that the policy has failed significantly. It is,
therefore, expected that the President will halt this needless drift into the abyss of
chaos, more so, when the ruling of highest C0urt still subsists, I call on the President to allow both the old and new notes co-exist until such a time
when normalcy returns to the country. It will be a fitting parting gift for the people ofthis country, especially the downtrodden, who feel the negative impact of the poorlyimplemented policy, While the reasons adduced for the policy appear legitimate,
there can be no justification for the confiscation of the lawful earnings of Nigerians.The negative impact which the mediocre and, I dare say, mischievousimplementation of the policy by the Covernor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is having
on the poor people and small business owners defeats all the good programmes Of the Federal Government designed to elevate as many people as possible out ofthe morass Of poverty.
There is no shame in rescinding a decision adjudged not only unpopular and counter-
productive, but which also bears the insidious seeds of potential conflagration in the
land, one of the ostensible reasons for this ill-conceived policy.
ARAKUNRIN OLUWAROTIMI O. AKEREDOLU, SAN, CON
GOVERNOR, ONDO STATE