The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai said that the Federal Government has informed Governors that all the N500 and N1,000 bank notes retrieved by the Central Bank of Nigeria from Bank customers have been destroyed.
He said this in a statement issued on Wednesday night while responding to some media reports on the proposed extension of old notes to April 10 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The statement was signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication).
El-Rufai described as false the claims by the Federal Government that the bank notes have been destroyed, adding that this was contrary to intelligence information at the disposal of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
He said, “There has been no meeting this week between the FG and either the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) or the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), not to talk of one lasting till the wee hours of today, Wednesday, 15 February 2023.
“Rather, senior officials of the FG reached some governors, including Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on phone to initiate discussions on a possible out of court settlement.
“The terms they proposed were to allow only the old N200 note to remain legal tender and be circulated by the CBN till 10 April 2023.
“They claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes that had been deposited, but that those persons who still held the old notes could redeem them up to 10 April 2023.
“These were not considered as serious proposals, for obvious reasons. Circulating the old N200 notes alone would not be sufficient to relieve widespread human suffering in Kaduna State, and indeed in Nigeria today.
“They knew that and that is why they falsely claimed that the CBN had already destroyed the old N500 and N1000 notes.
“This is contrary to the fact available to the governors to the effect that the old notes were in the custody of commercial bank branches throughout Nigeria until the evening of Monday, February 13, and not a single N500 or N1000 had been destroyed.
It is also a non-starter to insist on a new cut off date without first assuring that sufficient new notes would have been printed and circulated.”
He accused the CBN of lacking the required volume of currency to meet the demand of Nigerians adding that information available to the governors also indicates that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company will need at least 12 months to print the minimum amount of N1trn needed to ensure a functioning trade and exchange
environment in Nigeria.
“The tabling of false facts, inadequate solutions to the sufferings of our people, and the bad faith that some of the FG negotiators displayed in our phone conversations and chats have now been taken further in leaking a false account and context to a respected medium.
“The plaintiff governors rejected the draft proposal as insincere, and invested our hopes in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai will be addressing the people of Kaduna State on this currency redesign mess, the consequences of the extension of the injunction of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and related matters tomorrow.
“But the Kaduna State Government feels it is important tonight not to allow an exclusive falsehood to stand, or even gain the slightest traction. This statement is therefore issued to put the records straight,” tbe statement concluded.
