Abdullahi Ganduje, the governor of Kano, claims that the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, pushed for the naira redesign policy because he failed in his presidential bid.
Ganduje stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa after a meeting of APC governors with President Muhammadu Buhari.
“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.
Ganduje alleged that Emefiele and those around the president do not want elections to occur.
In October 2022, Emefiele announced the plan to redesign N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and asked for old notes to be deposited before January 31, 2023.
However, many Nigerians are having trouble obtaining the new notes and the deadline has been extended to February 10.
Ganduje stated that the naira redesign policy is not part of the APC agenda and is instead the agenda of those close to the president. He said the governors will not part ways with the president on the policy but are against it.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna also spoke to BBC Hausa after the meeting with Buhari and said they met to resolve issues caused by the naira redesign.
He expressed concern that the issue could lead to chaos and disrupt elections.