Governor Nasir El-Rufai has declared the old N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tender in Kaduna State pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter.
In a broadcast on Thursday, the governor told residents they could use the old and new notes in the state.
He also said the government will help the residents in swapping their old notes for the redesigned ones after the General Election.
“As your governor, I wish to assure you that the Kaduna state government, in collaboration with elected legislators, traditional institutions, elected local government councils, markets, and traders’ associations will help you collect, record, document, collate and deliver all your old notes to the Kaduna branch of the Central Bank on your behalf into the new ones immediately after the elections,” Governor El-Rufai said.
“We will also ensure the delivery of your new notes to your various locations without any hardship or expense on your part.
“We shall save you any panic and the stress of a long journey from your community to the CBN office in our state capital, from March until December 2023 if need be.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all the old and new notes shall remain in use as legal tender in Kaduna State until the Supreme Court of Nigeria decides otherwise.
“I, therefore, appeal to all residents of Kaduna state to continue to use the old and new notes side by side without any fear.”
The governor threatened to seal any business that refuses to accept the old notes and prosecute the owners.
Naira and Petrol Scarcities a Plot Against Tinubu -El-Rufai
He further alleged that the scarcities of naira notes and petrol in Nigeria are engineered to stop the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, from winning the 25 March vote.
He said: “It is important for the people of Kaduna state, and indeed Nigeria, to know that contrary to the public pronouncements and apparent good intentions, this policy was conceived and sold to the President by officials who completely lost out in the Gubernatorial and Presidential Primaries of the APC in June 2022.
“Once Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the candidate in June 2022, and subsequently did not pick one of them as his running mate, this currency redesign policy was conceived to ensure that the APC presidential candidate is deprived of what they alleged is a humongous war chest.
“They also sought to achieve any one or more of the following objectives: Create a nationwide shortage of cash so that citizens are incited to vote against APC candidates across the board resulting in massive losses for the Party in all the elections; ensure that the cash crunch is so serious, along with the contrived and enduring fuel shortage existing since September 2022, that the 2023 Elections do not hold at all, leading to an interim national government to be led by a retired army general; sustain the climate of shortage of fuel, food and other necessities, leading to mass protests, violence and breakdown of law and order that would provide a fertile foundation for a military take-over.”
Old Notes no Longer Legal Tender -Buhari
Governor El-Rufai’s message came the same day President Muhammadu Buhari announced in a nationwide broadcast that the old notes were no longer legal tender.
The president said only the old N200 could be spent until 10 April.
He asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes at Central Bank of Nigeria branches.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is yet to take a decision on the matter.
In a case originally brought by the Kaduna State government, the court restrained the federal government from phasing out the old N200, N500, and N1,000 naira notes until a hearing fixed for Wednesday 22 February.
