Political Parties threaten to withdraw from the election if CBN extends new Naira deadline

If the Central Bank of Nigeria extends the February 10 deadline for naira swap, thirteen of Nigeria’s 18 political parties threatened to withdraw from the 2023 general elections, which are scheduled for February 25 and March 11.

If the new deadline of February 10, 2023 is again pushed back, the parties have stated that they will not be participating in the elections.
The political party chairmen’s coalition insisted that the policy must remain after praising the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), for redesigning the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

The parties also criticized the governments of the states of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara for going to the Supreme Court to get an injunction to extend the deadline for the validity of three old notes.

“We hereby announce that at least 13 out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general elections and indeed we shall withdraw our participation from the electoral process if this currency policies are suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted,” Kenneth Udeze, the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, told the press.

It is important to recall that on January 29, two days prior to the previous deadline of January 31, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extended the deadline for the replacement of the old naira notes with the redesigned notes until February 10, 2023, after bowing to pressure on Sunday in response to numerous pleas from Nigerians from all walks of life.

But the governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states have taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court to get a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the naira redesign policy the Central Bank started.

The three attorney generals and commissioners of justice for the three states are the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, while Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, is the sole respondent.

In a motion ex parte, the three northern states are asking the court to grant them an interim injunction to prevent the Federal Government—either directly or through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), commercial banks, or its agents—from carrying out its plan to end the February 10 deadline by which the current versions of the 200, 500, and 1000 naira would cease to be legal tender.

On October 26, 2022, the CBN made its proposal to redesign the three banknotes public. The new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes were then unveiled by the president on November 23, 2022. Meanwhile, the apex bank set a January 31 deadline for the old notes to expire.

Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) is the President. had promised Nigerians on Friday that he would address the difficulties associated with accessing the redesigned notes within the allotted time, promising to do so in seven days.

This comes at a time when protests have broken out in a number of cities across the country. Many people are angry about the hardships and pains people are going through to get access to the new notes.