The Presidency has reacted to allegations that President Muhammadu Buhari plans to foist an Interim National Government on the country with some of his recent actions.
The Eagle Online recalls the Kaduna and Kano State Governors, Nasir el-Rufai and Abdullahis Ganduje, said this.
Ganduje and el-Rufai spoke against the backdrops of the Naira scarcity occasioned by the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has led to protests in some states following the ensuing scarcity of bank notes.
They also alluded to the alleged failure of President Buhari to abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court that both the old and new currencies should exist side by side until the determination of the suit brought against the Attorney General of the Federation by the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States Government.
The President had on Thursday in a nationwide broadcast said the N500 and N1,000 notes are not longer legal tenders, but that the CBN will reintroduce the old N200 note, which will be in use until April 10, 2023.
Reacting to the position of Buhari, both Ganduje and el-Rufai said the President was working against his won party, All Progressives Congress with the aim of fostering an ING on the country or precipitating crisis that could truncate the country’s democracy.
But reacting to the allegation in a statement on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said it was a joke.
In a statement titled: “STOP THE JOKE ABOUT INTERIM GOVERNMENT, ELECTIONS WILL HOLD,” Shehu wrote:
Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda Chief of Adolf Hitler said ‘‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’’. This was in the 1930s, before the internet was birthed.
Let us clearly, specifically and emphatically state that there is absolutely no truth to the claim that President Muhammadu Buhari is working towards an interim government or even worse, the truncation of democracy – democracy that he has helped to keep alive not only here at home, in West Africa but throughout the continent.
The talk of interim government and truncation of democracy is way off the mark. Those who peddle it stand to gain nothing- nothing at all -but the creation of panic and the incitement of the public against the federal government.
It is another dangerous dimension by people who are afraid that they may lose their elections.
Everybody is aware that there is a lot of pressure on everyone-all of us- the party, its elected officials, its candidates and law enforcement agencies following the way the currency swap has gone but the way to go is not to panic.
There is indeed a problem and nobody will pretend that it doesn’t exist.
It is precisely because the President is concerned with this problem that he opened several avenues for consultation with leaders and groups across the country, culminating in his broadcast to the nation on Thursday morning.
In line with the speech, his clear and unequivocal directive is that the problem of cash supply must be addressed without delay.
While this is being done, there is no need to panic. We need to work together as leaders; as a people and as one nation. When panic hits, people go into overdrive. Shouting helps no one because no one can listen.
The solution to the problem is not in sending Nigerians into confusion.
Elections, just a week ahead, will hold and Nigerians will vote for the All Progressives Congress, APC, (and any others if they so wish) on the basis of their choice.
Our people want progress, good governance, law and order and will not be swayed by the negative energy that is being expended against a well-meaning currency change.
Finally, to state that: the President clearly has a favoured successor in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is not in doubt.
The fact that Tinubu has been opposed to the speed and timing of the Naira swap timetable does not mean he is against the idea of Nigeria becoming a cashless society. Of course, Tinubu does support a cashless society: for he is a man of the future.
What should be made crystal clear to the doubters and the speculators and the untruth-tellers is that in no way was the naira swap “engineered” to keep the President in office beyond May 29. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The President looks forward to handing over the reins of power to his elected successor. This will happen on May 29, 2023 as the Constitution requires it.
The days of unelected Nigerian leaders, and those who outstay their welcome by unconstitutionally extending it, have gone.
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