Naira Redesign Suit: APC Govs Pressurizing Buhari, Malami for Out-of-court Settlement, Frank Alleges 

Adedayo Akinwale

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has alleged that the party’s governors are mounting intense pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to settle the case over naira redesign policy out of court.

Frank, in a statement issued Tuesday, further alleged that the AGF has acceded to the request of the APC and its governors to settle the case out of court. 

He stressed that the governors and the leadership of the APC have succeeded in blackmailing both the president and AGF to consider the reintroduction of the N1,000 and N500 notes before the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.

He said the meeting between the leadership of the APC and its governors with Malami was aimed at pressurizing Buhari and Malami to agree for the out of court settlement request. 

Frank noted that the governors and the leadership of the APC are not working to protect the interest of Nigerians but to be able to deploy their looted funds to compromise the elections through massive vote buying.

He urged Buhari to be mindful of his promise to bequeath free, fair and credible elections to Nigerians as his parting legacy, adding that any attempt to yield to the antics of the governors and APC’s national leadership would defeat that noble goal.

Frank urged Malami to be resolute and to stand by the people by not succumbing to the overwhelming pressure of the governors calling for an out-of-court settlement. 

He called on Nigerians to know that if Malami and the governors withdraw their suits at the Supreme Court on Wednesday to settle out of court, then they should not expect the elections to be credible, free and fair. 

He said the APC and its governors have become increasingly desperate to reverse the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in order to fraudulently swing the results of the presidential election in favour of their unpopular candidate who cannot win if the elections are free, fair and credible and devoid of monetary inducement of voters. 

Frank noted that part of the tactics of the APC governors have been to consistently drum into the ears of Nigerians that Buhari has so far failed in administering Nigeria. 

He said they have also told Buhari and Malami that the naira redesign policy and attendant scarcity of new notes would lead to the defeat of the APC during the general election. 

Frank said: “The APC governors have told Buhari and Malami that the party cannot win with the naira redesign policy in place. So they have continued to blackmail them. They know their presidential candidate is unpopular and cannot win the forthcoming election if one-man-one-vote prevails. 

“Buhari and Malami should know that the forthcoming election is not all about APC and its governors alone.

“Rather, it’s for the generality of Nigerians who desperately need succour from their present hardship through a new and purposeful leadership in the country.”

He insisted that if there is any need to reconsider the reintroduction of the old N1,000 and N500 notes, it should wait till after the elections.