Naira swap policy: Buhari may have acted on wrong advice - Festus Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was wrongly advised to disregard the ruling of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, February 16, President Buhari announced in a nationwide broadcast that the Central Bank of Nigeria should allow into circulation only the old N200 notes alongside the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes while the old N500 and N1000 bills no longer serve as legal tenders.

His broadcast comes following chaos and violence that marred several states across the country as a result of the new notes scarcity. Residents were seen destroying banks, ATMs, POS shops among others.

In an interview with Channels Television on Friday, February 17, Keyamo said;

"My view is that the President acted honestly without intention to slight the Supreme Court. But he may have acted on wrong advice. I did not give that advice; it is not my responsibility. I don’t know who gave that advice. I want to say this openly because tomorrow, people will ask me where I stood at this time,” he said.

According to the Minister, the President’s speech on the naira swap was to quench the tension in the country hence his intervention.

“He thought he was playing safe by saying, ‘Before you decide this matter in court, may I just provide some middle ground so that country burning, there are riots everywhere, so let me just try and provide some succour to the people, whilst acknowledging the matters are in court.

Now, if I were to advise him, I would have advised differently. I did not advise him. It’s not my responsibility; I don’t know who.”

When asked what his advise to the president would have been, Keyamo responded saying, “It would have been to comply strictly with the terms of the order of the Supreme Court, [which is that] all the old notes should circulate for now side by side with the new notes because that is the order of the Supreme Court.”

“All authorities in Nigeria must obey the orders of the Supreme Court, “adding that anything to the contrary is “a descent to anarchy.”

BS