The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the resignation of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, for misleading President Muhammadu Buhari to defy the Supreme Court order on the naira redesign policy.
The APC, while saying the naira redesign policy brought untold hardship to Nigerians, stated that Emefiele and Malami must take personal responsibility for an act of illegality.
The Supreme Court, while nullifying the policy on Friday, said it is an affront to the 1999 Constitution.
The apex court also ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should remain legal tender until December 31, 2023.
Reacting to the development, the APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), Salihu Lukman, in a statement issued on Friday, said: “It is also unfortunate that President Muhammadu Buhari could be misled into such acts of illegality and abuse of executive powers as pronounced by the Supreme Court.
READ ALSO: Supreme Court faults Buhari over naira redesign policy
“We, and indeed all Nigerians, are grateful to the Supreme Court Justices led by Justice Akomaye for this landmark judicial intervention.
“Given the injurious nature of the consequences of the cashless policy of the Federal Government as was implemented thus far, and the damage of the Supreme Court ruling to the profile of President Buhari, Godwin Emefiele and Abubakar Malami must take personal responsibility for this act of illegality by the Federal Government.
“In advanced democracies, public officers who commit such acts of illegality voluntarily resign from their appointments.
“Therefore, if indeed, the cashless policy of the Federal Government was supposedly designed to conform with extant legal provisions of the Nigerian Federation, now that it turned out in the direct opposite, both the CBN Governor, Mr Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Malami should accept the limitations of both their knowledge of the law and commitment to democracy by resigning from their respective offices forthwith.
“Rule of law is fundamental to democracy and individuals who flagrantly violate the laws or promote acts that breach the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must not be tolerated,” Lukman stated.
The APC Vice Chairman, however, hailed Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) for challenging the action of the Federal Government in the court, saying they demonstrated superior commitment to democracy.
Lukman said it was a patriotic duty to challenge government policies, especially when such policies are anti-people, adding that the naira redesign and cashless policy plunged Nigerians into hardship and unimaginable shock.
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