On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, and the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, and Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, which was at the instance of the President, was also attended by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Also present at the meeting was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, as well as the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Although the details of the meeting with the president were not made public at the time of filing this story, feelers revealed that it may not be unconnected with the cash crunch as a result of the Naira redesign policy by the CBN.
There has been an outcry in the country over the scarcity of the naira notes after the initial December 31 deadline given by the nation’s apex bank for the swap of the old notes with the new notes.
The development has resulted in unprecedented hardship as teeming Nigerians find it difficult to lay their hands on naira notes to attend to their immediate needs.
Meanwhile, a scheduled meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, has been cancelled.
No reason was given for the cancellation of the meeting initially scheduled for Tuesday at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The cancelled meeting with governors came four days after the president met with the governors of his party, the APC, during which he asked Nigerians to give him seven days to make consultations with relevant stakeholders to resolve the crisis associated with the naira redesign policy.
There had been mixed reactions to the currency swap policy aimed at curbing money laundering, election corruption, spiking inflation rates, and tackling counterfeiting.
Recall that on Monday, Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states instituted a suit against the federal government, seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the naira redesign policy, which has resulted in a cash crunch.
But a few hours after the suit by the three governors was made public, 14 registered political parties obtained an order restraining the federal government and the CBN from extending the February 10 deadline for the naira swap.
