They obviously thought Buhari was their 'mugu'. They were sure they could manipulate him anyhow and anytime they want. At the APC primaries, they outfoxed him. A few months to his departure from Aso Rock, Buhari has put his foot down and shown that stubborn streak that made millions of Nigerians vote for him in the first place. Muhammadu Buhari may have become Robin Hood and the APC High command cannot understand what is going on. They are in disarray!
The APC governors and their other kingpins appear to have gone gaga. The Naira redesign policy of the CBN has caught them napping. They have applied pressure everywhere. Some people even tried to take out Godwin Emiefele and the guy went into hiding. They have been twisting arms. From Aso Rock to the National Assembly and then to the Supreme Court. The result? So much motion and no movement. After making his 'concession' speech of allowing the old 200 Naira notes to remain in circulation for two months, the President went to the airport and flew away to Addis Ababa leaving the APC high command more and more frustrated.
Anybody who has dealt with our governors and big politicians know that most of them are cash men. Some of them are reputed to have whole rooms packed with cash which they deploy to do and undo anything that takes their fancy. Some of them are like mini gods. They can deploy bundles of Naira notes just to take over your girlfriend or even your wife. The APC leader and presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the ultimate Mr. Bullion Van. The way they see it, whatever money cannot do, more money can do it! Barely a week to the most important election in Nigerian history, the huge amount of cash planned for the bullion vans are no more as useful as toilet paper. Buhari and Emiefele have knocked the engines of the bullion vans and there is anguish in the APC camp. All of them are talking at the same time. Is the party unravelling?
Can you believe that without resigning his appointment, Festus Keyamo, a minister in the Buhari government, is on live television widely gesticulating and blatantly rubbishing the directives of the man he serves as minister? Things truly have fallen apart.
I used to think that Nasir El Rufai was one of the more intelligent politicians around. Pray, when did Kaduna State become a sovereign nation? Please, where did Governor Nasir El Rufai obtain the power to make a broadcast asking the people of Kaduna State to ignore the President and continue to use the old 1000 and 500 Naira notes both of which the President of the Federal Republic and the Governor of the Central Bank have said, in no uncertain terms, are no longer legal tender in Nigeria?
I had to do a quick check of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to see whether there has been a new amendment. For where? Item 15 of Part 1 of the Second Schedule still states clearly that currency, coinage and legal tender are in the Exclusive Legislative list. In other words, the issue of Legal tender is outside the purview of any state governor including El Rufai.
In any case, I do not know if any person in Kaduna State is still taking El Rufai serious on this matter when the birds have already flown away!
Nasir El Rufai has anchored his defiant statement on the ex-parte Order of the Supreme Court following the recent application to the court by Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi states. The matter is not as straight forward as the Kaduna State governor may pretend. Did the Supreme Court make any Order against the Central Bank of Nigeria which the CBN has refused to obey? The Central Bank of Nigeria is a juristic person. It can sue and be sued, but in their suit, the states were careful not to join the CBN which implements the Naira swap policy. Was that a mistake? No!
The states did not join the CBN because of their desire to invoke the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as stated in Section 232 of the constitution and make sure that any order they get cannot be appealed. They had to manufacture a dispute between the states and the federation which will bring the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court into play. Really… really, in this case, is there a true dispute between the states and the federation? It is like filing an election petition without joining INEC!
It would be interesting to see if anyone in the APC will have the temerity to ask that the head of their party, President Mohammed Buhari, be held for contempt of court. With his immunity and all…
Let us be serious. How can a nation which has 85% of its currency outside the banking system make any progress in today's world? How many times have you been visited by a sexily dressed young lady from a bank desperately looking for a deposit from you when there is N2.7 trillion of cash on the streets? What is that kind of unchecked and mostly illicit money on the streets doing? Ballooning inflation, fueling insecurity, evading transparency, making nonsense of the exchange rate, causing unemployment and pauperizing the Nigeria people… How can the economy grow when serious hardworking Nigerians cannot get loans from banks at decent rates to start new businesses or fund their existing businesses?
By the way, since the Naira swap exercise, how many kidnapers and bandits have requested for millions of Naira in ransom? In what currency? By bank transfer?
Please, let us stop this crocodile tears from the APC band who say that they are agitating because they love Nigerians who are suffering. Since when did they start this love for the Nigerian people that they have pushed into unconscionable poverty and want? I hear that Governor Ganduje of Kano State is complaining that Buhari wants to destroy the APC by the time he leaves Aso Rock. Why should the average Nigerian care? If the destruction of the APC would lead to a better Nigeria, so be it.
Do you remember those famous words of Muhammed Buhari spoken on the day he was sworn in as President, "I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody"? It looks like they are playing out at last.
See you next week.
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