Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has invited state governors on the party’s platform to an emergency meeting on Sunday.
It was learnt that the development might not be unconnected with the growing friction between President Muhammadu Buhari and some aggrieved governors over the naira redesign policy, which has subjected Nigerians to untold hardship in the last three weeks.
There were also violent protests leading to vandalisation of banks’ properties and deaths in some states.
The lingering cash crisis, blamed on the Central Bank of Nigeria, was further worsened by the declaration by the President that the old N1,000 and N500 notes had ceased to be legal tender as against the position of the Supreme Court. He had also directed the CBN to allow the old N200 to co-exist with the new N200 note.
Hours after the President’s broadcast on Thursday, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, addressed people of the state, saying the President was wrong on his position on the issue. Mano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, both of whom were APC members, also faulted the President over his stance.
El-Rufai contended that the old N1,000 and N500 were still legal tender in his state, saying the aim of the naira redesign was to scuttle the general elections and give room for an interim government.
El-Rufai and the governors of Kogi and Zamfara States, also APC members, sued the Federal Government seeking a restraining order to quash the deadline on the usage of the old notes. Several other APC governors had also joined the suit against the Federal Government.
The friction between the President and the governors heightened on Friday when the APC Presidential Campaign Council released a statement to debunk claims that the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, asked some APC governors to disregard Buhari’s directive.
While describing the claims as fake news, the Director of Media and Publicity for the APC PCC, Bayo Onanuga, noted that the information did not emanate from the PCC Adviser on Media and Communications, Mr Dele Alake, as alleged.
Hours after the PCC’s statement, the party through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced that the APC national chairman would meet with all APC governors on Sunday.
Although Morka did not state the agenda for the meeting, sources noted it had a lot to do with the division and cold war going on in the party.
“The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, His Excellency, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, invites state governors of the party to an emergency meeting to be held on Sunday, February 19, 2023 by 2pm at the National Secretariat, Abuja,” the statement read.
