THE call has gone out for the resignation of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami after the Supreme Court voided the CBN policy on the naira redesign and the implementation of the suspension of old currencies.
National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mallam Salihu Lukman, who made the call on Friday, pointed out the duo misled the president, Muhammadu Buhari to flout the Supreme Court order on the policy.
The Supreme Court invalidated the policy after noting that while it was also unconstitutional, it was implemented without enough consultation. The Court maintained that the old and new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes should remain legal tender until December 31.
Lukman noted that following such a blunder, Emefiele and Malami ought to take responsibility and resign from office.
In a statement “Cashless Policy: Supreme Court Invalidates Actions of the Federal Government”, welcomed the declaration by the Court that the government’s cashless policy was unconstitutional.
He bemoaned the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari was misled into an illegal act and abuse of executive powers as the Supreme Court Justices led by Justice Akomaye pointed out.
Lukman insisted that, “in advanced democracies, public officers who commit such acts of illegality voluntarily resign from their appointments. 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 ruling to the person of President Buhari, Emefiele and Malami must take personal responsibility for this act of illegality.
“Therefore, if indeed, the cashless policy of the Federal Government was 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 their knowledge of the law and commitment to democracy by resigning from their respective offices forthwith.”
He praised governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) for their courage and initiative to challenge the action of the Federal Government in the Supreme Court and noted that by that act, the governors have “demonstrated superior commitment to democracy.”
