“Thirteen” out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria, on Monday, threatened to withdraw from the February 25 and March 11 general elections in Nigeria over the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
A coalition of chairmen of political parties, in a statement, the commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
The parties also threatened not to participate in the elections if the new deadline of February 10, 2023 is shifted, as demanded by some governors of the All Progressives Congress.
The “13 parties” also lambasted the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara State Governments for heading to the Supreme Court to obtain court injunction to extend the deadline for the validity of three old notes.
National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, who briefed journalists, said, “We hereby announce that at least 13 out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general elections and indeed we shall withdraw our participation from the electoral process if this currency policies are suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted.”
On October 26, 2022, CBN announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes. The President subsequently unveiled the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed a January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes.
The CBN also pegged its weekly cash withdrawal limits to N500,000 for individuals and N5m for corporate firms.
But following cries by many Nigerians, the apex bank extended the deadline from January 31 to February 10, saying it got the approval of the President.
On Friday after a meeting with some APC governors, Buhari had asked for seven days to make a major decision on the policy.