13 political parties threaten to withdraw from election if CBN shifts deadline for naira swap

Thirteen of the country’s 18 political parties, on Monday, threatened to renounce their participation in the 2023 general elections, which are scheduled for February 25 and March 11.

This threat was issued in a statement by National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze.

Udeze noted that this was necessary in the event that the Central Bank of Nigeria extended the February 10 naira swap deadline.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s redesign of the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes was lauded by the coalition of political party chairmen, who also urged that the policy must remain in place.

Udeze at a press briefing, 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.”

Read also:Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara drag Nigerian govt to court over scarcity of new notes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had already stated that it is not planning to extend the deadline for the use of old naira notes.

Speaking during a briefing on Friday at the apex bank’s office in Lagos, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, said the CBN, as well as deposit money banks (DMBs) were working to address the current challenges with the circulation of the new currency notes.

The CBN had issued a deadline of January 31 for the use of the old naira notes, but it was recently extended to February 10.

Speaking on the issue, Emefiele said “I want to say unfortunately again, this time, we will not be looking at extension of deadline because we are the central bank and the deposit money banks are doing everything to address the challenges,” he said.

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