No fewer than 14 out of the country’s 18 political parties have threatened to renounce their participation in the 2023 general elections, which are scheduled for February 25 and March 11 if the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) succumb to pressure and cancel or suspend the cash withdrawal limit and Naira redesign policies.
This threat was issued in a statement by National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, on Monday.
Udeze noted that this was necessary for 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 canceled or if the deadline is further shifted.”
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 extending the deadline because we are the central bank and the deposit money banks are doing everything to address the challenges,” he said.
