Why Buhari Changed His Mind On Recirculating Old N500 & N1000 Notes

It has been revealed why President Muhammadu Buhari decided not to reconsider and permit the use of old N500 and N1000 notes until April 10.

On Thursday, the President announced in a national broadcast that the old N200 notes should be circulated in the economy until April 10 and that the other denominations were no longer valid.

Nevertheless, new insight has surfaced indicating that a senior minister and a presidential aide persuaded Buhari to forbid the reissue of the N500 and N1,000 notes.

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According to The Nation, a top source said the two government officials ‘influenced’ the last-minute decision of the President, saying that the recirculation of the old denominations would allow those who have stashed billions of the old notes for the forthcoming elections to bribe voters.

He said: “Both officials pressed it on the President that allowing N500 and N1000 to be legal tender until April 10th would defeat his resolve not to allow those who have stashed billions of the old notes for the forthcoming elections to bribe voters.

“They convinced the President that Nigerians would accept this when he addresses them, show understanding and embrace the policy. Lost on the President and the two officials was the concern of the governors that re-circulating only the N200 old notes will not end the scarcity of the national currency.

“Also glossed over was the injunction of the Supreme Court of February 8 which was reaffirmed on February 15 that the old notes remain legal tender until the suit filed by the governments of Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi and the motion of objection filed by the Federal Government are heard and determined.”

According to the source, the two officials are members of the cabal working against the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, because their ambitions were not realized.

He said: “The two officials are members of the cabal working against the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, because their ambitions were not realized.

“One of them wanted to be a governor and the other a presidential running mate. Buhari believed that their advice was altruistic, not knowing that they had an ulterior motive.”

Speaking further, the source said President had received security reports on violence and protests across the country with the Naira redesign policy before his broadcast to Nigerians.

The source added that Buhari was informed that the policy was hurting the poor and had four choices for consultations before addressing Nigerians.

According to the source, the choices stated were the outright review and reversal of the Naira redesign policy, recirculation of old notes of N200, N500, and N1,000 from February 10th to April 10th, allowing the court to have the final say on the Naira redesign, and out-of-court settlement to save the economy from any trouble.

The top source said: “After isolating the alternatives to prevent chaos, the President initiated a series of consultations with state governors, allies, strategists and gauging the mind of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

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“The President was deeply concerned that the poor people were the most affected by naira scarcity. Based on the assurance he got from Emefiele, he had hoped that the policy would be executed with slight dislocations.

“Buhari noted the points made by those who asked for a review. What worried him most were reports of how poor Nigerians who legitimately made their money was finding it difficult to get the new notes and therefore unable to feed themselves and their families.

“Buhari had virtually made up his mind to allow the reintroduction of the three denominations and for both the old and new notes to be legal tender till April 10th. Some presidential aides were waiting for the directive to announce the decision but the intervention of a minister and a presidency official led the President to have a change of heart. What followed was broadcast by the President on Thursday morning.”