Resign now – APC tells Emefiele, Malami

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami, to resign their positions following the judgment of the Supreme Court yesterday.Information Guide Nigeria

According to THE GUARDIAN, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, applauded the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Although the CBN is yet to make a statement on the judgment, there were indications last night in Abuja that it may have set up a team to study the ruling.

A source revealed, “There is no indication that the CBN will react to the judgment until there are pronouncements from one of the spokespersons of the President or from the office of the AGF.”

THE GUARDIAN reports that many financial experts expressed satisfaction with the ruling, saying complying with it would ease the suffering of Nigerians and boost the economy.

Reacting to the judgment of the Supreme Court on the matter, APC’s National Vice Chairman North West, Dr. Salihu Lukman, in a statement in Abuja said it was unfortunate that President Buhari was misled into such acts of illegality and abuse of executive powers as pronounced by the Supreme Court.

The party called on the CBN Governor, Emefiele and the AGF, Malami, to resign their positions over what he described as their ignoble role in the cash crunch saga.

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According to THE GUARDIAN, the party noted: “We, and indeed all Nigerians, are grateful to the Supreme Court Justices led by Justice Akomaye for this landmark judicial intervention.

“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 Supreme Court ruling to the profile of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, must take personal responsibility for this act of illegality by the Federal Government.

“In advanced democracies, public officers who commit such acts of illegality voluntarily resign from their appointments

“Therefore, if indeed the cashless policy of the Federal Government was supposedly 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 both their knowledge of the law and commitment to democracy by resigning from their respective offices forthwith.

“Rule of law is fundamental to democracy and individuals who flagrantly violate the laws or promote acts that breach the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must not be tolerated,” the party said.

It further stated: “It is gratifying that Nigerians resisted the antics of subversive politicians who wanted to use such crude methods, including inflicting untold hardship and pains on Nigerians to provoke citizens into voting against the APC during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.

“We commend and salute Nigerians for their faith in our party, APC, and determination to support our party and our candidates during the 2023 elections. We are indeed confident that Nigerians across all the 36 states of the federation will reaffirm this confidence during the Governorship and States’ Houses of Assembly election on Saturday, March 11, 2023.NYSC Portal

“It is a patriotic duty to challenge the policy of government, which unfortunately plunged Nigerians into hardship and unimaginable shock, notwithstanding partisan affiliations. By so doing, our leaders in APC led by Mallam Nasir, Alh. Yahaya Bello and Alh. Matawalle have once again demonstrated superior commitment to democracy.”

Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai, who was in court alongside his Kogi and Zamfara state counterparts, described the judgment as victory for the people.

On his part, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Gbajabiamila said the naira redesign policy was contradictory to the ends of law and public policy.

The speaker said: “It has always been the position of the House of Representatives that despite the noble intentions behind the currency swap policy, the design and implementation of the policy have been fatally flawed and contradictory to the ends of law and public policy.

“The decision of the Supreme Court suspending the currency swap policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and extending the implementation deadline to December 31, 2023, validates the position of the House in its entirety.

“It deviated from the prior practice of the CBN without providing any benefits to the Nigerian people or the economy of Nigeria, both of which have suffered significant harm as a result.”

He added that the apex bank, “must respect the apex court’s judgment and act quickly to give it full effect,” emphazising that “this is necessary to reverse some of the damage done to our economy and prevent the continued suffering of the Nigerian people.”

Gbajabiamila commended the governors who approached the Supreme court to make a decision on the matter.

He said: “It showed their collective adherence to the rule of law and their determination to take bold actions that serve the best interests of the Nigerian people.

“While we anticipate action by the Central Bank, there is still a need to examine and understand how this policy intervention turned out in the way it did.

“The House of Representatives will exercise its authority to review the actions and inactions, the failures of law and procedure that set the conditions for this profound failure of public policy. This is necessary to ensure we take the right legislative actions to prevent future reoccurrence,” he noted.

Jiti Ogunye, a human rights lawyer and activist stated that when a matter is submitted at the court for adjudication, even though an order, a restraining order is not made yet, parties are expected to act in deference to the court and its proceedings.

He said: “It then becomes worse when a restraining order has been made and any of the parties said the order will not hold. That is what the President did. It was defiant, it was disrespectful, it was shameful.”

“So, I am glad that Supreme Court has intervened. I am glad that they are doing this regardless of the fact that the President is on his way out of power, so that nobody will do the mistake of being so high or tall.

“Indeed, the President is a very tall man; the law is taller than him. This is a very beautiful day for democracy because constitutionalism and the rule of law have been entrenched.”JAMB Result

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