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‘Thirteen parties’ threaten to withdraw from 2023 elections

“THIRTEEN” of the eighteen political parties in Nigeria, have threatened to withdraw from the upcoming elections on February 25 and March 11 due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency redesign policy (CBN).

The “thirteen parties” applauded President Muhammadu Buhari on the redesign of the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes during a briefing given by a coalition of political party chairmen today.

The parties stated that if the new deadline of February 10, 2023 is moved as some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have urged, they will not be interested in the elections.

The “thirteen parties” also condemned the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara for appealing the Supreme Court for an order extending the deadline for the validity of three old notes.

The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, who briefed the pressmen, 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.”

The CBN on October 26, 2022, 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.

Additionally, the CBN set weekly cash withdrawal caps of N500,000 for private persons and N5,000,000 for corporate businesses.

The apex bank responded to complaints from many Nigerians by extending the deadline from January 31 to February 10 and claiming that the President had granted his approval.

However following a meeting with some APC governors on Friday, Buhari requested seven days to make a significant decision about the policy.

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Naija Times