Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna, has assured traders in the state that contrary to the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign some of the Nigerian currencies, nothing would happen to their money, despite the February 10 deadline for exchanging the old notes to new ones.
He therefore advised them to continue using the old naira notes for their transactions, saying the talks around the new policy of the CBN would only last till the February 25 presidential election, as Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who would emerge the winner of the poll and would-be President, would reverse it.
At a meeting with the traders in Kaduna, el-Rufai, said: “Every person in Kaduna who has the old notes, from now to the next four years, if the APC is elected, Uba will return his money to him. So, stop changing your money and tell everyone to stop taking money to banks. If you sell anything, accept the old note if it’s given to you. Stop saying it’s only the new notes that you will accept because your market will stop and that is what they want.
“Tell everyone in Kaduna who has the old notes to spend it and buy items. Tell every trader to accept the old notes. Nasir el-Rufai, Uba Sani, and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu promise you that if we (APC) are elected, this policy will be changed and everyone will be given sufficient time to change their money.
“Stop taking your money to banks, keep them with you. Nobody can make your money to become worthless. It is the law; nobody can do it. It’s just a matter of time; be patient. We have 18 days to the elections. Once the elections are over, you should expect what Asiwaju Bola Tinubu would say, which is the change of this policy. You should help us pass this message to relatives. Everyone should stop taking money to banks; continue trading with the old notes.”
