Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has advised a cross section of Nigerians in the North not to take their old naira notes to the banks as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, will win and cancel the policy.
In a video obtained on Wednesday, El-Rufai was seen speaking in Hausa language, the popular language in the North, advising the people at a location that could not be verified that they should keep their money at home until the conduct of the presidential election on February 25.
The event at which he made the statement could not also be verified as at press time.
The governor was speaking against the backdrop of calls from some quarters for the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline for use of old naira notes to allow for adequate circulation of the new naira notes.
The governor was one of the three governors on the platform of the APC that approached the Supreme Court to stop the policy.
Others are Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle.
The apex court on Wednesday granted an interim Injunction against the CBN, barring it from stopping the use of the old notes and fixed February 15 for hearing.
El-Rufai, who has been a strong opponent of the policy, was seen in the video standing in the midst of people telling them to “stop taking your money to the banks.
“Nobody would say your money has no value, nobody can do that.
“Have patience, it’s just the time we are in, nobody would say that your money has no value,” the former Federal Capital Territory Minister declared.
He added that, “It remains 18 days today, once they finish the election, the big message that Bola Tinubu would give is that they are going to change this policy.
“You people should help us talk to your family members and everybody to stop taking this money to the bank and continue their trading,” he pleaded with the people.
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