Don’t Foist Interim Govt On Nigeria, Afenifere Warns Buhari …..Calls For Easing Of Cash And Fuel Scarcity 

President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has again been called upon to resist any temptation or pressure to foist on Nigeria any form of change of government that is not a product of democratic practice.

Making the call was the pan Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere in a Press Release signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi on Tuesday.

According to Ajayi, the latest call was necessitated by a disclosure by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that some elements within the Presidency were scheming to have the President foist an Interim Government on Nigerians. They were doing this by a way of contriving an atmosphere that would be purported to make free and fair elections difficult if not impossible. 

According to Tribune Online, Governor El-Rufai had, on a Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, alleged that some elements in the presidency are using the lingering fuel and naira scarcity to frustrate the conduct of the elections because their preferred candidate is not in the race. The Governor reiterated this position in an interview with Premium Times as published on Monday, February 13, 2023.

Afenifere said that its call is not necessarily in support of the Kaduna state governor or because of its interest in any particular candidate.

“Rather, we are making this call because of the sacrifices we, along with many other Nigerians dead and alive, have made to ensure that we have civil rule. We are happy that we have had about 24 years of civil rule and six transitions between one civilian administrations to another since 1999. There is no doubt that we can have better administrations and that we are desirous of having a change. But that change must be through democratic means as enshrined in our constitution. It is in this respect anything that could prompt the change of government through any other means is unacceptable”.

The organization’s spokesman went further to say that while it is not always in agreement with the position of Governor Rufai on some national issues, on this particular one, “we are in agreement with the governor and all those who insist that elections must hold on February 25 and March 11, 2023 as scheduled.”

The release added that apart from some elements acting or advocating for a regime change that is not recognized by the Constitution, some steps taken recently by the federal government and some its agencies “seem to indicate a desire to create an atmosphere that may make an institution of government in a manner that is alien to the constitution inevitable. Three of these steps are (i) creating artificial scarcity of fuel (ii) making it difficult for people to have access to their hard-earned monies and (iii) failure to tame the insecurity in the land. Granted that the latter has been with us for a while and we have been managing to move around in spite of it with the hope that the incoming administration will put a final stop to it, the first two were deliberately created to frustrate Nigerians and provoke them into actions that can be used as an excuse to foist a non-democratic government on the people.”

Afenifere then warned that those who may be thinking along this line should perish the thought as such thought-line or action portend grave dangers. 

Recalling the statement by the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele that “there was no need to shift the deadline” of February 10 because the “situation is substantially calming down”, Ajayi asserted that the bank boss was certainly out of touch with the reality of what is going on in Nigeria. 

“Reports from every part of the country are disturbingly revealing in terms of the agonies people are going through because of the difficulties they are having in obtaining cash. Lives have been lost while properties running into millions of Naira have been destroyed by those who were protesting out of frustration. Many men and women have resorted to antics that are degrading such as exposing their bodies in bank premises to demonstrate how desperate they were. Fuel stations, court registries, shopping malls and even banks have been reported to refuse receiving the outgoing currency notes thus putting millions of people in jeopardy. Yet, Mr. Emefiele said that the situation is ‘calming down’!” 

Emefiele was reported to have dismissed the idea of any re-consideration of the February 10 deadline on Tuesday, February 14th when he visited the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy of the apex bank.

Ajayi said that the position of the CBN boss in this regard became more disturbing “because it was in flagrant defiance of the order given by the Supreme Court that both the old and the new Naira be continued to be regarded as legal tender pending the determination of the main suit brought by three state governments. Emefiele’s position was also in total disrespect of the view expressed by the 36 state governors in a communique signed the by Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State as well as the position of the Council of States that met last week and chaired by President Buhari.”

Observing that the positions of the three institutions mentioned above were in line with the wishes of millions of people in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, Ajayi urged President Buhari to compel the CBN Governor to reconsider his stand. He also called on the President to compel the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to flood the market with needed fuel at very affordable prices.

“With these done and all those who have roles to play in the forthcoming elections given necessary support, there will be no need to have a change of government through any means other than the one allowed by the Constitution. This is the path of honour to tread. We urge President to tread this path” the release concluded.