Presidency slams El-Rufai over claims on naira crisis, interim government

The Presidency says the claim that President Muhammadu Buhari is working towards an interim government is absolutely false.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement on Friday, February 17, 2023, said the president won’t truncate the democracy he has helped to keep alive in Africa.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai had earlier described the lingering naira crisis in the country as part of an alleged plot to scuttle the forthcoming election and install an interim government.

He maintained that the naira swap policy was engineered to ensure the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, loses the election.

Reacting to El-Rufai's claim, Garba said those peddling the claim about an alleged plan by the presidency to install an interim government have absolutely nothing to gain but to create panic and incite the public.

He assured Nigerians that the 2023 general elections would hold, adding that the talk about an interim government is being pushed by people who are afraid that they may lose their elections.

The presidency also dismissed the claim that the naira swap policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria was a ploy to keep the president in office beyond May 29, 2023.

According to Garba, President Buhari looks forward to handing over the reins of power to his elected successor. He added that the “days of unelected Nigerian leaders, and those who outstay their welcome by unconstitutionally extending it, have gone.”

The Presidential spokesperson maintained that Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress is Buhari’s favourite successor.

He said, “the fact that Tinubu has been opposed to the speed and timing of the naira swap timetable does not mean he is against the idea of Nigeria becoming a cashless society”.

The statement reads in part“Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda Chief of Adolf Hitler said ‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’. This was in the 1930s, before the internet was birthed.

“Let us clearly, specifically and emphatically state that there is absolutely no truth to the claim that President Muhammadu Buhari is working towards an interim government or even worse, the truncation of democracy- democracy that he has helped to keep alive not only here at home, in West Africa but throughout the continent.

“The talk of interim government and truncation of democracy is way off the mark. Those who peddle it stand to gain nothing- nothing at all -but the creation of panic and the incitement of the public against the federal government….

“Everybody is aware that there is a lot of pressure on everyone-all of us- the party, its elected officials, its candidates and law enforcement agencies following the way the currency swap has gone but the way to go is not to panic.

“There is indeed a problem and nobody will pretend that it doesn’t exist.

“It is precisely because the President is concerned with this problem that he opened several avenues for consultation with leaders and groups across the country, culminating in his broadcast to the nation on Thursday morning.

“In line with the speech, his clear and unequivocal directive is that the problem of cash supply must be addressed without delay.

“While this is being done, there is no need to panic. We need to work together as leaders; as a people and as one nation. When panic hits, people go into overdrive. Shouting helps no one because no one can listen. The solution to the problem is not in sending Nigerians into confusion.”

The presidency admitted that the currency swap has created a lot of pressure in the country. It, however, called on leaders to work together, saying there’s no need to create panic.