Naira policy: Ondo governor asks federal government to implement Supreme Court judgment

Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo, has asked the Federal Government to act right away on the Supreme Court’s ruling about the Central Bank’s Naira policy.

He said that Central Bank of nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele’s hastily putting together a monetary policy to achieve a dramatic end had made life hard for people.

Noting that the verdict was a relief, he threatened to sue any government that tried to stop it from taking effect.

Akeredolu said, “As we enjoin the officials of the Federal Government who may be directly involved in putting into effect the spirit and the letter of the Supreme Court ruling to do so immediately, the Ondo State Government will not hesitate to proceed against persons and institutions whose activities impede its ability to discharge statutory obligations to the people.”

In a statement, the governor praised the Supreme Court Justices for their hard work and courage in making a well-thought-out decision.

He said that he was sad that the Governor of the Central Bank of nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney General of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice had given the President lousy advice by telling him to act like an emperor who only had to answer to himself, which is against the law.

Akeredolu said,” It is deplorable to witness small businesses collapse with unbelievable rapidity. We have been regaled with tales of the dehumanisation of ordinary Nigerians who have been forced to strip themselves naked in banking halls, weeping to be given their monies kept with the banks. 

“Some have lost their lives, needlessly, for being unable to access their deposits in the banks upon demand. The Governor of the CBN acted most irresponsibly when he claimed to be exercising powers which the CBN Act does not invest in his office. 

“He was quoted as saying that he was fighting corruption, money laundering and vote-buying. He acted ultra vires, goaded by his political permutations. 

“The AGF equally misled the President to act beyond the limits of his executive powers. Nigerians have been punished unduly. As the Supreme Court has pronounced, the law must be allowed to rule. As amended, statutory functions are allotted to bodies in the 1999 Constitution. 

“These bodies must be allowed to exercise those functions. Anyone purporting to act in contravention of the extant laws does so, either ignorantly or mischievously. The letters of the law are simple and understandable if the people in authority embrace less mischief.”

The governor told the Federal Government it had no choice but to follow the court’s order.

He thanked the states that fought against the bad policy and hoped that Nigerians could get their money back from banks if they asked.

Akeredolu said that seizing people’s hard-earned money will have harmful effects if it keeps happening.

He also said,” There is no gain asserting the obvious. The whole policy may have been well conceived. Its implementation has been politically driven. 

“The CBN Governor is a partisan of injustice and oppression. Most Governments, perhaps with the exception of a negligible few motivated by the possibility of deriving unexpressed political advantages, cannot meet simple obligations to their citizens. It is most unfortunate.

“There is no justification for the pains to which our people have been subjected for obvious political reasons.”