By Dipo Olowookere
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently having a crucial National Council of State meeting with some former presidents of Nigeria, serving governors, heads of the two chambers of the National Assembly, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others.
The gathering, which is taking place at the State House in Abuja, is believed to have been called to discuss the Naira redesign policy of the central bank, which has created tension across the country.
The Governors of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara State approached the Supreme Court recently to stop the implementation of the deadline for swapping the old notes for the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations today, February 10, 2023.
On Wednesday, the apex court gave an interim injunction to suspend the policy and fixed February 15 for a hearing of the matter.
President Buhari, after some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appealed to him last weekend to prevail on the CBN chief, Mr Godwin Emefiele, to extend the deadline by six months, promised to get back to them within seven days, which is this weekend.
It is believed that Mr Buhari wants to seek the advice of critical stakeholders before making a decision, which is why today’s meeting is taking place.
Business Post gathered that present physically at the meeting include Mr Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Yakubu Gowon, Mr Abdusalam Abubakar, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of House of Representative Femi Gbajabiamila, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and Mr Emefiele, amongst others, including the service chiefs and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Mahmood Yakubu, who is expected to brief the council on the preparations for the 2023 general elections, which begins later this month.
