President Muhammadu Buhari met privately with Aminu Tambuwal, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and Atiku Bagudu, Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, to discuss the scarcity of three naira notes.
The meeting was also attended by Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Gen Lucky Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff.
The meeting held at the President’s office at the State House, Abuja.
The meeting originally scheduled with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum was cancelled, for reasons not clearly stated.
The presence of the CBN governor, however, gave indications that the meeting was organised ostensibly to discuss the cash swap policy which has for days elicited public outcry, particularly from the governors.
It would be recalled that the President had on February 3 met with the Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some of the governors had asked that the President intervene to allow both the old and new notes co-circulate to ease cash crunch recorded across the country.
The President was said to have cancelled it in view of the court order forbidding government from extending the February 10, 2023 deadline for the swapping of three old naira notes.
Sources within the Presidency also affirmed that the President was wary about the possible perception of disregard for lawful orders.
None of the participants at the meeting agreed to speak to the media.
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