The Presidency has said that President Muhammadu Buhari has no plan to install an interim government or extend his administration’s tenure beyond May 29, 2023, as required by the Constitution. Garba Shehu, President Buhari’s Spokesperson, made this known in a Twitter post from his official handle on Friday titled, ‘Stop the joke about interim government, elections will hold.’
The post reads, “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.
“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. It is another dangerous dimension by people who are afraid that they may lose their elections.”
He stated that just because the Naira swap was ineffective, panicking isn’t the best option, adding that President Buhari had already directed in his National Broadcast aired on Thursday, that the cash supply issue should immediately be addressed.
The post further reads, “The President looks forward to handing over the reins of power to his elected successor. This will happen on May 29, 2023, as the Constitution requires.
“What should be made crystal clear to the doubters and the speculators and the untruth-tellers is that in no way was the Naira swap ‘engineered’ to keep the President in office beyond May 29. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
This statement is coming on the heels of separate interviews by Nasir El-Rufai and Abdullahi Ganduje, the Governors of Kaduna and Kano states, respectively, where they alleged that the Naira redesign policy has caused nationwide protests which could interfere with the upcoming elections, therefore, ushering in an interim government.
They also claimed that the policy was a plot by some individuals to make the All Progressives Congress (APC) unpopular, which could affect the chances of the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, from winning the forthcoming elections scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2023.
Regarding the Naira swap, El-Rufai has stated that the old 500 and 1000 Naira notes are still legal tender in Kaduna State, while Ganduje has said that commercial banks who refuse to collect the old Naira notes face the risk of demolition.
