Ahead of the February 25 Presidential election, the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential candidate on Wednesday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Although details of the meeting which took place at the official residence of the president, were not made public, sources said the meeting may not be unconnected with the forthcoming presidential election and the challenges posed by the currency swap policy.
Tinubu’s visit had delayed the start of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting as the president arrived late, a situation that was seen as very unusual as the president never comes late to the meeting.
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Although it was not publicly announced, BusinessDay gathered that the President adjourned the Federal Executive Council until after the general elections.
Sources close to the matter revealed that the APC candidate was at the State House as part of efforts to pile pressure on the President to prevail on the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) Governor to allow banks to accept the old naira notes.
“It may not be unconnected with the ongoing efforts to get the CBN to relax measures on the old currency,” the source said.
The presidency has however insisted that there will be no official comments on the issue, until after the Supreme Court judgement.
Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu, revealed that the president will not comment on the issue until the apex court gives its ruling.
“ The President has respect for the judiciary and as it is now, the matter is in court, so let the court do its job,” he said.
Our source stated that the APC presidential candidate came on behalf of the APC Governors who had earlier met with the president on the issue without success.
The meeting took place shortly after the Supreme Court on Wednesday, adjourned the naira swap case instituted against CBN till Wednesday, February 22 for a hearing, as 10 other states asked to join and consolidate their suits.
At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, Nasir El-Rufai, and Yahaya Bello, governors of Kaduna and Kogi states attended the court session.
The Court had last Wednesday granted an injunction temporarily stopping the CBN from implementing the February 10 deadline for the circulation of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tender.
Despite the orders, various business organisations, including banks have stopped accepting the old notes.
Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna states had instituted the suit against the Federal Government and the CBN, as of Wednesday, 10 other states — Niger, Kano, Ondo, Ekiti, amongst others — had also applied to be joined in the suit against the CBN and the Federal Government.
Justice John Okoro leading a seven-man panel said the court should not lose sight of the case and its intention as it affects the suffering of Nigerians.
Lagos State, through its Attorney General, Moyosore Onigbanjo, also applied, seeking to be joined in the suit, others include Bayelsa and Edo States also applied to be joined in the case.
