On Monday, thirteen political parties out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria threatened to withdraw from participating in the 2023 general elections slated for February 25 and March 11, if the Central Bank of Nigeria extends the deadline of February 10 for naira swap.
The parties have declared that they won’t be participating in the elections if the new deadline of February 10, 2023 is shifted again.
The coalition of chairmen of the political parties, who commended the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes, insisted that the policy must stand.
The parties also knocked the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments for heading to the Supreme Court to get court injunction to extend the deadline for the validity of three old notes.
Bring to mind that on January 29, two days to the former January 31 deadline, CBN extended the deadline for the swapping of old naira notes with the redesigned notes till February 10, 2023, after bowing to pressure last Sunday following many pleas from Nigerians across different walks of life.
The Punch reports that President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) had assured Nigerians on Friday that in seven days time from then, he would address the woes associated with accessing the redesigned notes, promising to resolve the crisis within the stimulated time.
This is as protests have broken out in various cities across the country, with many angry about the pains and hardship citizens are being subjected to in order to have access to the new notes.