New Notes Scarcity: PMB, Council of State to hold emergency meeting Friday

As naira and fuel scarcity persists nationwide, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to hold an emergency meeting of the Council of State on Friday.

Last Friday, the president had urged Nigerians to give him a seven-day window, which lapsed on February 10 to resolve the currency crunch that had emanated from the implementation of the Central Bank policy new naira notes policy.

READ ALSO: Old Naira Notes Validity: Supreme court restrains CBN from implementing Feb. 10 deadline

The national crises had led to chaos in the country with violent protests erupting in some states.

Yet a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Monday restrained the CBN, the President, and 27 commercial banks from extending or sabotaging the currency redesigning and cash withdrawal limit policy in the country.

A day after, the Supreme Court countered the High Court’s ruling by stopping the federal government and the CBN from implementing the February 10 Deadline for old naira notes to stop being legal tenders.

READ ALSO: Buhari demands more time as APC governors seek end to scarcity of redesigned naira notes

Credible presidency sources told Daily Trust that the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emiefele, is expected to provide an update on the new currency redesign policy scheduled to take place at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja, at 10 am.

The source also revealed that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu as well as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, will brief the council on the preparation for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections as well as March 11 governorship and state houses of assembly polls.

It has been learnt that the meeting will deliberate on decisions regarding the elections and avert a potential national crisis given the current anger over the scarcity of new naira notes.

READ ALSO: How not to redesign the naira, by Hassan Gimba

Members of the National Council of State include President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, and former presidents.

Others include former heads of state, former chief justices of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, governors of the 36 states of the federation, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

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