Malami stressed the importance of the redesign policy, which he said will enable citizens to assume collective ownership of the electoral system rather than allowing a few moneybags to take charge.

Abubakar Malami

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari did not breach the Supreme Court after he ordered in a broadcast that the old N500 and N1000 would no longer be considered legal tenders.

Malami stated this while appearing on the Ministerial Media Briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said as far as the rule of law is concerned, there are many options available. 

He said few individuals are promoting the interest of those that may have gotten their wealth illegally and looted public funds which they intend to use to influence the electorate in the forthcoming elections.

Recall that some governors including Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state had openly blasted President Buhari for the Naira swap policy, asking residents not to comply with the expiration of the legality of the old N500 and N1000.  The two governors are among the governors that had gone to the Supreme Court to stop the February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, concerning old N500 and N1000 naira notes ceasing to as legal tenders

Fielding question on the position in some quarters that the utterances of the governors were tantamount to treason, the AGF affirmed that investigation cannot be ruled out, adding that the relevant security agencies will determine if there will be the need for further action or not.

Malami stressed the importance of the redesign policy, which he said will enable citizens to assume collective ownership of the electoral system rather than allowing a few moneybags to take charge. He also said the policy was designed to allow freedom of choice and also fight corruption.