APC governors want Buhari to extend CBN deadline – Ganduje

A delegation of governors elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) met President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Friday.

It was believed that they had requested the meeting to try and get the president to change his mind about implementing the cashless policy, which had led to some hardship among the citizens.

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has recently taken the lead among ruling party governors to push for a review of the cash swap policy, which he says targets the APC presidential candidate, the election bid of Bola Tinubu which he said are elements in the Villa.

He was also attended by the President’s Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, at the meeting.

The president’s special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, told waiting correspondents after the meeting that there would be no briefing and said a statement would be issued on the outcome.

Other APC governors observed at the meeting include those of Ebonyi, Ogun, Imo, Zamfara, Kebbi, Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kwara and Niger states.

But as he left the villa, Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State told correspondents that the governors had requested the president to extend the deadline for exchanging old currency with the redesigned banknotes.

“Our request is that the deadline be pushed back. Not just shifted, but the old currency has to go along with the new currency until the old currency dies a natural death. Which is possible,” he said.

As to whether President Buhari gave any assurance that their request would be honored, Kano’s governor stated, “He said he will look into that”.