The rationale for President Muhammadu Buhari's decision to delay his decision to allow the usage of the previous N500 and N1000 notes until April 10 has been made public.
In a national broadcast on Thursday, the President said that the old N200 notes should continue to be used in the economy until April 10 and that the other denominations were no longer legal tender.
New information has emerged, however, suggesting that a senior minister and a presidential aide convinced Buhari to prevent the release of the N500 and N1,000 notes.
The President's last-minute decision was "affected," a top source told The Nation, since the two government officials warned that reissuing old denominations would make it easier for individuals who have been hoarding billions of the notes to buy votes in the next elections.
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The President was persuaded by both authorities that permitting the N500 and N1000 to remain legal money until April 10th would undermine his commitment to prevent people from buying votes with their millions of old notes.
"They persuaded the President that when he addressed Nigerians, they would accept this, show understanding, and support the policy. The governors' worry that reissuing merely the N200 old notes won't alleviate the shortage of the national currency was overlooked by the President and the two officials.
The Supreme Court's February 8 injunction, which was reiterated on February 15 and states that the old notes remain lawful tender until the Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi governments' suit and the Federal Government's motion of objection are heard and decided, was also glossed over.
The two officials, according to the source, are conspirators working against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC's presidential candidate, because their objectives were not met.
"The two officials are part of the cabal working against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, because their aspirations were not met," he claimed.
"One of them desired becoming a governor, and the other a running partner for the presidency. Buhari didn't realize they had a hidden agenda since he thought their advise was kind.
The source went on to say that before informing Nigerians of the Naira redesign proposal, the President had received security briefings on incidents of violence and protests around the nation.
The source further stated that before addressing Nigerians, Buhari had four options for consultations after learning that the program was harming the poor.
The options listed, according to the source, were to review the Naira redesign policy completely and reverse it, reissue old notes of N200, N500, and N1,000 from February 10 to April 10, give the court final say over the redesign, and reach an out-of-court settlement to protect the economy from any problems.
The principal source stated: "After identifying potential solutions to avert pandemonium, the President convened a series of meetings with state governors, allies, and strategists in addition to getting the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to express his thoughts.
The President was extremely worried that the poor were being hit the hardest by the naira shortage. Based on Emefiele's guarantee, he had hoped that the policy would be carried out with just minor adjustments.
"Buhari took note of the arguments put out by those who requested a review. He was mainly concerned by reports that poor Nigerians who earned their money legally were having trouble obtaining the new notes and were as a result unable to provide for their families.
"Buhari had essentially decided to allow the three denominations to be reintroduced and for both the old and new notes to be accepted as legal money until April 10th. A minister and a member of the presidency intervened, which caused the President to change his mind. Some presidential aides were waiting for the order to make the announcement. On Thursday morning, the President televised what happened next.