Thirteen of Nigeria’s 18 political parties have threatened to withdraw from participating in the 2023 general elections billed for February 25 and March 11 if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extends the February 10 deadline for phasing out old naira notes.
The parties declared on Monday 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 political parties commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes and 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.
The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, who briefed pressmen, said, “We hereby announce that at least 13 out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general elections and indeed we shall withdraw our participation from the electoral process if this currency policies are suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted.”
More details later…