Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, claims that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) implementation of the naira redesign program has greatly decreased the number of kidnappings in the nation.
Malami claimed there were advantages to the scheme that were not taken into account in a recent interview with Radio Nigeria Kaduna. Remember that on February 10, a seven-member Supreme Court panel chaired by John Okoro prevented the CBN from outlawing the usage of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. Three states—Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara—filed an ex parte application, and the supreme court issued its decision.
Reacting to the ruling, Malami said;
I told you the case is still in court, we will obey the court order but we also have right to explain to court the positive sides of the policy. If you see the negative side of it, you have to see the positive sides. If these governors told the court the hardships been experienced as a result of the policy, there are also some problems that the policy is solving.
I gave you example of insecurity. Immediately this policy was introduced, the rampant kidnapping has drastically reduced. It also reduced rate of corruption, therefore we have right to go and explain to court these positive sides. The court gave order without listening to government side but it fixed 15 February to hear from the government.
Everybody knows part of the reasons Nigerians elected President Muhammadu Buhari is to fight corruption, insecurity and boost economy. The policy was introduced considering these and we will ask court to look at both sides of it.