The Nigerian government has denied that president Muhammadu Buhari and his circle are planning to scupper next weekend's elections and install an interim government by creating chaos in the country.
Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu said on Friday that those spreading the rumour of an interim government are only causing panic.
He was speaking as violent protests engulfed many Nigerian cities, with citizens scrambling to access scarce cash caused by the Central Bank's naira redesign policy.
Apart from the cash scarcity, petrol is also hard to find in many states across Nigeria.
One of those who made the allegation is Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, a former close ally of the president.
Premium Times reported that El-Rufai said some persons around the president are scheming to create anarchy to pave the way for an interim government, to be headed by a retired general.
He also said the promoters of such an agenda were opposed to the presidential ambitions of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party, APC.
Dispelling the allegation, Shehu said there is absolutely no truth to the claim that Buhari is working to disable Nigerian democracy.
Meanwhile, the escalating conflict in the streets was felt in the commercial hub of Lagos on
Friday after protesters blocked major roads in the city. On the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, hundreds of commuters were stranded for hours as protesters blocked the highway, burning tyres and threatening violence.
The rioters rained curses on the Nigerian government for the currency crisis.
In a direct challenge to the president's directive that the old 200 naira notes would be accepted legally but higher denominations would not, El-Rufai has told residents of Kaduna state to accept old 500 and 1,000 naira notes as legal tender.
El-Rufai gave the directive in a broadcast to residents of the state on Thursday night.
During the broadcast, El-Rufai described the naira redesign policy as a weapon by members of the ruling party and close allies of Buhari to stop Bola Tinubu from winning the 25 February election.
He described the policy as "mindless" and said it has caused untold hardship for ordinary people, who he said are its victims.
