An aide to President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), Major General Muhammadu Buhari, has disclosed that his principal was misled by the Central Bank of Nigeria as the ongoing shortage of both old and new naira notes continues to cripple economic activity nationwide and cause enormous suffering to Nigerians.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, referred to the CBN’s claim that it has provided enough replacement notes to all bank branches in the nation as fake in an interview that was shown on TVC News.
The President had defended the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for using unconventional economic models that put people at the center of the apex bank’s policies before the deadline for exchanging old naira notes was extended from January 31 to February 10. Buhari stated, “The orthodoxy has proven to be wrong time and time again. The governor is labeled political because he pursues a plan that deviates from the economic orthodoxy.
The redesign of the naira and the CBN’s renewed cashless policy has put the majority of Nigerians through severe hardship, with many finding it difficult to access cash to buy necessities or get around the country. This is because neither the old nor the new naira notes are available at any channels, including banking halls, Automated Teller Machine points, and Point of Sale terminal operators.
Nigerians now pay high fees to receive the naira notes from PoS operators, a situation that many have characterized as unparalleled in the nation’s history. As of Saturday afternoon, N5,000 old notes in some areas of Lagos attracted a fee of N1,000, while N6,000 new notes attracted up to N2,000.
However, Ngelale stated in the interview that “They (Nigerians) feel that the Federal Government of Nigeria is overnight impoverishing them, either purposefully or unwittingly. Whether it is accurate or not, that is the impression they have.
We’re working to make sure that the President receives accurate information, and that the CBN’s claim that it has provided enough fresh naira notes for all bank branches in the nation is demonstrably incorrect at this juncture.
When information reached him that he was receiving erroneous information from the CBN, Mr. President, being the pro-people, pro-mass, and upholder of social justice that he has always been, did the right thing by extending the deadline from January 31 to February 10.
“Now, obviously, with the modifications to the deadline, it was also announced that other organizations, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, are also actively involved in the oversight of the distribution of the new naira notes to banking branches throughout the nation as well as rural areas with cash swops with the more than 30,000 super agents that are being sent out.
As a result, the process now includes an additional layer of supervision and monitoring. No matter whose ox is gored, he asserted, the President would stand up for the people, and he added that if an extension was required, he wouldn’t be against it.
“Mr. President has the option on the table of extending that deadline and that will be left to his discretion,” he continued. “If he gets any intelligence that during the length of this 10-day window, the wrong things have been done or the right things have not been done and that the new naira notes have not been distributed among the people. It will undoubtedly be based on what he observes taking place during these seven days around the nation.
We are encouraged by the recent information we learned from the CBN that banking customers will now have access to over-the-counter collections of the new naira notes.
Even though the President requested seven days to resolve the naira shortage on Friday, many Nigerians are concerned about how far the issue would have deteriorated by the end of that time.
Source: PUNCH
