Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has asked
President Muhammadu Buhari to allow the old and new naira notes to co-exist.
Nigerians have been battling with cash scarcity as an
adverse impact of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira redesign policy.
In the past few days, this has led to protests and attacks
on banks in some states across the country.
In a statement on Saturday, Akeredolu said the crisis may
disrupt the forthcoming general election.
The governor said the “failed implementation” of the policy
is as a result of “miscalculation, error of judgement and disinformation“ from
the apex bank.
Akeredolu said as appealing as the policy appears to be, its
implementation drives curiosity as regards the real motive behind it around an
election period.
“The mere knowledge that the N1000 and N500 notes
represented 82% of the currency in circulation and that the N200 note, whose
validity has been extended, by fiat, for another 60 days, represented 7%,
expose the mendacious slant in the advice given to Mr President,” Akeredolu
said.
“This counsel clearly
misrepresented, deliberately, the facts as they existed before the commencement
of the implementation of the policy.
“There is pervasive discontent in the land. A policy,
presented as currency swap, must not be construed by both the reasonable
members and people of average intelligence in the society to convey the
deplorable impression of contrived subterfuge manifest in the official
confiscation of legitimate deposits of the people in banks, as a counter
measure against electoral malfeasance, terrorism and banditry.”
The governor called on Buhari to act by playing the role of
a statesman in such a crucial moment.
“I make bold to assert that the unfolding events across the
country show that the policy has failed significantly. It is, therefore,
expected that the president will halt this needless drift into the abyss of
chaos, more so, when the ruling of highest court still subsists,” the governor
said.
“I call on the
president to allow both the old and new notes co-exist until such a time when
normalcy returns to the country. It will be a fitting parting gift for the
people of this country, especially the downtrodden, who feel the negative
impact of the poorly implemented policy.
“The negative impact which the mediocre and, I dare say,
mischievous implementation of the policy by the Governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria is having on the poor people and small business owners defeats all the
good programmes of the federal government designed to elevate as many people as
possible out of the morass of poverty.
“There is no shame in rescinding a decision adjudged not
only unpopular and counter-productive, but which also bears the insidious seeds
of potential conflagration in the land, one of the ostensible reasons for this
ill-conceived policy.”
On Wednesday, Akeredolu said the rating of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is no longer favourable as a result of the effects of the naira redesign policy on Nigerians.
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I'm on the same page with Buhari in this case. There is no going back on this policy. We want to witness a clean and fair election.
ReplyDeleteOga all your lotted fund go waste. I trust PMB on this one. U thieves are the cause of all this
ReplyDelete