Buhari demands more time as APC governors seek end to scarcity of redesigned naira notes
All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors under the aegis of the ‘Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to find a solution to the currency crisis nationwide or allow both the old and new naira notes to co-exist.
Daily Trust reports that Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State disclosed this to journalists after a meeting with the President at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up over N2 trillion of the old note, it printed only N300 billion which was not enough.
El-Rufai, who was accompanied by his Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje, said the apex bank should have printed at least half of what they mopped up, which is N1 trillion if it wanted to implement the cashless policy.
He revealed that the APC governors told the president that the masses were suffering and traders were losing their goods due to lack of patronage, citing the case of tomatoes seller that travelled to Lagos with their goods but all got wasted because people have no money to buy.
El-Rufai told journalists that the governors appealed to President Buhari to reconsider his stance, but haven’t gotten a response from the president.
READ ALSO: How not to redesign the naira, by Hassan Gimba
Responding, President Muhammadu Buhari urged Nigerians to give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch that has become a problem across the country.
A statement was issued after the meeting by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity on Friday.
President Buhari said the currency re-design will give a boost to the economy and provide long-term benefits while expressing doubts about the commitment of banks in particular to the success of the policy.
“Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves, even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away.
READ ALSO: CBN directs banks to pay new naira notes over the counter
“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension,” the President assured.
The President said when he considered giving approval to the policy, he demanded an undertaking from the CBN that no new notes will be printed in a foreign country and they assured him that there was enough capacity, manpower, and equipment to print the currency for local needs. He said he needed to go back to find out what was actually happening.
READ ALSO: CBN bows to pressure, extends use of old Naira notes till February 10
He assured them that the cries of the people have been heard and will act in a way that there will be a solution.
