SAT. 28 JANUARY, 2023-theGBJournal| Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, today called for an extension of time for Nigerians seeking to convert their old naira notes to the new bills.
The new naira bills-N200, N500 and N1000) were recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and has garnered strong support from President Muhammadu Buhari but many have also expressed their consternation.
Atiku in a broadcast statement on his twitter handle, said his call follows the widespread reactions across the country and beyond on the policy while noting that the exercise is a worldwide practice and therefore not anything new.
”Especially as the January 31st deadline draws closer, a great number of Nigerians, out of good conscience, have expressed apprehension about how the policy and the deadline will make life more difficult for Nigerians,” Atiku said as he explains why he supports an extension in time frame for the conversion into new notes.
According to him, ”a large number of our unbanked population who do their businesses, especially in the rural areas will find it almost impossible to meet up with the January 31st to exchange their old bank notes for the redesigned currencies.
”I am aware of the challenges that farmers and others like artisans in the remote areas of the country go through in moving cash to commercial banks for the conversion. On this note, I am compelled to align my position with the upsurge in demands for a slight extension for the conversion policy.
The January 31st deadline is certainly going to cause heavy discomfort on our people. It will be magnanimous on the part of government and the regulatory agency to ease the burden on the people in public interest.”
While we can continue with sensitizing the public on the impending imperative of mobile banking policy, it is important for the CBN to consider an extension on the time the public can convert their unbanked monies into new notes thereby reducing the financial consequences on these vulnerable citizens.
I believe that such a painful experience is not the intension behind the currency redesign initiative,” he said.
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