President Muhammadu Buhari has explained the rationale for the government’s decision to replace the old naira banknotes with the new ones....CONTINUE READING
In a statement released on Saturday by his senior special assistant for media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the President of Nigeria explained that the new naira banknotes were designed to combat illegal finances, counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding.
President Buhari said that government policy was not intended to damage or burden the average citizen. President Buhari acknowledged the difficulty Nigerians have experienced in trying to exchange their old naira notes for the new ones before the January 31st deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He assured that the CBN is working on initiatives to end the long lines and prevent chaos surrounding the distribution of the new naira notes.
The statement reads: “On Saturday, President Muhammadu Buhari guaranteed that the government will ensure that people’ businesses are not affected and that the entire supply chain is not disrupted as a result of the currency swap that will conclude soon.
“In response to reports of long lines of people waiting for hours to deposit old notes and receive new ones, which sparked public outrage and opposition criticism, President Buhari reiterated that the currency changes were aimed at those hoarding illicit funds and not the average citizen, and that they had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding.
President Buhari issued strong guarantees that the government will not abandon the poorest segment of society to their own devices, noting that people frequently retain hard currency at home for various needs.
“He reaffirmed that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank and other commercial banks are ongoing to expedite the delivery of the new notes and do all possible to prevent a cash crunch and anarchy,”
