Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that the currency swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would be beneficial to the country.
In a statement posted on Saturday night via the verified Twitter handle of the presidency, @NGRPresident, it was emphasised that the policy was not meant to make the citizens undergo undue hardship but to tackle corruption, currency counterfeiting and others.
According to the statement, the changing of the old Naira notes to the new ones will stabilise and strengthen the country’s economy.
In October 2022, the central bank said it was redesigning the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and gave Nigerians till Tuesday, January 31, 2023, to deposit the old notes as they would no longer be legal tender.
Many Nigerians have called on the CBN to extend the deadline, while the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Bola Tinubu, believes that the policy was aimed at frustrating his chances of winning the presidential election on February 25, 2023.
But Mr Buhari “assured that government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly.”
Reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger and opposition’s criticism, “the President reiterated that the currency changes were aimed at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding. This, he assured, will stabilize and strengthen the economy.”
“While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, President Buhari gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
“He reiterated that a number of initiatives by the CBN and all commercial banks are underway to speed up distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.”
