Victor EzejaAs Nigerians grapple with the naira redesign and cash withdrawal limit policies introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), President Muhammadu Buhari has said measures were being put in place to ensure that the citizens are not affected in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the ongoing currency swap.
This comes as Nigerians battle to meet up with the deadline for phasing out the old ₦1,000, ₦500 and ₦200 notes set by the CBN.
The development has caused long queues of people waiting for hours in banks for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public outrage.
The apex bank upon the outcry from the citizens over the inability to meet the 31st January deadline due to the scarcity of the new notes, secured approval from President Buhari for additional 10 days to enable people to have more time to swap the old currency notes with the new ones.
In a statement released on Saturday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, President Buhari, while reacting to reports of chaos triggered by the scarcity, said the policy was aimed at those hoarding Illicit Funds, and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding facilitated through cash transactions.
The president assured that the measure would stabilise and strengthen the economy.
The president, who noted that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, gave assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
Buhari stated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank and all commercial banks were underway to speed up the distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.
READ ALSO: Just In: Emefiele Extends CBN’s Deadline For Old Naira Notes By 10 Days
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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