Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Trade Union Congress (TUC) said Nigerians have been betrayed by the banking system due to the failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to successfully implement the Naira redesign policy.
TUC said commercial banks have been unable to pay Nigerians whenever they visit the financial institutions to withdraw from their accounts.
The National President of TUC, Festus Osifo, said this on Thursday during a press conference, where he faulted the Federal Government for choosing to change the country’s three highest denominations, N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, within its preferred timeframe, but still failing to ensure a smooth transition from old Naira to new currencies.
Recall that the central bank released the banknotes in December 2022, disclosing that the deadline to phase out the old Naira notes is 31 January 2023. Although it was later pushed backwards to 10 February 2023.
Osifo also stated that the government is incapable of protecting Nigerians from financial strangulation which many are currently facing, as they are unable to access their funds, and this has affected their daily lives.
“The problem, as you know, is that Nigerians have been betrayed by the banking system which has been unable to pay them their money on demand.
“They have also been failed by the Federal Government which unilaterally decided to change the three highest denominations of the currency, fixed dates for the change, and is utterly incapable either to deliver on its promises or protect the populace from financial strangulation,” Osifo said.
Osifo further stated that aside from the challenge of Naira scarcity Nigerians are facing, they are also struggling with fuel scarcity.
“The lengthy explanations on why there are long queues at fuel stations and prices of PMS being far above the official price can no longer be tolerated.
“All we demand is that petrol returns to fuel stations and is available at the official price across the country. As we have often stated, the answer to the fuel shortage question, is the local refining of our petroleum product needs.
“Local refining would add value to our crude oil, provide local jobs and not only save us foreign exchange but would enable us earn far more income,” the trade union boss explained.
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