President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday said that the current scarcity of the redesigned Naira notes are being sorted out to enable Nigerians go about their businesses without a hitch.
Buhari made this known amid pressure by the political class, lawyers, business owners and religious leaders on the Federal Government to extend the deadline of the use of the old notes.
Earlier in the week, the National Assembly had called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline by six months to reduce the suffering of Nigerians, particularly those living in areas where there are no banks.
The House of Representatives on its part wanted to find out why scarcity of the new naira notes which cease to be legal tender persists.In a move that supposedly guarantees a clearer understanding of the situation, the House invited the CBN and Commercial Banks but while the Banks complied with the letter of invitation, and appeared before the House Committee investigating the scarcity, CBN failed to make appearance and that infuriated the Speaker,Femi Gbajiabiamila who threatened to direct a warrant of arrest on the CBN Governor.
With the 31st January only a few days away, the President has assured that his government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire Naira supply arising from the currency swap.
Reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger and opposition’s criticism, President Buhari 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.
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He noted that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses and assured that President Buhari gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
Buhari added that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank 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.
