The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says he does not have anything against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Naira re-design and cashless policy.
Tinubu, who has been one of the major critics of the apex bank and its governor, Godwin Emefiele, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, adding that he is only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it brought on the generality of Nigerians.
- 2023: Obi leads new poll as low turnout favours Tinubu
- NECA berates CBN, urges Buhari to look beyond politics of Naira redesign
This, he said, was especially because most Nigerians currently could not access their hard-earned monies and could not meet obligations.
The former two-term Lagos state governor noted that the past few weeks had been a challenging one for Nigerians, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He added that equally challenged were the poor and vulnerable masses and those whose very survival depended on daily cash transactions.
“They have felt the brunt of the combined problems of scarcity of fuel and new Naira notes.
“We feel the pains of our market women and artisans who have experienced low sales because customers do not have cash to make purchases.
“We hear the loud cries of farmers in rural areas and hinterlands who have been forced to sell their produce at much lower prices so they don’t lose out completely.
“We hear every Nigerian dealing with the consequences of the roll-out of the cash swap programme,” Tinubu said.
He however noted that while the scarcity arising from the supply limitations of the new Naira notes was still with us, he was encouraged about reports that the fuel queues across the country was easing out.
This, he said, followed better supply of fuel to filling stations.
He said we were now however confronted with how to bring quick, sustainable solution and relief to Nigerians on the challenges still posed by the non-availability of the new Naira notes.
According to him, this is necessary to ensure that social and economic activities can move on unimpeded and normalcy immediately return to our financial services sector and overall productivity of the country.
He recalled that to seek a quick resolution, the National Council of State met on Feb. 10, and advised the government and the CBN in particular, to push more new Naira notes into circulation.
He said the council also advised that the old notes be allowed to remain a legal tender by ensuring supply gaps relative to infrastructural limitations were bridged by recirculating it to ameliorate the pains caused by the scarcity of new ones.
“We agree with the wisdom of the Council of States as a necessary starting point to begin redressing the unintended consequences of what would have otherwise been a good policy that required mainstream adoption.
“For the records, I and my running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima, and our campaign council do not have anything against the CBN Naira redesign and cashless policy in principle.
“We are only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it brought on the generality of Nigerians who currently could not access their hard-earned money and could not meet obligations,” he said.
Tinubu said he was also concerned about the attendant consequences of the policy on the informal sector where majority operate.
