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Peter Obi Backs Buhari Government, Central Bank On Naira Redesign Amid Life-Threatening Hardship, Suffering By Nigerians Over Scarcity

Peter Obi
February 5, 2023

Obi’s expression of support for the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes redesign came on Sunday amid nationwide groaning by Nigerians over excruciating pains and life-threatening difficulties caused by the persisting scarcity of the new Naira notes across the country despite the final deadline for the legality of the old notes coming in less than a week. 

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the forthcoming general elections, Peter Obi, has expressed his support for the Naira redesign exercise carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Obi’s expression of support for the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes redesign came on Sunday amid nationwide groaning by Nigerians over excruciating pains and life-threatening difficulties caused by the persisting scarcity of the new Naira notes across the country despite the final deadline for the legality of the old notes coming in less than a week. 

 

Nigerians across the country are angry as the Naira notes scarcity has led to the closure of many businesses while many pupils and students have not been to school in days as they have no money for transportation because commercial banks have refused to issue money to their customers, claiming that they do not have enough money to give out. 

 

But while out of frustration caused by the Naira notes scarcity, many Nigerians have condemned the Nigerian government’s cashless policy, Obi on Sunday morning called on Nigerians to bear with the government and understand that currency redesign and its attendant inconveniences are not peculiar to Nigeria.

 

Reacting to the ongoing groaning of Nigerians on his Twitter page, the former Anambra State governor said, “The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits. Even though there are improvements that can be made.

 

“I urge Nigerians to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms.

 

“We equally implore the CBN and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas.”