Obi on Sunday morning called on citizens to bear with the government and understand that currency redesign and its attendant inconveniences are not peculiar to Nigeria.
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the forthcoming general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has attacked his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, for backing the Naira redesign by the Nigerian government.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that amid the current life-threatening hardship and suffering Nigerians are going through due to the scarcity of the new Naira notes, Obi expressed his support for the Naira redesign exercise carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.
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 many Nigerians have condemned the Nigerian government’s cashless policy, Obi on Sunday morning called on citizens to bear with the government and understand that currency redesign and its attendant inconveniences are not peculiar to Nigeria.
The Labour Party presidential candidate 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.”
Reacting to Obi’s statement, Adebayo said it was wrong for Obi to support what he described as an extremely callous exercise which has caused unnecessary “suffering and deaths”, adding that swapping old Naira notes for new ones needs no chaos.
Adebayo said, “You are wrong to back this extremely callous exercise which has caused unnecessary suffering and deaths already. Those of you who assume that this inhumanity of @MBuhari and CBN will confer political advantages on you, be prepared for sorry tales soon. Naira swap needs no chaos.”