APC govs to Buhari: Let old, new naira notes coexist till Dec 2023

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have demanded the concurrent use of the new and old naira notes till the end of the year.

The governors on Friday, February 3, came to the Presidential Villa to seek solutions to the cash crunch which they said was threatening the good records of the administration in transforming the economy.

They told President Muhammadu Buhari that, while they agreed that his decision on the renewal of currency was good and they are fully in support, its execution had been botched.

The APC governors said their constituents were becoming increasingly upset.

They told the President that, as leaders of the government and party in their different states, they were becoming anxious about a slump in the economy and the series of elections that are coming.

They requested the President to use his powers to direct the concurrent flourish of the new and old notes till the end of the year.

In his response, President Buhari told the governors that, being closer to the people, he had heard their cries and will act in a way that there will be a solution.

He urged citizens to give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch that has become a problem across the country from the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to change high value Naira notes with new ones.

The President, however, decried the inefficiency and greed of the banks.

“Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves. Even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away.

“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension,” he said.

The Star