Stop punishing Nigerians, release your hoarded new naira notes, PDP tells APC

OBIORA IFOH, Abuja

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demands that the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) including its Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and APC State governors immediately release billions of new Naira notes in their custody and halt the anguish being experienced by Nigerians.

The PDP in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba described it as wicked and unpardonable that “the same band of deceptive, sneaky and hypocritical APC leaders who are deeply involved in intercepting and hoarding of new Naira notes is going about trying to hoodwink Nigerians by posturing as though they are concerned about their plight.

“It is instructive to state that the controversial Naira redesign and swap policies are programmes of the APC administration which is also completely in control of the production and circulation of the new notes.

“The APC leaders have realized that they cannot win in the 2023 general elections, sabotaged the system and diverted the new Naira notes to create widespread social unrest to justify their plan to derail the elections and truncate our democracy.

“Our Party has been informed by some well-meaning APC members on how six APC State governors led by a particular infamous Governor of a prominent State in the North West region are coordinating the hoarding of new Naira notes for the vote-buying scheme of the APC ahead of the February 25, 2023, Presidential election.

“The PDP has also been made aware of how APC governors are allegedly warehousing the new Naira notes in facilities owned by APC interests in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo and other parts of the country for the purpose of vote buying for Senator Tinubu in the Presidential election.

“Nigerians can recall that the APC was recently busted in the process of swapping the sum of N22.5 billion in old N1000 notes for new ones in Kano State for vote buying, in a deal wherein a substantial part of the old notes was allegedly conveyed to Lagos State for secret swapping with new notes.

“It is therefore callous for APC leaders to continue to watch Nigerians spend nights at ATM stands, fight one another in bank halls and ATM centers for cash with millions stranded without money to take care of their daily needs.

“The PDP calls on Nigerians to hold the APC and its leaders directly responsible for the pain, economic hardship, social dislocation and psychological distress they are going through on account of APC-induced cash scarcity in the country.

“The APC has again demonstrated that it is the party of very cruel, insensitive, and self-centered politicians who relish in inflicting pain, anguish and life-discounting situations on our citizens in the last seven and half years of the APC administration.

“Our Party, therefore, urges Nigerians not to allow the deception, lies and shenanigans of the APC to detract from their collective resolve to end the era of misery in our country by voting Atiku Abubakar as the next President of Nigeria so that he can commence the onerous task of rebuilding our nation from the abysmal misrule of the vicious APC.”

However, Following hardship experienced by Nigerians over the scarcity of the new Naira notes, the Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to allow the old notes still in circulation remain legal tender with the new ones for the next 12 months.

He also advocated the immediate suspension of associated charges on online transactions and bank transfers and payments via POS until the current crisis is fully resolved.

Tinubu made the demands in a press statement he signed on Sunday.

Titled ‘Let Us Make The Best Of This Moment’, it read: “The past few weeks have been a challenging one for Nigerians, especially our SMEs, poor and vulnerable masses and those whose very survival depends 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 the 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.

“While the scarcity arising from the supply limitations of the new naira notes is still with us, we are encouraged by reports that the fuel queues across the country are easing out as a result of better supply to fuel stations. We are now confronted with how to bring a quick, sustainable solution, and relief to Nigerians on the challenges still posed by the non availability of new Naira notes so that social and economic activities can move on unimpeded and normalcy can immediately return to our financial services sector and overall productivity of our nation.

“In seeking a quick resolution, the National Council of State met on Friday, February 10, 2022 and advised the government and Central Bank in particular, to push more new Naira notes into circulation and also allow for the old notes to remain a legal tender by ensuring supply gaps relative to infrastructural limitations are 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, Senator Kashim Shettima and our campaign council do not have anything against the CBN Naira redesign and cashless policy in principle. We are, however, only concerned about its disruptive implementation and the hardship it has brought on the generality of our people who currently can’t access their hard-earned money to meet obligations and the attendant consequences on the informal sector, where the majority operate.

“Despite the challenges and current difficulties, we are a country of resilient, bold and courageous people who don’t succumb to hard times. We have always overcome our most difficult times and come out better as a people and a nation. This time will not be different. We will make lemonade out of our current lemons.

“To bring immediate relief to our people, we urge the Central Bank to consider the following: Following the advice of the Council of States, the CBN should announce that the old and new Naira notes (especially the non-withdrawn notes and coins) will co-exist as legal tender for the next 12 months to follow examples of countries that have successfully implemented similar monetary policy. This will immediately remove growing tension in the country, eliminate panic reactions by the populace and allow time to scale up infrastructural gaps around alternative payment options to cash.

“We advise the immediate suspension of associated charges on online transactions and bank transfers and payments via POS until the current crisis is fully resolved. This cost should be considered a roll-out expense by the CBN to incentivise the envisaged shift to alternative transaction channels; for both the financial services consuming the public and those in charge of implementing the scale-up programme.

“Mobilise all Money Deposit Banks, Payment platforms to show clear commitment and timelines on expanding their infrastructure and support services.

“Bring in Fintech companies with capabilities into currency swap programme for the next 90 days to help decongest banking halls and ATM points where people line up for hours.

“The Central Bank and other relevant MDA’s should form an Inter-Agency Action Committee for immediate oversight over the cash supply gaps from the Nigerian Security and Minting Company and deal with issues around capabilities and turn around time to meet the needs of the informal sector and unbanked people.

“The CBN, National Orientation Agency and Ministry of Information, State and Local Governments with their relevant organs in both the public and private sectors should commence a major public enlightenment and sensitisation campaign to further educate and empower our people on the new naira and cashless policy for better understanding and mainstream adoption.

“As leaders, our commitment to our country every day must be on how to make life better for our people and we are called upon not to waste the opportunity the moment presents to us to ramp up capacity and capability to serve 200 million Nigerians, leaving no one behind and ultimately improve the living conditions of every single Nigerian.

“Our task now is to restore hope in the country by implementing these steps to energise our people so that we can do big things for a better future and shared prosperity. We can build upon this citizen-focused policy challenge to offer a template on how government should work for the people.

God bless you and God bless Nigeria. We are overcomers”.

However, the Kano state government, through the Consumer Protection Council, on Sunday, shut popular supermarket, Wellcare, over its refusal to accept old Naira notes.

According to the Acting chairman of the council, Baffa Babba Danagundi, the supermarket was shut shortly after Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje gave the order.

He said the order of the closure follows the refusal of WellCare Supermarket to accept the old naira notes from customers as against the instruction of the state government.

He warned other marketers in Kano to be aware that the state government has not banned the use of old Naira notes, therefore, any shop caught not receiving the old notes will be dealt with decisively.

Shortly after the closure, Wellcare Alliance Limited wrote a letter of apology to the government, seeking immediate intervention to re-open the supermarket.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have continued to face challenges in their financial transactions due to inadequate circulation of the newly redesigned Naira notes.

This is as the Feb.10 deadline for the legal tender status of the old notes expired on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that stakeholders across the country are expressing frustration in accessing the new Naira notes.

While traders and other small business owners have stopped accepting the old Naira notes across the country, Nigerians who are still in possession of the old notes are left stranded.

This is despite a Supreme Court ruling, which urged the Federal Government to accept the old notes as legal tender until Feb. 15.

The apex court’s ruling was on a suit brought before it by the governors of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, seeking to halt the Naira redesign policy.

The Supreme Court had in a unanimous ruling granted an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Feb. 10 deadline for the swapping of the old naira notes with the new ones.

A financial expert, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, urged the government to obey the ruling.

Unegbu, who is a past President of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said that there was no need for Nigerians to panic.

He said that the law mandates the CBN to accept the old Naira notes in exchange for the new ones anytime they were presented.

He urged the apex bank to obey provisions of the act that set it up, adding that the Naira redesign policy and currency swap were supposed to be long-term projects.

“The President should instruct the CBN governor to hold on until when the Supreme Court will consider the matter on Feb. 15.

“The apex bank should also obey Section 20 of the CBN Act, which provides that it should continue to accept the old notes for swap, even when they cease to be legal tender,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Council of State on Friday urged the CBN to immediately make enough of the new Naira notes available to Nigerians or resort to circulating the old notes.

Rising from a meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari, the council, however, declared its support for the Naira redesign policy.

It said that there was a need for the CBN to ensure adequate provision of Naira notes in the system.

The CBN has also assured Nigerians of its capacity to meet the country’s Naira demand.

It denied a report that had gone viral on the Internet that the Naira shortage was due to challenges faced by the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).

According to a statement by Osita Nwanisobi, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, at no time did the apex bank make such disclosure.

“What the CBN governor told the National Council of State meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing denominations of the Naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN remains committed to performing its monetary policy function as stipulated in the CBN Act.

“We also wish to reiterate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to print the required indent of the Naira,” he said.

He said that the apex bank was working assiduously to increase the circulation of new notes in the country.

Similarly, the NSPMC also expressed its capacity to produce and circulate adequate quantities of the new notes.

According to a statement by the company’s Managing Director, Ahmed Halilu, NSPMC has made adequate arrangements to continuously produce redesigned banknotes as well as other denominations in line with the CBN indent for the year.
However, many business operators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have started rejecting the old Naira notes despite a Supreme Court order temporarily halting the ban on their use.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that following the redesigning of N200, N500 and N1000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Jan. 31 was announced as the deadline for use of the old notes.

The Jan. 31 deadline was, however, met with outrage from Nigerians, forcing the apex bank to extend the deadline to Feb. 10 after which the notes would seize to be legal tender.

Meanwhile, governors of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara approached the Supreme Court on Feb. 3, requesting that the extension should be beyond Feb. 10 as announced by the CBN.

Following the suit, a seven-member panel of the apex court, led by John Okoro gave the order suspending the Feb. 10 deadline till Feb. 15, when the suit would be determined.

NAN Correspondent, who went around some parts of the FCT on Sunday to monitor the use of the old notes, discovered they were being rejected in public places like fuelling stations, markets places and parks.

Mr. Ndubuisi Ugwu, a commercial driver, seen announcing to passengers to board with new Naira notes, said he started rejecting the old notes because fuelling stations had begun rejecting them.

He said, “I went to fuel my car at the station with the old notes and it was rejected.

“That is why I am insisting on passengers boarding with new notes.”

On the Supreme Court Order, Ugwu said he was aware of it but insisted that since people had started rejecting the money he had no choice.

Mrs. Amina Shuaibu, a tomatoes seller at Karu Market, said she stopped collecting old notes on Feb. 11, following the Feb. 10 deadline given by the CBN.

According to her, she heard that the old notes have seized to be legal tender.

“Although I heard that the court gave an order that we should continue using the old notes but people are rejecting it in the market, that is why I am also rejecting it.

“I also heard that banks have equally stopped accepting the old notes but I do not know how true that is.

“There is so much confusion about the whole thing, so the best thing to do is not to collect it at all.”

Mr. Philip Ogedengbe, a concerned Nigerian, who was seen educating traders in the market, said almost everybody in the market was rejecting the old notes.

He said he could not purchase any item on his list because he went to the market with old notes.

Ogedengbe, who said he was frustrated, added that the new notes were not easy to come by.

He also said attempts to make a transfer failed, adding that each attempt showed, “issuer inoperative”.

Vivian Anibe, a student, said she had used the last old N1,000 note on her to buy things she did not need.

Anibe said she went to buy bread but could not because the bread seller was not collecting old notes.

“This whole situation is so worrisome.

“I came out to buy bread but could not because many people are no longer collecting the old notes.

“On my way home, I decided to try one more place and they were still collecting old notes unfortunately they did not have bread.

“I had to buy what I did not budget for but I am happy I have spent the money,” she said. ( NAN)

 

 

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