Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.), the President, on Saturday, he reaffirmed his previous position that there was no going back on the naira redesign project and said that the 31 January deadline to end the use of the old N1,000, N500, and N200 as legal tender could not be extended.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, which insisted that the deadline would not be extended, supported the President’s position.
This comes at a time when a number of stakeholders, including the Nigerian Bar Association, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the 36 state governors, and bank customers, are requesting an extension of the deadline and a review of the policy.
Buhari explained that the redesign of the currency was not intended to target innocent citizens but rather terrorist financiers and corrupt individuals who were hoarding illicit funds.
In addition, he reassured Nigerians that the government would ensure that supply chain disruptions brought about by the currency redesign would not harm them or their businesses.
Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, issued a statement on Saturday stating that Buhari was responding to reports of long lines of people waiting for hours to deposit old notes and receive new ones.
“Government will eliminate squeeze, chaos in currency swap, President Buhari assures,” was the title of the statement.
Buhari reiterated that the people hoarding illegal funds, not the common man, were the target audience for the currency change.
He stated that the modifications were now required to stabilize and strengthen the economy as well as to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding.
“While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they frequently keep hard cash at home for various expenses, President Buhari gave strong assurances that the government would not leave them to their own fate,” read a portion of the statement.
“He reiterated that a number of initiatives are underway by the central bank and all commercial banks to accelerate the distribution of the new notes and do everything necessary to prevent cash shortages and chaos,” he said.
The President’s explanation may have been in response to Bola Tinubu, the candidate for president from the All Progressives Congress, who claimed on Wednesday that plans were in place to sabotage the February election and prevent him from winning it.
In a similar vein, the CBN insisted on Saturday that the old naira note validity deadline of January 31 would not be extended.
The apex bank maintained that the deadline was inviolable via its verified Twitter handle, rejecting pressure to extend it.
