By Olusegun Obisanya
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday assured that government will ensure that citizens remain unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly.
Reacting to reports of long queues of citizens waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public displeasure and opposition’s criticism, President Buhari reiterated that the currency changes were aimed at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man, and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding. This, he assured, will stabilize and strengthen the economy.
Noting that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, the president gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, President Buhari reiterated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank and all commercial banks are underway to speed up distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.
Meanwhile, he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally extended the deadline for the swap of old naira notes at commercial banks by 10 days.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said the new deadline is February 10, 2023.
However, Nigerians will still be able to deposit their old notes directly with the CBN until February 17, 2023 described as “grace period”.
Nigerians had been complaining about the inability to swap their old notes for the new designs as the January 31 deadline loomed.
