By Chioma Obinagwam
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has assured Nigerians of undisrupted flow of business amid the ongoing currency swap.
Confiance News gathered from the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, at the weekend.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, Saturday, assured that government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly,” he disclosed.
Reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger 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.
While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, President Buhari gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
He reiterated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 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.
Confiance News recalls that on the 26th of October, 2022, the governor of Nigeria’s apex monetary authority, the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced a redesign of Nigeria’s currency- the naira, in 200, 500 and 1000 denominations.
A development which has stirred worry among Nigerians and stakeholders concerned.
