Commercial banks have come under fire from President Muhammadu Buhari, who said that certain “inefficient banks” are making the policy needlessly tough out of “selfishness and greed.”
The President, who on Friday in Abuja expressed scepticism about banks’ dedication to the success of the new currency policy in particular, pleaded with Nigerians to allow him seven days to address the widespread cash shortage.
He asserts that any delays to the February 10, 2023 naira swap deadline will not be sufficient to address problems brought on by selfishness and greed.
“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,” Buhari told members of the Progressive Governors Forum who were at the Presidential Villa to seek solutions to the cash crunch which they said was making their constituents impatient.
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President Buhari requests seven days to make a significant decision about the redesign of the national currency, according to a statement issued on Friday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
The President announced that he had heard media stories concerning cash shortages, difficulty for small enterprises, and everyday people, and he pledged to utilise the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension to stomp out any obstacles to a smooth implementation.
“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,” the President assured.
Exactly one week after approving the Central Bank of Nigeria’s request to extend the naira swap deadline from January 31 to February 10, 2023, Buhari made his remarks.
A seven-day grace period from February 10–17, 2023, was also agreed by Buhari during a meeting with CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele in Daura on January 28. During this time, the general people could surrender old notes to the CBN directly.
The governors informed the president that while they agreed with his choice to revive the naira, the way it was implemented had gone horribly wrong and their constituents were growing more and more irate.
They said that as the party and government leaders in charge of their respective states, they were growing concerned about the impending elections as well as the impending economic downturn.
They thus asked the President to persuade the CBN to permit the simultaneous circulation of the new and old notes till 2023.
Buhari said that when he was debating whether to approve the programme, he required the CBN guarantee that no fresh notes would be manufactured abroad. The CBN, in turn, gave him the assurance that there was sufficient capacity, staff, and equipment to print the currency for local purposes.
He stated that he needed to return to check out what was going on.
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