President Muhammadu Buhari is to be blamed for the hardship caused by the naira redesign and not the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, according to Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Speaking on Wednesday during an interview on Channels TV, El-Rufai criticized the timeframe set for the withdrawal of the old N1,000, N500, and N200 noted initially slated for January 31, 2023.
Quoting him, “You have to understand the president. People are blaming the Central Bank Governor for currency redesign. No, you have to go back and look at the antecedents of his first outing as a president.
He did this. Buhari/Idiagbon regime changed our currency and did it in secrecy with the view of catching those that are stashing away illicit funds.”
While noting that President Buhari may have good intentions with the Naira redesign policy, the Kaduna Governor said “but doing it at this time within the time allotted just doesn’t make any political-economic sense.”
Last week, the Central Bank shifted the January 31 deadline to February 10, 2023, with a grace period of seven days (ending February 17) to allow people to swap their monies for new notes.
But the governor argued that such a policy would have been effective if state governors were involved in the planning process.
He explained, “For such a program to work, we (governors) have to be involved as governors of at the subnational. In My state, there are two local governments without banks.
In Borno state, out of 27 Local Governments, only two have banks. In Yobe State, out of 17 LGAs, only two have banks. So, how do you expect farmers in every part?
“Remember, Borno State is four times the size of the five South East States. So, how do you expect everyone to change the currency within the time limit?”
Despite the extension of the deadline by the apex bank, ATMs and banks are yet to see a decline in the rush for the new notes. Currently, ATMs can no longer meet the daily withdrawal needs of Nigerians.
POS operators are also currently charging exorbitant rates for withdrawals of the new notes.
