Your Loyalty To President Buhari Is Questionable- Arewa Youths Tackle Finance Minister Over Comment On New Naira Note

Arewa Consultative Youth Movement has queried the loyalty of the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, following her recent utterance that the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the naira could have dire consequences on its value.

Recall that the Minister had on Friday during budget defence before the Senate Committee on Finance, kicked against plans by the CBN to redesign some naira notes, saying the ministry was not aware of the plans and only knew about it through the media.

Reacting to the position of the Minister of Saturday, the Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, in a statement by its leader, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf wondered if the minister is working towards helping President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve his economic agenda, or if she’s trying to protect the evil people laundering and counterfeiting money.

The group noted that if the Minister has Nigerians best interest at heart then she should welcome this development as it will among other things, help capture money launderers.

The Arewa Youths said: “If the minister doesn’t tender an apology to President Buhari and the CBN, and support this laudable initiative then it’s obvious where her loyalty lies, and this should be looked into by the President.

The statement reads: “The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Friday said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not carry her ministry along in its plan to redesign and roll out new N200, N500 and N1000 notes, saying that the plan could have dire consequences on its value.

“The Minister knows deep down that the CBN is doing the right thing, as the decision to replace some naira denominations with new ones would be positive for the economy in the medium- to long-term.

“It will go a long way in ensuring that a lot of naira notes circulating outside the banks are crowded in.

“If it leads to large deposits in banks, it means the banks will have more money to lend, which may reduce interest rates. Also with this laudable initiative, the Financial Intelligence Unit will be on the watch out for huge deposits as a way of monitoring illegitimate transactions.”