‘January 31st deadline will cause heavy discomfort’ – Atiku asks CBN to extend validity date for old naira notes
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline date for the use of some old naira notes.
The CBN had insisted on the January 31st deadline for the validity of the old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes.
Making the appeal in a video posted on his verified Twitter handle @atiku, on Saturday, Atiku appealed to the Federal Government and the CBN to reconsider the deadline to ease the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
“The ongoing policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the Naira has generated wide reactions across the country and beyond.
“This exercise is a world wide practice and therefore not anything new especially as the January 31st deadline draws closer, a great number of Nigerians out of good conscience, have expressed apprehension about how the policy deadline will make life more difficult for Nigerians.
“The large number of unbanked Nigerians who do their business especially in rural areas will find it difficult almost impossible to meet up with the January 31st deadline to exchange their old bank notes with the redesigned currencies.”
He further said, “I’m aware of the challenges farmers and other artisans face with moving money to commercial banks for the conversion.
“On this note, I’m compelled to align my position the upsurge of demands for a small extension of the monetary conversion policy. The January 31st deadline is certainly going to cause heavy discomfort for our people.”
The PDP candidate explained that his appeal was hinged on the fact that he knows that the intention of the monetary policy was not to hurt the poor.
Under the CBN policy, old versions of N200, N500 and N1,000 Naira denominations will cease to be legal tender in Nigeria. Chaotic scenes were recorded at various Automated Teller Machines in various banks across Abuja.
Such scenes were recorded at the IBTC Bank, the UBA and GTBanks ATMs with residents rushing to make cash withdrawals to beat the deadline.
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