36 Nigerian Governors Write President Buhari To Lament Naira Scarcity As Bankers Threaten Strike Over Attacks By Angry Customers

Nigerian governors under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) have written to President Muhammadu Buhari, demanding an extension of the timeframe for the implementation of the naira redesign policy and a review of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy.

The governors made the demand in a letter addressed to President Buhari and signed by the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, who is the NGF Chairman.

The demands followed protests and growing hardship across the country following the scarcity of new Naira notes.  

The governors said that the policy had resulted in riots and protests from Nigerians who are presently frustrated and traumatised by the policy.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily halted the Nigerian government's move to stop the use of old naira notes on February 10, 2023.

This was stated in a ruling given by a seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro for an ex parte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara.

Daily Trust reports that the NGF said while the policy is “intended to address the contradictions in our fiscal environment”, poor execution of it would “hurt the economy and have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable”.

The Forum explained that state-by-state analysis of the policy has shown that it would affect “several intra-state security arrangements which basically depend on cash transactions to ensure effective implementation”.

The governors further stated in the letter that “even though the identified constraints are to be found in almost every state in the country, they are particularly evident in states like Borno in the North-East and Bayelsa in the south-south where one finds a pitiable number of banks located only in the State capital which would basically render the workability of the new policies impossible for now”.

The governors described the speed of implementation of the policy as a “recipe for anarchy in the country”.

“It is our view, Sir, that an immediate limitation in the use of cash without robust engagement with stakeholders as well as the provision of accessible alternatives will deny such people legitimate sources of livelihood,” the governors said.

“This has a dangerous implication for the security of the country and the potential to derail Mr President’s security agenda,” the statement added.

They lamented that the matter has led to riots and protests in the country.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), which is an association for bankers, on Wednesday threatened to go on strike following attacks on some banks across the country.

NUBIFIE’s General Secretary, Mr Mohammed Sheikh, in a statement on Wednesday, called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to review its cash withdrawal policy, saying it has “affected the business of over 200,000 Point of Sales businesses in Nigeria”.

In a recent video seen by SaharaReporters, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, while addressing a political audience, said, “All the 36 governors are supposed to meet with the president soon and our request is simple. Like every country in the world that has changed currency, let the old notes and the new notes be used side by side until such a time when all the old notes have been systematically drawn out of circulation.

“Nigeria is not the first country to do this, Saudi has changed its currency; for seven years now, they still accept old notes. The only thing is that you’d never see the old notes come out of a bank and even a trader will not give you change with old notes becuase they have printed enough of the new notes. And they are carefully and systematically withdrawing the old notes from circulation.”

He added, “That is what every civilized country has done. Why is Nigeria doing its differently if there is no hidden agenda? Why are we expected to change N3 trillion in a matter of weeks? And then you print only N300 billion worth of notes. Unless you want to create a crisis, why would you do that?”

-sahara reporters