Why CBN Shouldn’t Extend Naira Swap Deadline – Atiku

People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria not to grant any further extension beyond the February 10 deadline for the naira swap.

This, he said, had become necessary to ensure that the purpose and objective of initiating the redesign of the currency is not destroyed.

In a statement released from his campaign office in Abuja on Wednesday, Atiku urged the CBN to immediately review the measures it has taken to ensure the seamless distribution of the new naira notes.

“The extra ten days will enable our rural people and common people across the country to transfer the naira they own to the banks. It also enables the CBN to continue circulating the new banknotes among banks so that people can easily access them.

“Within these ten days, I urge the CBN to take measures that alleviate the difficulties people face in exchanging their old naira notes for new ones and putting more new notes into circulation. The CBN may need to consider printing more banknotes to alleviate the current scarcity among ordinary people, especially rural people who need them for their daily transactions.

“If the CBN thinks its officials and banks need to operate on weekends to meet the needs of the common people and rural people, maybe it should consider this option because the amount these people need is not huge. The essential element here is ensuring that the new currency is circulated and properly distributed to the points where people can easily access it. Any good policy should be people-oriented and should not create avoidable difficulties for people.

“However, the CBN should be wary of the elite whose motive for clamoring for more extension of the old naira notes tenure deadline is sinister and far from altruistic. I fully support building a cashless economy and reducing the amount of cash in our economy.

“The cashless policy and reduction of cash in circulation has many benefits and every patriotic Nigerian should support the CBN in this. It will help to reduce the flow of illicit funds into our economy. It will help defeat the financing of terrorism and discourage the circulation of drug money in our economy. It will help our fight against corruption.

“More importantly, a cashless economy will help save and grow our democracy. Those who have devised various ways to buy votes and use money in the upcoming election to corrupt the electoral system and defeat the principle of one man, one vote and the goal of a credible, peaceful, free and fair poll are those are shouting against the cashless policy and naira redesign.

“The anti-democratic elements pretending to be Democrats are the ones uniting against the CBN because of its currency redesign and the cashless regime it is trying to enthrone. They have been planning and lobbying day and night to frustrate the policy. Now their new measure is lobbying for a second extension of the currency exchange deadline. I urge the CBN and the government to ignore their antics. The CBN must not succumb to the current pressure.

“There should be no further delay of the new naira regime beyond the February 10 deadline. The vote spoofers are trying to pressure the CBN to extend beyond the election, when they would have achieved their evil plots. The CBN and the Presidency must stand firm. The merits of the new naira policy far outweigh the minor inconvenience we are experiencing.

“This is a policy that will benefit the country in the long run. We must not allow those selfish, narrow-minded people with narrow vision to derail it,” the statement said.