President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that the new naira notes will be distributed more effectively.
A statement on Saturday by the presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu quoted the president saying the decision to redesign the naira was made to combat the stockpiling of illicit funds.
According to the statement, Buhari stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is working on steps to “avoid anarchy” with regard to the distribution of the new notes.
President Muhammadu Buhari assured that government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly.
Reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger and opposition’s criticism, President Buhari reiterated that the currency changes were aimed at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding.
This, he assured, will stabilize and strengthen the economy.
While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, he gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
He reiterated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank and all commercial banks are underway to speed up the distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.
(withinnigeria)
