• Policy designed to disorganize 2023 polls – Northern elders
By Vincent Kalu, Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan; Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Leaders of some Northern and Southern ethnic groups have decried the current hardship being meted out to Nigerians by the Central Bank of Nigeria policy on the redesigning of naira notes. The Northern Elders Forum (NEF), the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the Ijaw National Congress (INC), have poignantly noted that the redesign of the naira has brought an untold hardship to Nigerians.
Spokesman of NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, blamed the authorities for setting the whole country on fire because of few individuals that they are beaming their searchlight on.
NEF alleged that the objective behind naira redesign and currency swap by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was aimed at disorganising the 2023 general elections because of a few individuals in the political race, adding that the plots backfired.
Baba-Ahmed however expressed the belief that Nigeria cannot be sacrificed for the sake of few individuals perceived to be holding the country to ransom.
He also noted that the on-going fuel crises was designed by the powers that be to cause political unrest or worsen the already tensed political situation in the country.
Secretary-General of YCE, Chief Oladotun Oyewole said Nigerian masses are passing through an excruciating hardship because of the scarcity of naira notes.
The Yoruba elder advised the government to have a rethink on the monetary policy, based on the hardship that the scarcity of naira notes has subjected Nigerians to, if the government still wants the masses to exist.
According to him, “We want everybody to know that there is government because there are people. If there are no people in the society, then there won’t be government. If there are people in the society and they live under difficulties, there won’t be peace.”
He appealed to the Federal Government and CBN to consider the difficulties that Nigerians, especially the masses have been passing through to access cash, and end the naira scarcity. President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Bitrus Pogu, said the Supreme Court and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have thrown confusion into the polity over their positions on the redesign of the naira.
According to him, in spite of whatever reason behind the introduction of the policy, the important thing to know is that Nigerians are suffering. “In some villages, they have resorted to trade by barter system. It has created a lot of hardship; one has to pay 20 per cent to buy the new money.
“This has created insecurity in the whole country. Whatever this policy was meant to achieve, nobody should play with the future of Nigeria. Government must make sure that money is made available to Nigerians. If that is not done, we can say that the federal government through the CBN is trying to frustrate Nigerians from having peaceful elections. The government has to come out clean to convince Nigerians that the intention was good, and it was not going to be used as a tool to truncate the elections.
The President of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien also decried the confusion and agony the policy has brought upon the people.
“Many banks have refused to open because there is no money to pay; you go to ATM, it is like a market place. It is not good for the country where the citizens have money in the banks, but they cannot withdraw it. And to add to this problem is the scarcity of petrol. The government is causing people to get angry; it has to address this situation before it gets out of hands. We have two weeks to the election, and you cannot put the country into flames before the election; people are very angry.” The President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof Benjamin Okaba, has said that the redesign of the naira notes was good, as it was intended to curb corruption and other nefarious activities, but the timing and the time frame were bad.
Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Murtala Aliyu said government should act fast to remedy the situation before the elections start. “If this situation continues, it will affect the election. It will affect the outcome of the elections, it will affect people’s attitude, it will affect voters apathy, it may challenge the logistics of the electoral body, and it will constrain people from moving to places they will cast their votes. So government should do something as quickly as possible so that people can spend their hard earned money and move freely,” he said.