The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has asked for a slight extension to the January 31st deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the swapping of old naira notes for new ones in various commercial banks of the country.
According to Atiku, this was because the pain caused by this action is not planned for the initiative.
In a video the former Vice President had posted, on Thursday, titled, “My position on the CBN January 31st deadline on the new Naira notes” on his official social media handles to express his worries over the challenges faced by Nigerians in meeting up with the deadline announced by the country’s apex bank.
While lauding the monetary conversion policy as a worldwide practice, Atiku went on to stress that the deadline was unfit and should be slightly adjusted.
He had said: “A great number of Nigerians have expressed apprehension about how the policy and the upcoming deadline is making life difficult for them. I’m additionally aware of the challenges farmers and artisans living in remote areas go through in moving cash to the commercial banks for exchange.”
“It is therefore important for the CBN to consider an extension to the deadline so that the public can swap their old notes thereby reducing the financial consequences on the vulnerable citizens, as I believe that such painful experience is not the intention behind the initiative” he had concluded.
