Connect with us

General News

Nigeria: New Naira – Buhari Keeps Mum As Nigerians Grapple With Unprecedented Hardship

Published

on

Nigeria: New Naira - Buhari Keeps Mum As Nigerians Grapple With Unprecedented Hardship

Parts of Nigeria have descended into chaos, with long queues of people forming outside ATM units and fights breaking out inside banks as customers demanded access to their own money

President Muhammadu Buhari has left Nigerians confused as he kept mum on Friday, a day he promised to address citizens on the severe cash crunch hurting economic activities in the country.

The extended deadline to phase out the old notes was Friday, 10 February. However, the Supreme Court gave a order restraining the CBN from enforcing the deadline for the phasing out of the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, pending the hearing of a lawsuit brought by three northern states challenging the new currency redesign. It adjourned that hearing until 15 February.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is challenging that interim ruling by the Supreme Court and the central bank has not spoken on how it intends to comply with the ruling, thus leaving Nigerians confused.

The president held an emergency meeting of the National Council of State on Friday to discuss crucial issues affecting the country including the currency crisis. However, Mr Buhari has not taken a decision on the cash crunch.

Parts of Nigeria have descended into chaos as frustrated Nigerians beseiged ATM units in a bit to access to their own money.

Violent protests have been recorded in parts of the country, including in Ogun, Oyo and Akwa Ibom in the country’s south, and the social media is awash with lamentations of suffering Nigerians, who are not able to access their funds for transactions.

The president acknowledged “hardship” in the country last week and urged citizens to give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch. But he also blamed banks for being “inefficient” and “only concerned about themselves”.