The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has appealed to Nigerians to exercise more patience with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in sorting out the new naira scarcity challenge being faced, the situation which has hampered many businesses and domestic needs.

The CBN extended the deadline for old naira note swapping till February 10th, 2023, but the new naira notes in circulation are so scanty.

A few days ago, a commercial bank in Ibadan was destroyed by angry customers who couldn’t get the cash needed. The situation also caused chaos at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) where military officers who came to withdraw assaulted the University student and destroy many cars after the student protested against the army officers jumping the queue.

PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has also voiced his opinion on the issue stating that currency redesign is a global practice but appealed for the extension of the deadline.

However, while AAC presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, believed that the Naira redesign is a deliberate action to weaken other political party’s capacity to fund their campaign ahead of the February and March general elections, the candidate of APC, Bola Ahmed Timubu, argued that the CBN policy is targeted at the ruling party to fail at the presidential election.

Reacting to the terrible situation average Nigerians are faced with, Peter Obi who was a running mate to Atiku Abubakar during the 2019 presidential election, now the flag bearer of LP, aligns with CBN Policy said “currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria.”

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as they will enjoy the benefits of the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN cashless policy.

He wrote via his social media handle thus, “The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits. Even though there are improvements that can be made, I urge Nigerians to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms.”

He implores CBN and the Federal Government to hasten the process of making liquid cash available to Nigerians to ease the tension and the sufferings people are going through.

In the words of the former Anambra state governor, “We equally implore the CBN and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas – PO.”

The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain but it has significant longterm economic and social benefits. Even though there are improvements that can be made,

— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) February 5, 2023