Some South-West senators in the All Progressive Congress have criticised the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, over his comment on the extension of the deadline for the return of the old naira notes.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had last Tuesday announced that commercial banks must accept the old naira notes even after the 10-day grace period.
Atiku, while reacting to the CBN’s decision, said the new naira policy would build a cashless economy and reduce the amount of cash in the economy.
But the senator representing Lagos-West and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Olamilekan Adeola, said Atiku’s comment showed his lack of sympathy for Nigerians facing hardship occasioned by the deadline set by the apex bank and the scarcity of the naira.
“I am not surprised by his (Atiku’s) antics and if he is speaking like that, I can conveniently say that he doesn’t know what the citizens are going through. He is not well informed by his economic advisers; they have not put the data out there for him to see the reason why we cannot continue this way.
“We have started seeing a couple of protests across the country that shows it is not a funny situation at all. If someone who is aspiring to govern the nation is saying this, it means he is insensitive to the needs and yearnings of Nigerians and as such does not deserve their votes,” Adeola added.
Similarly, the senator representing Kogi West and Chairman, Committee on Federal Capital Territory, Smart Adeyemi, said the crisis in the PDP would never end until after the elections because equity, justice, and equity on which the rule of law is built had been defiled by Atiku’s inordinate ambition.
“Atiku is a man who must continuously ask for forgiveness from God and Nigerians because of the way and manner they disposed of our commonwealth to inexplicable people. When I came to the Senate, I was on the privatisation committee.
“When we investigated the privatisation, there was no single receipt to show forth regarding the assets that they said they sold. Nobody could trace who paid for what, no sign of payment, only approval to dispose of our asset.”
“When you talk about the problem of this country, you can’t but trace it to the privatisation which was poorly handled without national interest at heart,” Adeyemi said.
The Kogi senator added, “When has Atiku ever commiserated with Nigerians over the killings caused by insecurity; he has never had the interests of Nigerians at heart. He was part of those who brought us to this place where we have found ourselves.
“Ab initio, Emefiele tried to run for the presidency. Was it because he didn’t get the ticket that he is now trying to sabotage the APC?”
Decrying the hardship facing Nigerians over the scarcity of the naira, Adeola said, “It is too early in the year for people to be going through all of this. What is happening is pathetic and I want to believe that it is majorly wrong advice of policy by whosoever is advising Mr President or the economic team of this country that this should be done at this time.
“The country is currently witnessing one of the worst ever economic situations I have ever witnessed. I can only say that I sympathise with Nigerians and I can only hope that our leader, the President, will look for a way out of this.”
“As widely reported in the media, he has asked for seven days, that’s like Wednesday or Thursday (this week). So, he should come out with a definite position on how the country should be going forward.”
Speaking further, the senator also wondered why a currency that had been in use for over 20 years could be phased out in one month.
“I don’t know how that is possible. Looking at the figure out there that we have about three trillion old naira notes and we have printed less than N300bn of the new naira notes, looking at the disparity alone, the CBN should know that it’s something that should be done gradually at least for the next one year,” he added.
Also worried about the situation in the country, the senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Tolu Odebiyi, called on the Federal Government to critically review the whole implementation process to avoid a breakdown of law and order in the country.
Odebiyi said, “I express deep dissatisfaction with the manner in which the policy was being executed given the increasingly evident suffering that it was causing Nigerians. I urge the President to sack the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, for gross incompetence and his poor and ill-judged handling of the Naira redesign policy. “
“Emefiele’s stubborn, egoistic, and relentless pursuit of the redesign policy has made it impossible for the average Nigerian to go about their daily businesses; as a result, many are going hungry and are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry.”
