Naira scarcity: Peter Obi breaks silence, says Naira redesign will bring economic and social benefits

The Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has stated that the current pain and inconvenience caused by redesigning the Naira will result in significant long-term economic and social benefits.

The former Anambra State governor made the statement in a post on his verified Twitter account on Sunday, February 5, 2023.

Remember that the country has been hit by a scarcity of new Naira notes, causing untold hardship for many Nigerians.

Many have called for the CBN to extend the deadline for the swap of old Naira notes for new notes, but the CBN has insisted on the February 10 deadline.

In response to Nigerians’ plight due to naira scarcity, Obi urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and commercial banks to expedite efforts to make the new Naira notes available to small depositors and unbanked Nigerians.

He stated that this is to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, particularly those living in rural areas.

Obi also called for an improvement to be made in the distribution of the new Naira notes, while urging that Nigerians bear with the Federal Government and the CBN.

He wrote, “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.

“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.”