Naira redesign: Atiku urges CBN to extend deadline for ordinary Nigerians

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend its deadline for the phasing out of old naira notes.

The CBN had insisted that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes will cease to be legal tender as from January 31, 2023, urging all Nigerians to deposits their old notes in the bank before then.

But in a statement, Atiku asked the CBN to extend the deadline because it will cause heavy discomfort to ordinary Nigerians.

Atiku said: “This exercise is a worldwide practice and therefore, not new. Especially as the January 31st deadline draws closer, a great number of Nigerians, out of good conscience, have expressed apprehension about how the deadline will make life more difficult for a large number of Nigerians.

“The large number of unbanked population who do their businesses, especially in the rural area, will find it almost impossible to meet up with the deadline of January 31st to exchange their old bank notes for the redesigned currency.

“I’m aware of the challenges that farmers and others, like artisans, in remote areas of the country go through in moving cash from remote areas to commercial banks for conversion.

“On this note, I’m compelled to align my position with the upsurge of demands for a slight extension of the monetary conversion policy.

“The January 31st deadline will certainly cause a heavy discomfort on our people and it will be magnanimous on the part of government and regulatory agencies to ease the burden on the people in the public interest.”