…Say naira policy unpopular, could jeopardise polls
From Fred Itua, Abuja
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on new naira re-design and naira swap policy, on Thursday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to a statement made available to newsmen, the members told Buhari that a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians following the naira crisis.
The committee, chaired by the House Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa (APC, Kano) met with the President at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.
The lawmakers met with the president hours after his nationwide broadcast, where he declared that N200 banknotes circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10 2023 when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender.
Doguwa appreciated some of the good decisions by the President as contained in his national broadcast.
However, the panel insisted that a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of the masses.
He said: “The steps taken so far by Mr. President leave much to be desired. The policy is at this time very unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardize the upcoming general elections.
“Mr. President may of course had good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption and engender the global best practice in fiscal policy management but unfortunately due to wrong timing, and the work of some criminal elements in both the CBN and the commercial banks, Nigerians are left suffering.”
Urging Nigerians to be calm and maintain law and order, he said the parliament would continue to side with the masses and resist any policy that aggravates their sufferings.
“We also urge Nigerians to continue to be calm and pursue their lawful businesses within the ambit of the law as we will continue to explore available opportunities to make sure that government does only what is right and in the overall interest of our people,” he said.