Saturday, January 28, 2023 5:02 pm
The Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, the chief security officer of the state (like every sub-national) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to shift his proposed 30-31 January trip to commission some projects. Reason: “Security concerns and complaints from locals about difficulty in obtaining the new naira notes.”
This was contained in a letter written to the President as revealed by Abba Anwar, the governor’s media aide.
It was not the decision of the Governor alone but, according to the statemnt, “lawmakers from the state, political stakeholders and the business community agree with the decision to postpone the planned visit.”
“Deeply concerned with the hardship caused by the limited time given for halting the use of old Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and for security reasons, Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje reveals that the state resolved and wrote to Presidency that, the visit of the President to commission some projects to be postponed,” the statement reads.
“As we are waiting for this important visit, we found ourselves in this situation, which puts citizens into untold hardship. For security purposes, we wrote to Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano is postponed,” the statement reads.
“We got an acknowledgement copy of the letter. People are suffering because of this policy.
“During the meeting with sections of citizens in the state, they accepted that the decision was a unanimous one. As they all spoke in support of the letter sent to the Presidency.
“Two serving senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya and Barau Jibrin, Twenty members of the House of Representatives and Thirty legislators from the State House of Assembly were amongst the groups that put their weight behind the governor.”
“There are no banks in most of our rural communities. How these people get new Naira notes is of great concern. Just look at what is happening in our urban areas, people go and spend hours upon hours in banks. And without any assurances of getting the new notes,” the statement reads.
“Even at Point of Sales (POS) , according to the governor, one cannot transact with ease, hinting that, many of them closed shops due to uncertainty.
“Governors from all the political parties put heads together and sent delegates, but to no avail. So also traditional rulers followed the same path, but individually. But up to now, there is nothing in that respect,” he said.
Despite pressure for an extension, Godwin Emefiele, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, had said the deadline for the validity of the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes remains January 31.
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