The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has described the pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari on the naira policy as “disregard” of rule of law because it is short of the order of the Supreme Court.
Mr Gbajabiamila said this on Thursday in a statement by his spokesperson, Lanre Lasisi.
On Thursday morning, President Buhari, in a nationwide broadcast, said he had instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reintroduce the old N200 note until 10 April, while the old N1,000 and N500 had stopped being legal tender.
The Supreme Court had in an interim order on 8 February ordered the central bank to suspend the 10 February deadline on the currency, but the CBN disregarded the order and insisted on the deadline.
In the statement, Mr Gbajabiamila said the extension of the legal status of the N200 note is a step in the right direction, and he hopes it helps curb Nigerians’ suffering. He, however, noted that it is short of the directive of the Supreme Court.
He noted that the federal government could not afford situations that “suggest a wanton disregard for the rule of law.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has expressed his concern over difficulty experienced by Nigerians in getting the new naira notes.
The Vice President, on Friday, in Abuja met with some players in the FinTech space to explore possible ways of mitigating the hardship.
VP Osinbajo urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and banks to deploy more FinTechs and money agents to the hinterlands to address the worrying situation. The Vice President stated that Nigerians need cash to pay for transport, food, and other needs.
“In Abuja how do you take ‘drop or along’ or use a Keke NAPEP without cash, or buy foodstuff on the road or in canteens, or even buy recharge cards?
“Parents with kids in public schools give money daily to their children for lunch, most commerce is informal, so you need cash for most things”, he said.
Osinbajo said it was disturbing that after depositing old notes, there are no new notes: “People everywhere in the urban areas and rural areas simply have no money.”
The nation’s second-in-command observed some FinTechs have mobile money licenses and should be engaged immediately.
He said many of them have micro-finance bank licenses and already have a network of mobile money agents or human banks or human ATMs, as they are sometimes.
“They can supervise by themselves. They can do currency swaps and open bank accounts.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to give him seven days to resolve the crisis caused by the scarcity of new naira notes.
The president said he has seen reports about cash shortages and the effect on local businesses and ordinary people.
He added that the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension will be used to crack down on the encumbrances mitigating the successful implementation of the currency redesign policy.
“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension,” the president said on Friday.
His position was made known after meeting with governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Banks in Ibadan, the Oyo capital, have been attacked following protests over lingering scarcity of cash. Our correspondent had earlier reported that protesters in Ibadan took to the streets to protest the scarcity of petrol and naira notes.
The unrest was said to have started at Agodi gate, at the intersection that leads to the state secretariat and the government house, before it spread to other parts including Iwo road, Gate bus-stop, and Idi Ape.
Access Bank and Wema Bank branches located in the Dugbe and Queen Cinema areas of the town were attacked.
Adewale Osifeso, the spokesperson of the state police command, confirmed the attacks on the financial institutions to our correspondent. “Some persons tried to vandalise the ATM of Wema bank but were repelled by the police,” he added. Osifeso had earlier told our correspondent that intelligence showed that some unspecified persons have plans to attack banks, prisons, and facilities belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
"Worthy of note is that available intelligence reveals that certain unscrupulous elements have perfected plans to hijack the process, escalating the situation into full-scale chaos by shutting down and attacking places of interest which include but are not limited to INEC facilities, banks, media houses, schools, correctional centres and other critical infrastructure inclusive of looting major malls and business centres within the state,” he said.
“Members of the public are hereby advised especially with reference to the youth segment to avoid being used by agents of violence who want to capitalise on the situation to criminally enrich themselves especially as we navigate towards the 2023 General Elections as the Command is fully prepared to mobilise fully to prevent these criminal elements from turning Oyo State into their playground.”
Video: Watch As Angry Protesters Attacked WEMA Bank Amid Scarcity Of Money
Since the rollout of the new Naira Notes and monetary Policy, Nigerians are faced with lots of hardship ranging from: Scarcity of Cash for daily transactions, Large Queue at ATM stands, even as Online Apps of some commercial Banks begin to malfunction.
Daily News Report gathered that Point Of Sale (POS) Terminal Owners charge as low as 100 per Thousand note for withdrawal.
