President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the naira redesign was aimed at curbing illicit hoarding of the currency terror financing among other corrupt usages, assuring that government will ease the hardship currently being faced with the swapping of old banknotes with the new ones.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on Saturday, January 28, 2023, reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger and opposition’s criticism, President Buhari assured that government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly.
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He said the currency changes were aimed at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man, and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding. This, he assured, will stabilize and strengthen the economy.
While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, President Buhari gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
He reiterated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank and all commercial banks are underway to speed up the distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.
