Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has insisted the ongoing shoddy implementation of the naira swap policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is political and has worsened the living condition of the poor in the society.
Wike stressed that the essence of government and its agency like the CBN was not to inflict hardship on the masses but alleviate it .
The Governor spoke during the official presentation of the letter of his nomination for the “award of Independent Man of the Year 2022,” by the management of Independent Newspapers at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Tuesday.
The Rivers Governor, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said the people were suffering following the tactless implementation of the naira swap policy and urged the government to urgently ameliorate the condition of the people.
He said: “We are in a difficult situation now. It doesn’t matter what anybody may say. The truth must be told at all times. Nigerians are suffering now and as a people we owe that responsibility to cushion the level of hardship that Nigerians are facing, we are not to worsen the situation.”
Wike said people were not necessarily opposed to the redesign of the N1000, N500 and N200 notes but only worried about the implementation of the policy and the hardship it had inflicted on the masses.
“Nobody says, and let it be on record that there is nothing wrong with redesigning our naira. What we are saying is the implementation will not help, rather it will aggravate the condition that people face, particularly the poor people,” he said
He said those, who insisted that the naira swap policy would curb corruption and eliminate vote buying during the general election were not sincere.
“The whole thing is political, and that is not what it is supposed to be,” he said.
Wike said it was regrettable the CBN had failed to emulate the global best practice in its implementation of the naira swap policy.
He explained that ideally, the CBN should have allowed the old notes to be in circulation with the new notes for at least one year before they are completely phased out.
The Nationonline.ng