Protests broke out in some Nigerian states on Wednesday over the scarcity of the new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and rejection of the old ones.
Development Diaries reports that angry youths vandalised some commercial banks in some states, including Edo, Delta and Oyo.
The demonstrators took to the streets in reaction to commercial banks nationwide rejecting the old currency in line with a position taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, some youths gathered in front of the CBN branch to protest the continued scarcity of the new notes, chanting ‘we no go gree-oo, we no go gree’!
Although the Supreme Court had ruled that the apex bank’s February 10 deadline be suspended temporarily, the position of the CBN and the banks remains unchanged as millions of citizens, including vulnerable Nigerians, continue to struggle to access their money.
Recall that the governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states filed a suit against the move by the CBN to phase out the use of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
The three governors have since been joined in the suit by their colleagues from Ondo, Kano, Ekiti, Katsina, Lagos, Cross Rivers, Ogun, and Sokoto states.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the case till February 22 for hearing of the consolidated suits by ten states.
Our position
Development Diaries recently reported how the purchasing ability of citizens has been severely impacted by the poor implementation of this policy.
It is unfair that millions of Nigerians have been deprived of the new naira notes after they had deposited the old ones in the banks.
We understand that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the naira redesign to help curb money laundering and make digital payments the norm in Nigeria.
However, the masses are obviously bearing the brunt of the poor implementation of the policy. This is shameful and the federal government must take urgent action now to avert a complete breakdown of law and order.
Again, we call on the CBN to stop the blame game and sanction the commercial banks that have been found to be complicit in this show of shame.
