CBN needs to act quickly since Nigerians are suffering from lack of naira – Atiku

Atiku Abubakar, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for president, has blasted the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) naira swap programme, claiming it is causing tremendous hardship for regular Nigerians.

In a brief tweet on his official social media accounts on Sunday, Atiku urged the central bank to permit commercial banks to participate in the collecting of old N500 and N1000 currency deposits.

He said: “Common people and people who earned their money legally are being affected by the CBN’s monetary policies. Allowing commercial banks to join the CBN in collecting the deposits of old N500 and N1000 notes should be a top priority for the apex bank.

The fresh money should be made swiftly and in sufficient supply to ease the suffering of the people.

“I can tell you that the PDP administration won’t let any Nigerian lose even a single kobo of the money they lawfully earned when we take over thanks to your votes. Our goal is to produce wealth, not to impoverish our people, so you can take that guarantee to the bank.

According to PlatinumPost, President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN recently announced the complete phase-out of the old N500 and N1,000 notes as legal money in response to the introduction of the new, scarcely accessible naira notes.