Leading presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi has urged Nigerians on the need to bear the current pain and inconvenience occasioned by the redesigning of ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes, saying the policy would bring significant long-term economic and social benefits if it is sustained.
There has been nationwide outrage as Nigerians continue to experience difficulties in assessing the scarce new naira notes.
Reacting, Obi urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks to speed up efforts to make the new naira notes available to small depositors and unbanked Nigerians to be able to alleviate the hardship posed by the policy.
Commenting through his verified Twitter handle on Sunday, Obi wrote;
“The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain, but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits.
“Even though there are improvements that can be made, I urge Nigerians to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms.
“We equally implore the CBN and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas.”
