“Go back to your opponents, speak with them and bring them back. Don’t be deceived- Engr SuleÂ
Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, has decried the suffering rural dwellers are experiencing as a result of the insistence of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to phase out the old Naira notes.
Engineer Sule accused the country’s apex bank of confiscating peoples money rather than exchanging the old notes with the new Naira.
The Governor made this known while presenting flags to candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the state secretariat of the party in Lafia, on Wednesday.
Engineer Sule restated that, the only way the CBN can ameliorate the suffering of the people occassioned by its cash swap policy, is to allow the old Naira to be in use alongside the new currency for a period of six months.
He therefore, used the opportunity of the event to appeal to the CBN to have a rethink on its position to phase out the old Naira notes, as the action of the apex bank is only causing avoidable suffering for the people.
The Governor pointed out that, for a state like Nasarawa, where there are lots of rural areas, the CBN’s insistence on phasing out the old Naira notes will only bring untold suffering to the people.
“I am using the opportunity to appeal to them, because we have issues at hand. A state like us that has lots of rural areas face lots of challenges when it comes to the issue of the prevailing cash crunch.
“Yesterday, I sent the SSG to various banks and a lot of these banks have no new Naira at all to give. And in a state such as Nasarawa where a business woman has total capital of about 3000 or 4000 or 10000 and you insist she must keep that money in the bank, you are killing that person.
“I am using this opportunity to call on the Central Bank to reconsider this cash confiscating process because this is purely cash confiscation and not exchange. Because in a situation where you are forcing somebody to put their money in the bank and they must put their money in the bank, that is a total cash confiscation. It’s not allowed anywhere in the world, to have people go through this kind of suffering.
“I’m using this opportunity to call on the CBN to reconsider its position, to allow the old Naira and the new Naira to continue going for the next six months. If it will go for the next six months it will be enough to do fully implement the policy,” he stated.
Commenting on insinustions that the CBN’s insistence to implement its cashless policy was meant to punish certain people, Engineer Sule further appeal to the central bank not to punish the common people needlessly.
“If indeed, there are ulterior motives as people are saying, to punish some other people, I want to appeal to the CBN that those people you are trying to punish are not punished at all because some of them own banks. Instead, it’s the commoner, the vulnerable, our rural people that are suffering,” he added.
Speaking on the event, the Governor noted that, prolonged court cases can ruin the chances of the APC in the coming elections.
He therefore, appealed to aspirants of the party not to prolong their cases by going to the Supreme Court but to join hands with the party as his administration is accommodating and will find a place for all.
“Prolonged court cases will compound our problems. Proceeding to the Supreme Court at a time when we have just about three weeks before the election, will only compound our issues.
“Therefore, I am pleading with all the aggrieved members, not minding whether they are right or wrong, let’s come and work together. We all agree there are issues. Unless we resolve these issues, winning elections will be difficult for us. It’s better we resolve our issues.
“As the leader of the party, whoever wins the ticket of the party is my candidate. Whoever loses is still my own person and we will find something for him,” he said.
While presenting the flags to the Deputy Speaker, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon Tsentse Dandaura (APC, Akwanga North) and Hon. Steven Abraham Narai (APC, Karu/Gitata Federal Constituency), Engineer Sule called on them to take their victory in good fate and to reconcile with their opponents.
“Go back to your opponents, speak with them and bring them back. Don’t be deceived. There are issues and we must resolve these issues,” he stated.
Presenting the candidates, state Chairman of the APC, Chief John Mamman, commended the Governor for being committed, resolute in sustaining good governance, even in the midst of criticism to go contrary to the rule of law as far as the emergence of candidates that will fly the flag of the party is concerned.
Chief Mamman reiterated the call by the Governor for those in the court challenging for the flag of the party, to rethink and join the party in order to ensure the victory of the APC in the coming election.
“For those who the case didn’t favour, we plead with you to join hands with us. This is a family affair, no matter what you do, you still belong to that family. APC has a large space to contain everybody,” he added.
