The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) has condemned the muteness of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the last ruling of the Supreme Court on the controversial naira redesign policy.
BUSINESS METRICS reports that the Apex court on Friday, March 3, reversed the policy championed by the federal government, ruling that against the dictate of the CBN, N200, N500 and N1,000 should remain valid as legal tender in the country till December 2023.
The CBN, obviously backed by the Mr. President, had set February 10 as deadline for spending old N500 and N1,000 and April 30 for N200 in the country as its new policy introduced redesigned version of the notes, which however have not been adequately made available in the system.
However, neither the CBN nor President Buhari had released an official statement to obey the order by the Supreme Court, thereby leaving Nigerians in bewilderness.
In a press statement by the CPPE on Sunday Titled: The Trauma of Currency Redesign Policy: Urgent Intervention Imperative By President Buhari, the Centre lamented that the protracted acute cash scarcity has not only crippled economic activities in the country, it has also become a major risk to the livelihoods of most Nigerians.
It said: “Millions of citizens have slipped into penury and destitution as a result of the disruptions and tribulations perpetrated by the currency redesign policy, especially the mopping up of over 70% of cash in the economy. Nigerians have not been this traumatized in recent history.”
According to the statement signed by Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, the economy is gradually grinding to a halt because of the collapse of payment systems across all platforms.
He lamented that digital platforms are performing sub-optimally because of congestion; physical cash is unavailable because the CBN has sucked away over 70% of cash in the economy; and the expected relief from the supreme court judgement has not materialized.
As a result of this, the Centre said, the citizens are left in a quandary.
It said, “The banks claimed that the CBN has not officially communicated the supreme court judgement to them for any actions; the President has maintained a worrying muteness on the judgement; the market women and men are waiting to hear from President Buhari or the CBN governor on the legal tender status of old currency notes.
“Curiously, there is an apparent reluctance or unwillingness by the federal government and the CBN to comply with the supreme court judgement. This is very disturbing and inexplicable.”
While this calculated silence continues, the Centre said Nigerians continue to groan in the adversity inflicted by the acute cash shortage amid rejection of old currency notes by market operators, refusal by banks to accept the old notes, silence by the presidency on the supreme court judgement; and absence of official pronouncement by the CBN on the issue.
“Retail transactions across sectors have become nerve-wracking and distressing as payment system challenges persist,” it added.
