Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has described the naira currency redesign and cash swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria as politically motivated.
The former presidential aspirant said this while receiving a letter of nomination on the award of ‘Independent Man of the Year 2022’ conferred on him by the Independent Newspapers in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, on Tuesday.
According to Wike, those promoting the policy are not sincere.
“The whole thing is being political, and that is not what it is supposed to be,” he said.
He noted that the CBN’s shoddy implementation of the naira swap policy has exacerbated the living conditions of poor Nigerians.
He said, “We are in a difficult situation now. It doesn’t matter what anybody may say. Nigerians are suffering now and as a people we owe that responsibility to cushion the hardship Nigerians are facing and not worsen the situation.
“Nobody says, and let it be on record that there is nothing wrong with redesigning our naira. What we are saying is the implementation will not help, rather it will aggravate the condition that people face, particularly the poor people.”
The governor also blamed the Central Bank for not ensuring that the new naira notes were well circulated before mopping the old notes from circulation.
He continued, “You have also not made the new one available and then you have said we can’t collect the old one again. Now, you that even have money in the bank, you’re not allowed to even collect your money.”
The governor noted that those advocating for Nigerians to embrace internet banking have overlooked the fact that the vast majority of citizens, particularly in rural areas, do not have bank accounts.
