…Urges Buhari to act according to claimed commitment to court order
Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, has told the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address issues relating to cash crunch across the country.
The socio-political organisation also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to act in accordance with his claimed commitment and declaration last week regarding the Supreme Court pronouncement on the circulation of Naira notes.
The organisation, in a press statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, stated that reports from various parts of the country have indicated that people are still finding it hard to get cash from banks and related organisations like Deposit Monetary Banks.
The statement reads, “This is making life very difficult for our people just as the situation is forcing many businesses to go under, especially small and medium scale businesses.
“It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement issued on his behalf by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, declared that he did not stop either the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor or the Attorney General of the Federation from complying with the order of the apex court.
Afenifere added, “The apex court had, earlier this month, ordered that both the old and the new Naira notes should remain in circulation as legal tenders until December 31, 2023.
“It also stated that the ceiling put on the amount of money a customer can withdraw from his or her bank account is an infringement on the customer’s rights. And that it should be stopped forthwith,” Afenifere stated.
According to Afenifere, at the beginning of the week when the statement was issued, currency notes are not only hard to come by, banks still put a limit on the amount a customer can withdraw.
“Even then, it was not all the banks that are giving out cash as many are still complaining of scarcity of either the old or the new notes,” the organisation stated.
Afenifere asserted that if the trend continues, the country and the citizens would be in for serious economic and social upheavals.
The socio-political organisation cited the warning last Thursday by Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) which lamented the high rate of inflation that is complicating business climate and deepened challenges facing small scale businesses.
“The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report disclosed that the inflation rate in the country was 21.91 in February, an increase of 0.09 per cent from the 21.82 that it was in January 2023.
“This disclosure by ACCI along with that of bankers warned of the possible collapse of banks as a result of cash crunch, is in sharp contrast with the affirmation by President Buhari that his administration has done a lot to ensure the growth of small and medium scale businesses,: afenifere stated.
According to the organisation, the President, had in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, claimed that his administration, in spite of difficult times brought upon Nigerians by a variety of external shocks, have done much to ensure survival and development of SMEs.
The organisation further noted that the President said this while playing host to the Governing Council of the Institute of Directors led by its Chairman, Dr. (Mrs) Ije Jidenma who visited him in the Villa, Abuja.
“Right thinking Nigerians never cease to be amazed by disclosures from the Presidency which seem to fly against the reality of what is happening in the country. At the moment, everybody knows that not only are businesses under serious strain, Nigerians are finding it difficult to maintain what they have. Besides that, millions of people are finding it difficult to stay afloat as their means of livelihood are experiencing a lot of setbacks. It is therefore surprising to hear voices from the seat of power asserting that businesses are growing”.
Afenifere added, “To further underscore the predicament faced by Nigerians, the report of Hamonise Cadre (HC) released last week Thursday which indicated that Naira redesign was one of the key inducers of social and economic crises as the withdrawal of the old naira notes from circulation created a serious bottleneck to the households’ ability to access cash and food commodities”.
“Hamonise Cadre (HC) is an early warning tool to prevent and manage food and nutrition crises. The process which is led by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria got technical and financial supports from the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), UNICEF, Save the Children, Mercy Corps etcetera.
“The HC report which covered 24 of the country’s 36 states, indicated that food consumption levels had remained inadequate and below the desired threshold across most of the states. It went further to state that most households had irreversibly disposed of their livelihood assets to meet their food and non-food needs,” Afenifere stated.
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