Naira Shortage: Pressure on FG and CBN over Supreme Court’s Judgement

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Naira notes
Naira notes

Another person died in Ibadan yesterday as a result of the cash shortage brought on by the naira redesign, and pressure is growing on the Federal Government and the Central Bank (CBN) to alleviate the suffering of the populace.

After Friday’s protest by people of Akenfa village in Yenagoa Local Government Area to draw attention to the difficult life they have been leading due to the naira scarcity, the Bayelsa State Government is requesting peace in the state.

One week after the Supreme Court extended the old naira notes’ validity until December 31, 2023, they claimed they had had enough of traders rejecting them.

The demonstrators holding placards claimed that because they were unable to sell or purchase anything and because hunger was still plaguing them and their children, life had come to a standstill.

Biodun Oyebanji, the governor of Ekiti State, yesterday joined the list of governors who have threatened to arrest and punish business owners who refuse to accept the outdated N500 and N1000 currencies.

Yet, as long as dealers continue to refuse the old notes, the threats will likely have little or no impact.

They say that in order to properly inform Nigerians about the old naira notes, President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN must comment on the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Presenter Baba Bintin L’aye of the Ibadan-based commercial radio station Fresh FM passed away yesterday while walking to the station to do his program.

He apparently left the house with his ATM card in hand, hoping to withdraw some cash from a POS machine to cover the cost of his transportation.

Evidently unable to obtain the money, he trekked from his Amuloko home to Ibadan’s Challenge neighborhood, where the radio station was located, only to pass out along the route.

The latest notable victim of the dearth of naira that has made life miserable for millions of Nigerians is Baba Bintin L’aye.

Prior to him, a pregnant woman from Kaduna lost her life at the time of delivery because her husband was unable to make the necessary hospital deposit due of the financial crisis.

On the institution’s main campus in Ojo, Lagos, an employee of Lagos State University (LASU), Johnson Adesola, also passed away last month while waiting in line to withdraw money from a bank.

Last month, violent anti-naira protests in Edo State resulted in at least three additional deaths.

The Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Lagos, and Sokoto state governments are considering filing contempt charges against Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the apex bank for failing to implement the court order because the federal government and the CBN have remained silent regarding the Supreme Court judgment.

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