More facts have emerged as to why President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed the extension of the deadline to phase out old denominations of 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes from circulation.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari approved the deadline extension by ten days as powerful political forces prevailed on him to mellow down because of suffering Nigerians. Also, the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu approached Buhari to extend the timeline to enable Nigerians swap their old notes.
Recall that Buhari had vowed not to bend backwards as he had asserted that 100 days was more than enough to do away with the old notes.
In an interview, he granted Premium Times, the President had pointedly declared that nothing on earth would make him support an extension.
He also made it abundantly clear that the redesign only targeted those who are hoarding the Nigerian currency in their houses.
But information scooped by TNG revealed that some powerful political forces had intervened and pleaded with him to allow ten days extension for peace to reign.
One of the forces is the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who TNG gathered, personally pleaded with Buhari to have a second thought on the deadline.
Also, the House of Representatives minority caucus while hailing the CBN for extending the deadline mentioned the PDP presidential flag bearer, as well, as one of those behind the move to ensure Buhari soft-pedalled.
In a statement, the minority caucus disclosed: “His Excellency Atiku Abubakar’s patriotic intervention at this time further shows him as a compassionate leader who is always concerned and committed towards the wellbeing of Nigerians.
“He has again demonstrated his experience, capacity, and competence to get the system to work in the interest of Nigerians at very critical time. The Caucus therefore called on Nigerians not to rest on their oars but to take maximum advantage of the 10 days extension to swap their old naira notes for the new ones
“The Minority Caucus also urges the CBN to remain focused and intensify its sensitization efforts while putting every measure in place to assist Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas, to access the new naira notes”.
Other political forces include close political acolytes of Buhari, who prevailed on him to mellow down.
