• HOME
  • News
  • Politics
  • Sport
  • Features
  • Security
  • Foreign News
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • APC, Omo-Agege petitions INEC over collation of election results
  • Oyo Govt, Partners Mark Global Recycling Day with Rewards
  • Appeal Court Dismisses PDP’s Case Against Tinubu/Shettima
  • Oyo Guber Poll: Oyo Agric Commissioner Adeniyi Adebisi Congratulates Gov Makinde Says his People’s Oriented programmes speaks for him.
  • Appeal Court Upholds Adeleke As Osun Gov
  • Recent Elections, Proof Of Nation’s Voter Vibrancy, Maturity, says President Buhari
  • Oyo Guber Poll: Governor Makinde’s Victory is for the Masses, Reward of hardwork – Sunmonu
  • OYSCHST Congratulates Governor Makinde On Electoral Victory
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Nigerian Alert
  • HOME
  • News
  • Politics
  • Sport
  • Features
  • Security
  • Foreign News
Nigerian Alert
Home»Features»MR PRESIDENT SHOULD HALT THIS SEAMLESS DRIFT

MR PRESIDENT SHOULD HALT THIS SEAMLESS DRIFT

EditorBy EditorFebruary 18, 20234 Mins Read
WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Email Telegram LinkedIn
Share
WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Telegram
Advertise With Us 300 x 250

MR PRESIDENT SHOULD HALT THIS SEAMLESS DRIFT

By Rotimi Akeredolu

Saturday February 18th, 2023

The crises engendered by the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign some currency notes, threaten to disrupt, not only the forthcoming general elections. The events of the past days, culminating in the intervention of the apex court in the land, and the increasing gale of violence sweeping through the country, portend serious danger to the current democratic governance. Consequently, this period invites all patriots to speak out with a view to proffering practicable solutions and not project cheap partisan interests.

I seize this opportunity to appeal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to play the role of a Statesman at this crucial moment. It is apparent that the crises, which the current policy on currency swap has created, continue to spiral menacingly.

There is incontrovertible evidence bordering on miscalculation, error of judgement and/or disinformation on the part of the policy makers, especially the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on the failed implementation of the policy, the effect of which compels the whole country to groan, immeasurably, at present.

There is hardly anyone who contends with either the statutory functions of the Central Bank of Nigeria or the occupier of the office of its Governor, one of which is the monetary policy. It is also not debatable that the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is empowered, under our law, to exercise certain executive power. It can, however, not be the original intendment of the drafters of the relevant statutes that the implementation of any policy should occasion widespread hardship and pervasive agony in the land.

The safety of the people is the supreme law. Any measure, purportedly designed to ameliorate their conditions, must not reduce the entire populace to a beggarly existence. There is pervasive discontent in the land. A policy, presented as currency swap, must not be construed by both the reasonable members and people of average intelligence in the society to convey the deplorable impression of contrived subterfuge manifest in the official confiscation of legitimate deposits of the people in banks, as a counter measure against electoral malfeasance, terrorism and banditry.

Desirable as the policy appears to be, its implementation excites curiosity as regards the real motive of its drivers, especially at this time when the conduct of general elections is almost here. The mere knowledge that the N1000 and N500 notes represented 82% of the currency in circulation and that the N200 note, whose validity has been extended, by fiat, for another 60 days, represented 7%, expose the mendacious slant in the advice given to Mr President. This counsel clearly misrepresented, deliberately, the facts as they existed before the commencement of the implementation of the policy.

The implementation of this policy has been woeful despite claims to the contrary. The suffering of the masses, occasioned by the non-availability of new notes to replace the old ones, equally decreed out of existence by presidential fiat in contravention of the CBN Act, 2007, could have been averted if the strategy of a gradual and systematic withdrawal of the old currency notes had been adopted. I make bold to assert that the unfolding events across the country show that the policy has failed significantly. It is, therefore, expected that the President will halt this needless drift into the abyss of chaos, more so, when the ruling of highest court still subsists.

I call on the President to allow both the old and new notes co-exist until such a time when normalcy returns to the country. It will be a fitting parting gift for the people of this country, especially the downtrodden, who feel the negative impact of the poorly implemented policy. While the reasons adduced for the policy appear legitimate, there can be no justification for the confiscation of the lawful earnings of Nigerians. The negative impact which the mediocre and, I dare say, mischievous implementation of the policy by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is having on the poor people and small business owners defeats all the good programmes of the Federal Government designed to elevate as many people as possible out of the morass of poverty.

There is no shame in rescinding a decision adjudged not only unpopular and counter-productive, but which also bears the insidious seeds of potential conflagration in the land, one of the ostensible reasons for this ill-conceived policy.

ARAKUNRIN OLUWAROTIMI O. AKEREDOLU, SAN, CON
GOVERNOR, ONDO STATE.

We Are Live 2
Share. WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Telegram Email LinkedIn
Previous ArticleCBN Orders Banks To Collect Old N500, N1,000 Notes
Next Article Naira Re-Design: OSM Commends Ogun Governor Over Support For Residents

Related Posts

ADEDUNTAN :CONGRATULATES TINUBU ON HIS EMERGENCE AS NEXT PRESIDENT,MAKINDE’S SUPPORT IN OYO STATE MONUMENTAL,CRUCIAL.

March 1, 2023

ADEDUNTAN DEFECTS FROM APC TO PDP SUPPORTS MAKINDE & TINUBU.

February 20, 2023

Siji Ganiyu Leads Grassroot Mobilization For Makinde’s Re-Election

February 13, 2023

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Ads
Ads
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
© 2023 Nigerian Alert. Designed by Samtech Media.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.