New notes: Deadline will cause serious discomfort to Nigerians – Atiku

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said the 31st January, currency swap deadline will cause serious discomfort to Nigerians calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extension the date so that people will get assess to the new naira notes.

Atiku in a short video he released on Saturday, insisted that the deadline will cause alot of hardships on ordinary Nigerians.

The former Vice president noted that redesigning of currency is a normal norm as it is done across the world, but observed that the January 31 deadline is not normal at the presence circumstances.

“The ongoing policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) to redesign the naira notes has continued to generate wild range of reactions across the country and even beyond.

“This exercise is a worldwide practice and is not anything new, but as the January 31 deadline draws nearer , and with its seemingly consequences, many Nigerians of conscience have expressed their apprehensions as well as their misgivings about how the deadline is making life more difficult for Nigerians.

‘’Many Nigerians, especially farmers, artisans and those in the rural areas do not have bank accounts, so the time frame for the change of old notes to new one is not achievable.”

To this end, the PDP Presidential flagbearer appealed for the extension of the deadline so as to address the situation currently facing the Nigerians.

“On this note, I am compelled to align with the upsurge of demands for a slight extension of the monetary conversion policy.

“The January 31 deadline is certainly going to cause a heavy discomfort on our people and it will be magnanimous on the part of the government and the regulatory agency to ease the burden on the people in public interest,” he stressed.