No fewer than 38 CSOs, including the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Say no Campaign, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and Connected Development Budget, among others, have urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to publish details of the amount of the redesigned naira notes disbursed to commercial banks
The coalition made the call at a news conference on the state of the nation in Abuja.
“The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said the billions of the redesigned notes disbursed to the commercial banks have been mopped up by some corrupt politicians.
“To safeguard our democracy and protect the working and living conditions of our people, we call on the federal government to put in place measures to ensure that the suffering of the Nigerian people is eliminated and make citizens have access to cash.”
This is with respect to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele’s remark while briefing the diplomatic community on recent monetary policy decisions of the CBN on February 15, accusing some politicians of hoarding the new banknotes.
Emefiele blamed politicians for the naira scarcity, accusing them of mopping the new notes.
The CSOs expressed concern over the crackdown on protesters, adding that the protest culture should be respected in a democracy, as it is the people’s voice.
”The federal government has alleged that some people were keeping billions of old naira notes in well-known places. The government should direct security and anti-graft agencies to remove the money allegedly kept in the homes and offices of a few people,” the coalition said. “After all, operatives of the State Security Service invaded the residences of alleged corrupt judges in October 2016 and carted away thousands of dollars and millions of naira.”
The representatives of the CSOs at the conference included Auwal Rafsanjani, executive director of CISLAC, Tobi Okuwatoba, head of CJID, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, CEO of CHRICED, and Jaye Kaskiya, among others.
Alleluia is the Assistant Editor and Content Writer at LagosPost.ng. She is a prolific writer and editor, she has written features and news stories on Lifestyle, Sports, Business, Politics and B2B marketing. She is also an event coordinator, host and social media content creator.
