Atiku joins chorus for naira notes deadline extension

Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar said the January 31 deadline for swapping of the old naira notes will cause hardship for Nigerians. He called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank to extend the deadline for the sake of public interest. Atiku who spoke in a video posted on his social media pages said: “The ongoing policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the naira notes has generated wild reactions across the country and beyond. “This exercise is a worldwide practice and not anything new, especially as the January 31 deadline draws closer, a large number of Nigerians out of good conscience have expressed apprehension about how the policy and the deadline will make 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 the new one is not achievable.” “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 for the public interest,”