Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to shelve his expected visit to Kano, because of the hardship caused by the new naira notes. Ganduje, said in a statement that Kano citizens are passing through hard times and for security reasons, it would be convenient to host the number one citizen Kano. Buhari was expected to be in Kano January 30 and 31. “Deeply concerned with the hardship caused by the limited time given for halting the use of old Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and for security reasons,” said the statement signed by Abba Anwar, the governor’s media adviser. “As we are waiting for this important visit, we found ourselves in this situation, which puts citizens into untold hardship. For security purposes, we wrote to the Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano is postponed. “We got an acknowledgement copy of the letter. People are suffering because of this policy. “During the meeting with sections of citizens in the state, they accepted that the decision was a unanimous one. As they all spoke in support of the letter sent to the Presidency. “Two serving senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya and Barau Jibrin, Twenty members of the House of Representatives and Thirty legislators from the State House of Assembly were amongst the groups that put their weight behind the governor.”
The governor added that there were commercial banks in the rural area where citizens can swap their old notes for new ones. “How these people get new Naira notes is of great concern. “Just look at what is happening in our urban areas, people go and spend hours upon hours in banks. And without any assurances of getting the new notes “Even at Point of Sales (POS) , according to the governor, one cannot transact with ease, hinting that many of them closed shops due to uncertainty. “Kano, being a commercial hub, must be heard loudly and clearly because this problem affects all of us. Therefore our voice must be heard in all nooks and crannies.”
