Ganduje said many Point of Sales (POS) operators have closed shops due to uncertainty over the redesigned naira notes.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has postponed a proposed trip by President Muhammadu Buhari to the state over the people’s difficulties in accessing the redesigned naira notes.
The governor said in a statement on Saturday by his media aide, Abba Anwar, that lawmakers from the state, political leaders, and business community backed his decision following a meeting at the Government House on Friday. He also called for an extension of the deadline to return old naira notes.
“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, Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje reveals that the state resolved and wrote to Presidency that, the visit of the President to commission some projects to be postponed,” the statement read.
Buhari was scheduled to visit the state between January 30 and 31 to commission some projects built by the Ganduje administration.
“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 Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano is postponed.
READ ALSO:
Ganduje rallies Islamic clerics against CBN deadline on old naira notes
“We got an acknowledgement copy of the letter. People are suffering because of this policy,” the governor said.
“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.
“There are no banks in most of our rural communities. 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,” the governor lamented.
Ganduje said many Point of Sales (POS) operators have closed shops due to uncertainty over the redesigned naira notes.
“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,” he said.
Ganduje added that state governors sent delegates to President Buhari complaining to him about the hardship caused by the new development.