By Chesa Chesa
Governor of All Progressive Congress (APC) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow Nigerians use the old naira notes beyond he February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Governors were at the Aso Rock Villa on Friday to meet the President over the matter behind closed doors.
According Governor Nasir El-Rufai, of Kaduna State, who spoke with some journalists in Hausa language, while the CBN has mopped up over N2 trillion of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes in circulation, only N300 billion was printed for replacement by the bank, which is not enough.
El-Rufai who was accompanied by his Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Ganduje, said even if the CBN had wanted to implement the cashless policy, it should have printed at least half of what was mopped up.
He said the Governors told Buhari that the masses are suffering and traders are losing their goods due to lack of patronage.
He gave example of tomatoes sellers who travelled from the North to Lagos with their goods but all got wasted because people had no money to buy he produce.
So, they appealed to the president to reconsider his support for the actions of the CBN, said el-Rufai although the president did not tell them “yes or no”.
The Governor disclosed that consequently, the chairman of Progressive Governors Forum, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, has been sent back to meet the President privately with the hope of convince him.
At at the time of filing this report, the outcome if the private meeting was being awaited.
