Kola Abiola lambasts Buhari govt’s imposition of hardship on Nigerians

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Kola Abiola, has berated the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), for imposing untold hardship on Nigerians due to the Naira redesign and swap policy implementation.

The son of the winner of the 1993 presidential election, MKO Abiola, who made his mind known in a statement issued by his Presidential Campaign Council on Sunday, said the Naira redesign and cash swap was being executed in an insensitive manner by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which gave a January 31 deadline for the swap of the old notes for the new ones before it was extended to February 10.

But despite the extension, Nigerians have found it difficult to get access to the new notes with daily long queues at banking halls and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) due to the scarcity of the redesigned notes.

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“It is unfortunate that a policy such as a currency redesign/swap, which should lead to improved financial inclusion and protect the interests of the masses, has been implemented in an insensitive manner by the present regime, thereby excluding the underserved citizens from the financial system.

“We will never again experience this kind of avoidable misfortune that has befallen the citizens of this great country,” Abiola said with a promise that if elected as president, such uncoordinated and insensitive actions would become a thing of history.

“As an administration, we will demand sound policies and coordinated implementation across board from CBN such that things will be done the correct way.

“A PRP-led government will introduce and implement a Cost of Living Adjustment policy (COLA), through a well-structured means test to determine eligibility of each family unit, and we will alleviate the hardships experienced by unemployed or underemployed citizens,” he added.

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