Miyetti Allah demands extension of deadline for withdrawal of old Naira notes from circulation

The leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in the South-East on Thursday appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline for the phase-out of the old Naira notes.

The Chairman of the MACBAN in the South-East, Gidado Siddiki, who made the appeal in an interactive session with journalists in Awka, Anambra State, said the deadline given by the apex bank for the phase-out of the old Naira notes was too short and would affect many of their members.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had last month announced the planned redesign of N200, 500 and N1000 notes.

He added that the old Naira notes would be finally withdrawn from the circulation on January 31, 2023.

Siddiki urged the CBN to extend the deadline for another three months to enable members of the association bring out their money from the forests to avoid huge losses on their part.

READ ALSO: Senate backs CBN on naira redesign

He said the appeal had become necessary because a majority of the herdsmen lived in the forest and bushes due to their business, and needed more time to bring out their savings for proper transformation to the new redesigned notes.

The chairman said: “We are appealing because in 1985, when a similar policy was announced, so many of our people that were in their grazing settlements at the rural areas across the country lost their money because the information came too prompt and was not properly communicated to them.

“They could not meet up with the timeframe given by the apex bank then. The two weeks given then was not enough for them to meet up and majority of the herders lost their long time savings because, many of the herders do not have account numbers and do not keep their money in the bank. They keep and protect their money locally.

“We cannot fight or reverse government policies as law abiding citizens of Nigeria, we are only appealing to the CBN to help us extent the deadline for another three months, so as to enable the leadership of Miyetti Allah reach out properly to those living in out of telecommunication areas across states of the federation.”

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