The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Thursday said that President Muhammadu Buhari is not happy as Nigerians are facing hardship due to the Naira redesign.
The minister said this during a media briefing organised by the presidential communications team in Abuja on Thursday.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given a deadline of January 31 for the use of old notes — but it was last Sunday shifted to February 10.
With the extension, Nigerians have been finding it hard to access both old and redesigned Naira notes as banking halls are filled with grumbling customers and queues at ATMs are unending.
Describing the situation as “temporary and transient”, Ahmed said it was a necessary price to pay for the nation’s economy to burgeon.
She said, “We are not happy that citizens have to queue and struggle at ATMs to be able to get their cash. But this is a temporary situation,” the minister said.
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“Let me just give you an analogy. If you have a wound, for you to be able to heal that wound, you need to be dressed.
“And sometimes, when you go to the hospital, they put iodine on the wound and it is very painful. It is necessary to do that to be able to get the wound to heal.
“So, it’s not easy. Mr. President is not happy that citizens are suffering.
“But we are convinced that it is something that needs to be done at this time and also the Central Bank has been responsive in terms of providing some extension and also further explained that it is not all over.
“There is still opportunity for citizens as provided for in the CBN Act, Section 20 subsection 3 to actually take the old currency to the central bank for redemption.”
