Old naira notes: ZLP opposes calls for extension, backs Emefiele

The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has rejected calls for the extension of the January 31 deadline for old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes denominations.

The presidential candidate and National Chairman of the ZLP, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, who said this on Thursday in Abuja, also condemned the pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to extend the deadline.

“I want to say that the decision taken by the CBN and with the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari is the best for this nation. It is a patriotic decision taken by CBN as it relates to the new banknote and the time stipulated for the removal of the old note.

“They stack the money at home, in septic tanks, in the farm, and some of these funds have been there for more than 10, 15 years, idling away. So why do you steal what you do not need? 

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“So, the CBN had to put on their thinking cap and Emefiele said, look we have been having problems with vote buying. Those categories of naira notes, if not returned before the date stipulated by CBN would become toilet paper. That is, they will be of no use. Now people are afraid to take these notes to the banks for fear of being identified,” Nwanyanwu said. 

He urged the CBN governor not to succumb to pressure to extend the deadline.

“That is why in my administration as president and commander in chief will abolish paper notes, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes. I will turn them into coins so that because of their weight, people will not like to carry them. It will strengthen the naira and it will bring down corruption,” he said.