Yemisi Izuora
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE], has frowned at the conflicting directives emanating from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on where to deposit the old currency notes – whether the commercial banks, or Central bank.
This confusion the Centre said is inflicting additional pains on already traumatized millions of innocent Nigerians seeking to return the old notes.
The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of the CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, while reacting to the guideline by the Apex Bank, said the process should also be simplified to accommodate millions of rural dwellers, the informal sector players, the over 30 million unbanked Nigerians and several millions that are not literate.
Amid the chaos which the badly implemented policy has created, it is evidently impractical for the CBN offices to properly handle this process of receiving old currency notes which are still in abundance in the hands of milions of Nigerians, Yusuf said, noting, that there is only one branch of the CBN office in each state of the federation and the FCT.
“It is practically impossible for the CBN to manage this process without subjecting our citizens to another round of harrowing experience.
“The experience and images and disorderliness of the past few days at the CBN offices graphically illustrates this position.
“We appeal to the President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN to give this process a human face. The agony and trauma inflicted by the entire management of the policy is unspeakable. Accordingly, We plead with the CBN to allow the old notes to be deposited at the commercial banks to ease the current pains and ordeal of returning the old notes.”
According to him, The current guidelines which require filling of forms on the CBN portals, generating codes etc. does not reckon with millions of Nigerians that seek to return their old notes who are not literate, who don’t have access to internets and who are in very remote locations in various parts of the country.
Speaking further, he noted that Nigerians and are entitled to a fair consideration in the implementation process as most of them are women, microenterprises and small businesses contributing immensely to employment, poverty reduction and social stability at the bottom of the economic pyramid of our country.
“It is bad enough that their lives and livelihoods have been terribly disrupted and disoriented.
“We plead with the CBN to review its processes in the interest of fairness, justice and social inclusion.” Yusuf demanded.