Kano State Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduji described the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as COVID-23.
The governor, who opposed the policy, lamented the hardships caused by the scarcity of money that followed the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes, saying: “Our citizens are facing COVID-23.”
Ganduje was speaking as the sedatives were distributed to 44 local government areas in the state in an effort to mitigate the effects of the CBN redesign program.
He said, “Today our citizens are facing COVID-23 caused by CBN. We previously thought it was a minor disease, but unfortunately it turned out to be a very dangerous virus that spreads virally.
The virus coming from the Central Bank of Canada has affected all of our commercial banks, our ATMs, our points of sale and all the other things associated with that. Being the most populous state in the country, we are the hardest hit by this policy.
We have not called for this situation, nor have we prayed for it. So we don’t welcome it at all. We provided similar palliatives during the days of COVID-19.”
Ganduji and other governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to ban old N500 and N1000 banknotes, have pledged this policy.
Naira swap: Ganduje names CBN Policy COVID-23
