All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Oyo State and Chairman of Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin has condemned untold hardship on Nigerians, caused by the scarcity of petroleum products and currency notes.
Responding to protests in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, Folarin said the masses have been pushed to the wall, hence the protests across the country.
Senator Folarin’s statement through his media aide, Com. Yekeen Olaniyi said he was on the side of the downtrodden masses.
The statement read in parts:
“Scarcity of naira notes and petroleum products have paralyzed economic activities and other social lives in Oyo State and other states of the federation.
“It is unacceptable to see our people sleeping at filling stations and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) galleries. It is unfair for Mr. Emefiele to subject our people to further hardship through his half-baked currency policy”.
“The CBN declared that N3.2trn old currencies are still in circulation but printed just N300b new notes, according to the state governors. To make the situation worse, almost all ATMs across the country dispensed old Naira notes from December 2022 till the end of January 2023. This was an indication that the CBN was not ready for what it intended to do”.
“The glaring reality is that the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele is insincere about the availability of the new notes. It’s now visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that CBN Governor is acting the script of the cabals who are vehemently against the removal of subsidy”.
“Having failed in his bid to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Emefiele moved to change the currencies without carrying along the National Assembly, state Governors, Ministers, and other critical stakeholders”.
“It is not an APC policy to change currencies but Mr. Emefiele is being used by economic saboteurs to turn the country upside-down. However, President Muhammadu Buhari has uncovered the evil plot; hence the Friday meeting with all the Executive Governors. Mr. President is a father and listening leader, he will holistically address the worrying situation”.
“I want to point out that CBN’s pronouncement that old naira notes cease to be legal tender after February 10th contravenes the CBN Act. Mr. Emefiele must act as a patriotic Nigerian for once by acting by the relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution”.
“The CBN Act, Section 20 (3) allows acceptance of old notes until they are mopped out of circulation. The demand to extend the withdrawal date of old currency notes from Jan. 31, 2023, to June 31, is not a favor but a constitutional matter”.
