Kano state governor, north western Nigeria, Mr Abdulahi Umar Ganduje is set to meet with managers of money deposit banks to find ways of mitigating scarcity of the redesigned Naira notes in the state.
Kano is the second biggest commercial city in Nigeria.
Ganduje said this while speaking at electioneering campaigns in Kunchi and Tsanyawa local government areas of the state, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Abba Anwar said.
According to the statement, the move is part of the measures taken by the governor to cushion the effect of the scarcity on Kano residents.
There has been a rush to swap old notes for the newly redesigned ones after the CBN announced that the old currencies in the 200, 500 and 1000 denomination will cease to serve as legal tender by January 31.
Since the deadline, which has now been extended to February 10, the new naira notes have become scarce, and unavailable to use, with many Nigerians now resorting to buying the Naira or wait in long queues at bank Automated Machines.
“We will summon Bank managers very soon to interrogate the shortage of new Naira notes in banks,” Ganduje said.
“They should come over and explain to us, why our people are still suffering over this issue of Naira Swap. And I will go to them individually to supervise what is happening and why,”said the Governor.
Governor Ganduje said plans are also on to distribute palliatives to citizens across all the 44 local governments to cushion the effects of the Naira swap as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
“We have a plan in the pipeline to start distributing palliatives very soon across all the 44 local governments, to cushion the effect of the hardship caused by the CBN Governor to our people,” he said.
“Currency redesign is done across the globe, but not in the way we are witnessing in our country. The timing is wrong, the deadline given is very wrong,”he lamented.
