Kwankwaso Vows to Reverse CBN’s Naira Redesign Policy
• Says policy brought hunger to poor Nigerians
Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa-Kwankwaso, has promised to reverse the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy, tackle insecurity and poverty if elected in next Saturday’s presidential poll.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, while addressing thousands of NNPP supporters in Funtua, Katsina State, said he would allow Nigerians with the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira banknotes to deposit them in the banks.
He explained that implementing the apex bank’s policy in a country like Nigeria where 133 million citizens are poor and the nation’s economic situation is a recipe for crisis, would further put more Nigerians in abject poverty, hunger and untold hardship.
While noting that the policy was targeted at tormenting “poor Nigerians”, the erstwhile defence minister said his prospective government would end the naira redesign policy and allow Nigerians to deposit the old naira notes in their respective banks.
He said: “We were told that 133 million Nigerians are poor but they introduced a naira redesign policy at this critical period of election. This policy has brought calamity, suffering, hunger and poverty on many poor Nigerians.
“But if you elect me as president of this country and other NNPP candidates, we agreed to end the policy and allow you to take all your old naira notes to banks for deposit and other transactions.
“We at the NNPP plan to provide Nigerians with good governance, restore peace, address insecurity and improve the economy. Nigerians, especially those in Katsina State and other Northern states, have suffered enough. We are on a rescue mission.”
He added that NNPP has the political wherewithal to end insecurity across Nigeria, rebuild the country’s economy and create job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the country.
If elected president, Kwankwaso said, he would recruit more security personnel to fight the upsurge of insecurity and revamp the nation’s educational sector for meaningful development to thrive.
Earlier, the Katsina State NNPP governorship candidate, Nura Khali, admonished Nigerians to vote Kwankwaso and other candidates of the party in the forthcoming general election.
