‘Nigerians should praise Tinubu for extension of deadline for old naira notes’ — Northern group

A political association, Arewa for Asiwaju has told the people of the Nigeria to commend the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, for influencing the extension of the deadline for the use of old naira notes.

The Informant247 recalls that the presidential candidate at a campaign rally which took place in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, last week, said the fuel crisis and the new policy on the naira notes were efforts to frustrate his success at the presidential poll.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN also announced the extension of the deadline for the acceptance of the old Naira notes as legal tender, to February 10, 2023.

While speaking on the development in a statement released by the Coordinator for Arewa for Asiwaju, Aliyu Pass, on Monday, he said Nigerians owe the presidential candidate “immense gratitude” for prevailing on the federal government to dance to the tune of the public.

He added that the courage of the presidential candidate led to the new development, as the apex bank extended the deadline by 10 days.

“It was this courage and purposeful leadership shown by the Asiwaju that compelled the government to go back on its earlier ‘no going back’ statement.

”Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, it is the courageous sagacity displayed by Tinubu that invariably saved the Nigerian commoner from suffering the pains of the initial timeline set by the federal government for the unpopular new currency swap.

“And by that singular action, Tinubu also saved the nation from going up in flames as a consequence of the raging public anger that pervaded the atmosphere before the sudden 10 days extension.

“Tinubu, proving himself a great statesman, in his now famous Abeokuta declaration, took the bold and necessary step of alerting on the dangers inherent in the new naira policy, its timing, and deadline.

“Apparently rattled, the President invited Asiwaju to Daura where the man stood his ground insisting the policy was unnecessary, unpopular, and would only harm the common man and lead to greater conflict.

“The nation certainly owes Tinubu immense gratitude for stepping in and risking everything to save an obviously bad situation.”