The Mayor of Urhoboland and a renowned ex-militant leader, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to as a matter of national importance and urgency address Nigerians over the status of the old naira notes saying citizens are already rejecting the old notes.
Mayor Akpodoro stated this in Abuja over the weekend noting that Nigerians across the states are already rejecting the old note fearing that such avoidable development if allowed to continue may add to the current hardship being experienced by Nigerians.
The President, he noted, should engage Nigerians on the issue since the National Orientation Agency, NOA appears “to be docile and sleeping on duty.”
The vociferous Mayor said if the hardship of naira scarcity is added to the increase in prices of commodities including petroleum products, food stuffs impacting negatively on the living condition of Nigerians and skyrocketing foreign exchange rate, he feared the nation may collapse warning that the President should do the needful.
He wondered why the agency of government saddled with the responsibility of enlightening and educating the citizens on the policies and programmes of government like NOA “is clueless and grossly inept” such he said is capable of throwing the nation into aboudable crisis.
States in the Niger Delta region and some other parts of the country, Mayor Akpodoro said, residents are refusing to accept the old notes as legal tender and in some cases causing uproar like in Ughelli and some other popular markets in Delta State where he said market women and men are rejecting the old naira notes.
The Mayor expressed shock that since the rumoured victory of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN in the Supreme Court which reportedly granted the use of the old and new notes side by side indefinitely, the Ministry of Information and its NOA agency have not deemed it proper to make statement on the issue.
“Since the Ministry of information has refused to talk to Nigerians, then, the President who appointed an inept Minister of Information should address the nation. It appears most of the new appointees of President Tinubu are in slumber and confused about the dictates of their offices.
“Nigeria is a cash-driven economy and whatever will make the naira scarce again should not be condoled. The lethargy of those involve reeks wickedness with intent to cause crisis in the country and that’s the only possible explanation to why they are keeping mute. Are they waiting for chaos to erupt before they apply the fire brigade approach that characterised the former administration that deliberately plunged the country into crisis using the naira scarcity as handle to kill Nigerians? Its time the president give more attention to those who enjoy the confidence of his administration and spell to them what their duties are should in case they don’t know,” the livid Mayor stated.
