‘Tinubu Should Be Appreciated For Extension Of Deadline For Old Naira Notes’

A group known as Arewa for Asiwaju has said Nigerians should appreciate the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, for the extension of the deadline for the use of old naira notes.

Recall that Tinubu had said at a rally in Abeokuta, capital city of Ogun state, last week, that the scarcity of petrol and change of the naira’s design was a plan to sabotage the forthcoming election and his victory.

However, after several calls for an extension of the deadline, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had earlier given a deadline of January 31 but extended it to February 10.

Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, the Coordinator for Arewa for Asiwaju, Aliyu Pass, said Nigerians owe Tinubu “immense gratitude” for compelling the federal government to extend the deadline for the old notes.

Pass added that it was this courage and purposeful leadership shown by the APC flagbearer that compelled the government to give a ten-day extension.

The statement reads: “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.”