A civil‑society organisation, Journalists for Open Government and Inclusion (JOGI), has urged the Federal Government to act responsibly and urgently to prevent the anger over naira scarcity from snowballing into uncontrollable civil unrest. In a statement titled “Currency crisis worsening Nigeria’s poverty, insecurity, vote‑buying records – Group,” JOGI Executive Director Yaqoub Popoola advised President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) to act as a true statesman and obey the Supreme Court verdict on the currency‑swap policy.
Popoola described it as “quite unfortunate that a government still battling poverty and insecurity could allow the nation to slide into chaos due to needless, irresponsible and ill‑conceived policy.” He called on the President to direct the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to respect the Supreme Court ruling and allow the old and new currencies to float side by side in the open market.
The group warned that, beyond suggesting a hidden agenda detrimental to the nation’s wellbeing, the Central Bank’s untidy implementation of its policy could make vote‑trading in the upcoming general election unimaginable. “How can a government deny people access to their legitimate earnings and expect them not to be vulnerable to vote‑trading during elections? Deliberately impoverishing people makes them vulnerable to all forms of abuse,” Popoola said.
He added that the worst form of corruption is disobedience to court orders, and that any government that initiates a policy without a proper implementation plan and strategy is also indulging in corruption. “As we speak, many banks in the country have been shut down due to fear of being attacked by angry residents,” he noted.
Concluding, JOGI, committed to good and open governance, used the platform to admonish Nigerians to remain calm despite what it called a “naked provocation.” “We must not play into the hands of anti‑democratic forces. May Nigeria succeed,” the group said.
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