Following the Supreme Court judgement restraining the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria from enforcing the February 10 deadline to ban the circulation of the old naira notes, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has urged the authorities to allow the coexisting of the new and old banknotes for at least six months.
In a statement on Wednesday by the CEO of CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, he said the government cannot force a cashless policy on Nigerians.
He stated that contrary to the claim by CBN, the N2.7 trillion cash in circulation is equal to the population of over 200 million people in Nigeria.
According to Yusuf, Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, small businesses and ordinary Nigerians have been the biggest victims of the hardship inflicted by CBN’s naira redesign policy.
“Meanwhile, in compliance with the Supreme Court order, we urge the CBN to immediately allow the old and new currency notes to co-circulate until such a time when the old notes are gradually and completely withdrawn. This is global best practice. This should happen within three to six months”, it stated.
