The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has written President Muhammadu Buhari, to postpone the planned visit to the state following persistent complaints by residents over the hardship they were facing in getting the new naira notes.
The governor said lawmakers from the state, political leaders, and business community were backing the decision to postpone the planned visit while urging for the extension of the deadline to return old naira notes.
“Deeply concerned with the hardship caused by the limited time given for halting the use of old Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and for security reasons, Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje reveals that the state resolved and wrote to Presidency that, the visit of the President to commission some projects to be postponed,” the governor’s media aide Abba Anwar said in a statement.
The statement said the decision was taken on Friday at the Government House during an interactive session with scholars, legislators, political leaders and the business community.
The decision was taken to avoid any unforeseen circumstance, the statement added.
The president was scheduled to visit the state between 30 and 31 January to commission some projects built by the Ganduje administration.
“As we are waiting for this important visit, we found ourselves in this situation, which puts citizens into untold hardship. For security purposes, we wrote to Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano is postponed.
“We got an acknowledgement copy of the letter. People are suffering because of this policy,” the governor said.
“During the meeting with sections of citizens in the state, they accepted that the decision was a unanimous one. As they all spoke in support of the letter sent to the Presidency.
“Two serving Senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya and Barau Jibrin, Twenty members of the House of Representatives and Thirty legislators from the State House of Assembly were amongst the groups that put their weight behind the governor.
“There are no banks in most of our rural communities. How these people get new Naira notes is of great concern. Just look at what is happening in our urban areas, people go and spend hours upon hours in banks. And without any assurances of getting the new notes,” the governor lamented.
“Even at Point of Sales (POS) according to the governor, one cannot transact with ease, hinting that, many of them closed shops due to uncertainty,” the governor added.
The governor said “Kano, being a commercial hub, must be heard loudly and clearly because this problem affects all of us. Therefore our voice must be heard in all nooks and crannies”.
Meanwhile, Mr Ganduje stated that Nigerian governors without consideration of party affiliation, sent delegates to President Buhari complaining to him about the hardship caused by the new development.
“Governors from all the political parties put heads together and sent delegates, but to no avail. So also traditional rulers followed the same path, but individually. But up to now, there is nothing in that respect,” Mr Ganduje said
The governor and other leaders from the state, are expected to see President Buhari for the extension of the dateline for the collection of old notes.
Additional details from Premium Times.
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