The Kano State Government, on Friday, described the Central Bank of Nigeria’s refusal to release new Naira notes to commercial banks operating in the state in the last four days as most ‘unfortunate.’
The state Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Mallam Muhammad Garba, in a statement, said that since Monday, commercial banks in the state got zero allocation from the CBN.
According to him, the prejudiced approach by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in the implementation of the cashless policy, no matter the intentions, “seem to be targeting Kano and its economy, given the daily volume of trade in the North’s commercial nerve centre, by starving commercial banks of the money supposed to be allocated to them.”
Garba said that the CBN as an organ of the Federal Government has, from all indications, been reduced to a tool to settle political scores by choosing the wrong time to force a policy on the people that could have been implemented at the appropriate time in the past.
The commissioner said that the general populace in the state has been subjected to unnecessary hardship by depriving them access to their hard-earned money, “ostensibly to precipitate civil unrest that could lead to the postponement of the most awaited general elections scheduled for next week.”
He, however, said that the people of Kano, who are known for their peace-loving posture have endured hardship.
Garba assured that the administration of the Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje “would do whatever it takes to see to the resolution of the present situation.”
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