Naira Deadline Extension: Group Lauds Tinubu for Speaking Up

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has been commended for speaking up against the January 31 Central Bank of Nigeria deadline initially for the use of the old naira notes. 

The group noted in a statement by the group’s North-Central coordinator, Aliyu Pass, released in Kaduna on Monday, that Tinubu’s declaration at Abeokuta, Ogun State, compelled the Federal Government to extend the deadline to February 10.

Following the rage that erupted prior to the abrupt 10-day extension, the Tinubu support group claimed that this prevented the country from erupting into flames.

While crediting Tinubu’s “sagacity and courage” for the unexpected 10-day extension of the naira exchange, Arewa4Asiwaju said that “it was this courage and purposeful leadership shown by the Asiwaju that compelled the government to go back on its earlier ‘no going back’ stance”.

The statement reads in part: “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-day extension.

“Tinubu, proving himself a great statesman, in his now famous Abeokuta declaration, took the bold and necessary step of alerting to 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 a bad situation.”

The group went on to say that Nigerians owe Tinubu their thanks for intervening and taking a risk in order to rectify the obviously disastrous situation brought on by the initial January 31 deadline.