SENATOR Orji Kalu on Monday lamented the scarcity of the naira owing to the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He claims his family could not get enough money to cook recently.
“You can see the policy is right but I don’t keep money in my house. I am suffering,” he said during his appearance on Channels Television’s election programme The 2023 Verdict monitored by News Point Nigeria.
“The other day, my house manager told my wife in Abuja that we have no money to cook food. My wife was virtually roaming around and we feed over 250 people every day. It is a problem to me and to everybody.”
The former Abia State governor is the latest in the list of high-profile politicians in the country who have rued the scarcity of banknotes following the CBN’s currency redesign policy.
While the Supreme Court ruled that the old N1,000, N500, and N200 banknotes were still valid, President Muhammadu Buhari last week only extended the usage of the N200 notes till April 10, 2023, rendering others as non-legal tenders.
The move did not go well with several governors especially those of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who maintain that the old banknotes should be used in their states.
Weighing into the matter, Senator Kalu towed a similar line as the governors, arguing that he would have obeyed the Supreme Court’s order on the naira notes if he were the Nigerian president.
“This is why if I am in the position of the Mr President as I have told you before, I will listen to the Supreme Court judgement. The Supreme Court to me, whether they are right or wrong, Mr President should obey the law and ask his Attorney General to put a review to the Supreme Court,” the senator representing Abia North said, adding that the cash crunch won’t affect his party – APC’s – chances of winning the presidential election.
