According to Arewa for Asiwaju, Nigerians should thank the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, for extending the deadline for the use of old naira notes.
Recall that Tinubu said last week at a rally in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun state, that the scarcity of petrol and the redesign of the naira were part of a plot to derail the upcoming election and his victory.
However, following several requests for an extension of the deadline, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extended it to February 10 from January 31.
In a statement issued on Monday, Aliyu Pass, the Coordinator for Arewa for Asiwaju, said Nigerians owe Tinubu “immense gratitude” for compelling the federal government to extend the deadline for the old notes.
Pass went on to say that the APC flagbearer’s brave and purposeful leadership compelled the government to grant a ten-day extension.
The statement reads:
It was this courage and purposeful leadership shown by the Asiwaju that compelled the government to go back on its earlier ‘no going back’ statement.
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 days extension.
Tinubu, proving himself a great statesman, in his now famous Abeokuta declaration, took the bold and necessary step of alerting on 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 an obviously bad situation.