President Muhammadu Buhari has accused banks of greed and inefficiency in relation to the newly designed naira notes, claiming that extending the deadline will not help them.
He said this on Friday, when the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) paid him a visit at the State House in Abuja.
“Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves,” Garba Shehu, presidential aide, quoted Buhari saying, “even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away”.
The Nigerian leader told the APC governors, who visited following the hardships associated with the newly-designed notes and the attendant outcry, that he is aware of the situation.
“I will revert to the CBN and the Minting Company. There will be a decision one way or the other in the remaining seven days of the 10-day extension,” the President assured.
President Buhari explained that when he considered giving the approval to the policy, he demanded an undertaking from the CBN that no new notes will be printed in a foreign country and they, in turn, gave him assurances that there was enough capacity, manpower, and equipment to print the currency for local needs.
Buhari said he needed to go back to find out what was actually happening. President Buhari told the Governors that, being closer to the people, he had heard their cries and will act in a way that there will be a solution.