Arewa youth slams Atiku over call against extension of Naira swap

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has berated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for his call against extension of the naira swap exercise by the CBN.

AYCF National President Alhaji Yerima Shettima tasked CBN not to listen to the PDP presidential candidate, but hearken to the calls by Nigerians feeling the heat of the naira swap exercise and suffering without access to their money.

The position was contained in a statement issued by the forum Sunday in Kaduna.

It said: “Our attention has been drawn to a viral news in which PDP presidential flag bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar turned against the calls for CBN to extend the deadline for its cash swap policy.

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“While we feel duty bound to call the former VP to order on his politically-motivated stance, we wish to state that we are aware that the economy has suffered heavy, avoidable bruises. As at end-June 2022, available data indicated that N2.72 trillion out of the N3.26 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of commercial banks across and hidden in crude forms.

“So, the cashless policy is inherently good, though there are calls for review of the CBN deadline that we must not ignore. Former VP Atiku’s call was out of place because it is coming on the heels of growing complaints about the kind of sabotage that is causing untold hardship to Nigerians over this policy.

“Atiku stands alone in his call on the CBN not to review the deadline. He is against prominent Nigerians who made passionate appeals for deadline review, notably the Sultan of Sokoto, the Senate and House of Representatives leaders and experts.

“The AYCF is therefore warning the ex-VP not to turn this policy into a weapon of political manipulation or political attention-seeking opportunity. He should forget about the continuation of a policy in the midst of loud calls for positive review for the sake of his selfish political and self-serving interests. We will not stop emphasizing that Nigeria is never a Banana Republic.

“We advise the ex-VP to concentrate on his presidential campaigns by showcasing what he has done to merit the votes of Nigerians and stop playing politics with our economic policies and associated challenges. We thought the ex-VP would tell Nigerians what he has to offer in fighting inflation and weak national currency.”