The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has said the process that led to the redesign of the Naira note is disorganized and uncoordinated. The rights group made this known in a press statement made available to journalists.
Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the executive director of CHRICED said while the jury is still debating the merits or demerits of the proposed policy, the center is dismayed by the claims and counterclaims of various government officials who are supposed to oversee policy implementation.
He noted that the minister of finance, budget, and national planning’s admission that she was unaware that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was on the verge of redesigning the nation’s currency suggests a lack of basic cooperation in the Buhari’s government.
“With the CBN Governor also claiming that he received written approval from President Muhammadu Buhari to proceed with the policy, shows the current government lacks even the most basic of tenets required for policy formulation, coordination, and implementation.
“As a result, the ongoing spat between two of the most senior officials, who should be responsible for the health of the economy and, by extension, the livelihood opportunities for the citizens, portrays the current government as unconcerned and unprepared to revive the comatose economy it foisted on the people.” He said.
Dollar to Naira now N800, further heightens inflation
The centre points out that the Naira had depreciated further to N800 to the United States Dollar at the parallel market as the variable and unpredictable exchange rate is one of the primary factors fueling inflationary pressures, which has impacted the price stability of essential goods and services.
The statement further reads “the inflation situation is so dire that many citizens are finding it difficult to survive. For workers, artisans and other category of ordinary citizens trying to get on with their lives, the amount of inflation has eroded their purchasing power, leaving them at the mercy of the market’s ever-changing fluctuations.
“As a matter of fact, Nigerians have been on their own grappling with the devastating effects of the inflation, which has pushed many more citizens into poverty. CHRICED believes the President should act as the chief coordinator of policy emanating from government institutions, rather than remaining aloof while top government officials bicker, which is detrimental to the stability of the nation’s currency and, by extension, investor confidence.”
