Diri calls for calm over naira scarcity

By Amgbare Prince, Yenagoa

Bayelsa State government has said it understands the pains of residents of the state following the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy and the Supreme Court ruling on the old N200, N500 and N1000 currency notes.

The government thus urged residents to be calm and not engage in acts that could jeopardize peace of the state.

The government noted that on March 3, the Supreme Court ruled that the old notes, which had been phased out by the CBN, remain legal tender till December 31 this year.

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This was contained in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayibaina Duba and obtained by our Correspondent in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state capital.

While the state government is not against the naira redesign policy of the CBN or the federal government, it is however not comfortable with the method of its implementation that has resulted in further hardship on people of the state and, indeed, the country.

The government, therefore, urged business operators in the state, particularly banks, traders and keke (tricycle) operators to take into consideration the Supreme Court ruling in order to reduce the pains of people of the state.

The government also called on the CBN to take immediate steps to ease the burden of doing business in the state by making implementation of the policy less cumbersome.