The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has told citizens that it feels their pains and is “determined to employ all legitimate channels to ease the situation”.

In a communiqué issued at the end of a meeting of the NGF, which held this weekend, the governors warned that the country runs at the risk of recession following naira redesign policy of the the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The communiqué was signed by the NGF Chairman and State State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal.

Daily Trust reports that the NGF had earlier written to President Muhammadu Buhari to seek for the extension of timeframe for the implementation of the policy which has caused growing hardship among Nigerians.

Arising from its meeting, the governors slammed the apex bank over the handling of the naira redesign policy, adding that the resulting naira note scarcity is causing hardship.

The body called on the Federal Government and the CBN “to respect the Rule of Law and listen to the voice of reason expressed by Nigerians and several other stakeholders including the Council of State, before the damage to our economy becomes too great to fix by the next administration.”

It reads “We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), at our meeting today discussed critical
issues of national interest and resolved as follows:

“First, we express our sympathies and support with Nigerians who are experiencing great difficulties under the current CBN Naira re-design and cash withdrawal restrictions policy.

“It has become necessary to make a distinction between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Naira redesign policy backed by Section 20 (3) of the CBN Act, 2007 and the aspirational policy of going cashless, both of which are mutually exclusive at this time.

“It is our considered view that what the CBN is at present pursuing is a currency confiscation programme, not the currency exchange policy envisaged under S20(3) of the CBN Act, 2007. Currency confiscation in the sense that the liquidity provided to the general public is grossly insufficient due to the restrictions placed on the amount that can be withdrawn regardless of the amount deposited.

“The current approach of the CBN raises concerns about the respect for the civil liberties and rights of Nigerians as it relates to their freedom to use legitimately earned income as they so wish.

The Forum believes that to deploy a cashless policy and deepen digital transactions, the best practice around the world is to create a suite of incentives to attract customers; rather than a draconian approach as we have witnessed in the last three months.