***Insists suffering is temporary
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
As many Nigerians are going through hard times in accessing the redesigned naira notes, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP), Mrs.
Zaniab Ahmed has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government share in their pains but has also noted that it was a temporary stress which will fizzle out very soon.
The Minister made the Federal Government’s view known when she featured at the 65th State House Briefing coordinated by the Presidential Media Team in Abuja on Thursday, saying that the difficulty being experienced now by Nigerians will soon end as days pass.
Ahmed who used the occasion to
provide updates and strides being made by President Buhari led – Administration to grow the Nigerian economy and further highlighted plans being emplaced by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to manage Nigeria’s economy, likened the current situation being experienced by Nigerians to a patient having a wound or deep sore, but must submit to an excruciating pain while undergoing treatments that will later heal the wound completely.
She said government is however pleased that a sizeable chunk of the old funds have been mopped up and returned into the banking system, which will in turn give the regulatory agencies control over the nation’s currencies.
“I will sincerely say that President Muhammadu Buhari is worried about the hardship citizens are going through to accessing the redesigned Naira from the banks.
“Federal government is concerned, the President is too but it’s a necessary step to get the economy going. But the pains are temporary. It’s like someone who has wound and required to be treated. Atimes, flesh will be removed before the person will heal and the pains will be forgotten”, Ahmed posited.
Prompt News reports that most bank Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) especially in the Abuja metropolis recorded long queues of people trying to access their funds with little or no success.
Vidoes of frustrated customers having difficulties accessing their money at the banks and ATMs have been trending on social media since the beginning of the week just as some drama have ensued at banking halls and ATMs with people fighting over queue lines.
But Ahmed in her response to the question posed to her, whether the government is actually worried over the development in the financial sector, said: “of course, we are worried, we are not happy that citizens have to queue and struggle to get their cash but this is a temporary situation.
“Let me give you an analogy, this situation can be compared to a patient having a sore and while treating the sore, you must apply some iodine or spirit which is usually very painful.
“Mr President is not happy that citizens are sufferring but come the closing date which the Central Bank of Nigeria has given, it will not all be over as a window still exist for people to return their old notes.
“There is also the positive side to it, which is that a lot of currency has been mopped up back into the system”.
