Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, said the insufficient circulation of the new Naira notes posed great threats to the country’s peace.
Kachikwu said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said it was disheartening to see Nigerians endure long queues under the scorching sun just to withdraw their hard-earned money.
According to him, Nigerians are groaning in agony and people are being dehumanised in a bid to obtain the new notes.
“If this is not bad enough, the most political Central Bank Governor in our nation’s history seeks to plunge our nation into further chaos.
“How else can one explain this ill-conceived Naira Redesign Policy that ought to strengthen the value of our currency but now threatens our very existence as a nation?
“My heart broke as I watched the videos of those who stripped naked in banking halls all in a bid to collect their money.
“How do you speak of cashless banking in a country plagued by epileptic telecom networks and power blackouts?
“Who is deceiving who when many parts of Northern Nigeria don’t have bank branches and lack the infrastructure to support e-banking.
“Was this not factored into the CBN Governor’s plan?” He asked.
Kachikwu said that Nigerians did not deserve hardships, especially at a time when fuel was also not available in many parts of the country.
He alleged that people queued for hours for fuel only to be told they could not buy.
This, he said, was because they did not have cash and the Point of Sale, POS, terminals were not in operation due to unavailability of both the old and the new Naira notes.
He lamented that there is no money, no food, no power, no jobs, no security, adding that all these were ingredients of anarchy if not well managed.