The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) criticized the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for politicizing the new Naira policy and the difficulties that Nigerians are facing in exchanging old notes for new ones. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike also spoke out against the economic crisis caused by the poor implementation of the new Naira design and called for voters to reject any candidate who supports it.

In a statement, the National President of AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, expressed disappointment at Atiku’s stance against extending the deadline for exchanging old notes and said it was wrong for the PDP to go against the opinions of many Nigerians, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, and the National Assembly, who support the extension.

He said: “Former VP Atiku’s call was out of place because it is coming on the heels of growing complaint about the kind of sabotage that is causing untold hardship to Nigerians over this policy.

“Atiku stands alone in his call on the CBN not to review the deadline.

“He is against prominent Nigerians who made passionate appeal for deadline review, notably the sultan of Sokoto, the Senate and House of Representatives leaders and experts.

“What purpose will the current difficulties people are facing serve Atiku? Why would he rather identify with the need to let the difficulties faced by especially rural folks continue and for how long?”

Shettima expressed the AYCF’s backing for extending the deadline for the exchange of old currency notes due to the challenges faced by the public.

“We are of course aware that the economy has suffered heavy avoidable bruises,” he said.

According to Shettima, it would be detrimental for the country to disregard the advice for an extension of the CBN’s deadline for exchanging old notes with new ones.

He said that for any policy to succeed, it must have a human face, “and we believe the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, won’t turn against overwhelming public interest”.

The AYCF boss advised PDP not to turn the policy “into a weapon of political manipulation or political attention-seeking opportunity.

“We advise the ex-VP to concentrate on his presidential campaigns by showcasing what he has done to merit the votes of Nigerians and stop playing politics with our economic policies and associated challenges.

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p data-reader-unique-id=”134″>“We thought the ex-VP would tell Nigerians what he has to offer in fighting inflation and weak national currency,” he added.