Naira swap: FCTA sustains sensitisation drive in Abaji, Kuje, G/Lada

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Administration has stepped up its sensitisation and advocacy campaign to residents across its six Area Councils, with the aim of ensuring that no one was left out in the ongoing currency swap of the redesigned Naira notes. 

To this end, the FCTA sensitisation team took the campaign to stakeholders mainly traditional and community leaders as well as traders in Abaji, Gwagwalada and Kuje  Area Councils respectively.

Recall that following the redesigning of N1,000, N500 denominations of the Nigerian Currency, the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had set a deadline of  January 31, 2023, later extend to February 10, 2022, for all old Naira notes to cease as the country’s legal tender.

Explaining the initiative,  the Ag. Director, FCT Reforms Coordination and Service Improvement Department (RC&SID), Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, stressed the need to ensure that the message was passed across in all the indigenous languages of FCT and the major languages in Nigeria. 

She assured that the team would ensure that all public places, market areas and highly populated areas were duly covered.

During the visit of the Sensitization team to the Kuje, the Gomo of Kuje, HRH Haruna Tanko Jibrin, in his remarks, expressed his appreciation and applauded the Administration for taking up the initiative to carry the people along. 

He pointed that for the exercise to be effective, the more needed to be done, as the new notes were yet to be readily available to citizens in the area.

According to him, “We don’t have access to these new notes, in fact, so many of my subjects have not seen the new notes with their eyes”.

Similarly, Ona of Abaji, HRM Alh Dr. Adamu Baba Yunusa heartily welcomed the team, however drew the attention of the Government to the inadequacies of the process.

He said:  “Before people can adhere to this deadline instructions, the Government first of all, have to play their part in ensuring that the new notes are readily available because as I speak to you, banks do not have these notes to give out.

“ I personally had to go to the bank and requested to be paid in the new notes but sadly, I was informed that it was not available.

“Unfortunately, because of the fear of not being able to get the new notes in exchange, the old notes are already being rejected, and this is double jeopardy”.

Not left out, Aguma of Gwagwalada, HRH Muhammed Magaji, made an appeal for the Government to as a matter of urgency,  make sure that at least Banks and ATMs are fully stocked with the new notes, so that people will be encouraged to take their old notes to the banks, not minding the long queues.