FG must end suffering of Nigerians —Falana

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FG must end suffering of Nigerians —Falana

LAGOS—CHAIRMAN of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond, ASCAB, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to put an end to the sufferings being experienced by Nigerians, warning that a major crisis may erupt if urgent steps are not taken to ameliorate the situation.

Falana also faulted the Federal Government’s position on the redesigned naira notes, saying it cannot over rule the Supreme Court.

The ASCAB chairman, in a statement titled: ‘FG Must End Suffering of Nigerians’, said: “The suffering of the Nigerian people is getting worse by the day. President Buhari in his message to the nation gave no hope that this suffering will end anytime soon. We need action now to reverse the fuel price increases and to make money available again. Our suffering cannot continue – we cannot live like this. After 13 days (rather than seven) President Buhari eventually announced a decision this morning.

“But it is not enough to end the crisis. There are not enough old 200 naira notes to replace all the old N1,000 and N500 notes. In addition, the new deadline of 10th of April is too close. If the government was serious, the crisis could be ended in a few days. All the old currency notes could be made legal tender until the end of the year.

“In addition, all the old currency could be changed at the banks as well as at the CBN until the end of next year. This would give confidence back in the markets and the old currency would again be accepted. This crisis was created by the government. It is only the government that can end the crisis.”

The government could end this crisis in a matter of days. The CBN could issue old currency notes to the banks to issue to the public in a matter of days. That is all that is needed to end the crisis. The untold crisis across the country, the misery, suffering and deaths are a result of a fight between different clans of the corrupt elite. The common people are suffering as a result of disputes over who will loot for the next four years or more.

“Unless firm action is taken, this crisis will get worse in the days to come. The suffering and anger is likely to make violence around the election worse. Then we still have to suffer the Buhari Government for at least another three months. Any alternative to this will only make the situation worse.”