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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Kwara State Council has expressed concern over scarcity of new naira notes in circulation.
It warned that the unavailability of the redesigned nation’s currency posed threat to the standard of living of the people and the nation’s economy.
The Chairman, State Council of NLC, Comrade Aliyu Issa Ore, who said this in a statement issued in Ilorin today, added that the new notes are neither in the commerical banks nor Bureau De Change or the market.
The organized labour said the burden of hardship, which the scarcity of the new naira notes precipitated, is on the Nigeria workers.
It called on the federal and state governments to address the unavailability of cash in the interest of the workers and poor masses in general.
The state NLC urged Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to liaise with the Ilorin Branch of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to tackle acute shortage in the distribution of the new naira notes in the state.
This medium reports that customers have continued to lament the scarcity of the new naira notes despite spending several hours at the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of commerical banks nationwide in their bid to withdraw cash.
Many of the customers had besieged bank ATMs to avoid being caught up in the web of the deadline of CBN for Nigerians to switch from old notes to the newly redesigned currency.
The state NLC said in the statement, “We are constrained with the acute shortage of new currency notes in the country, which is caused by the Naira Redesign Policy of the apex bank.
“The currency notes are neither in the commerical banks nor Bureau De Change or the market.
“The social economic implication of nonavailability of the Naira in the market is a threat to the standard of living of the people of Nigerian and the nation’s economy. The burden of the hardship caused by unavailability of the new naira notes is on the Nigeria workers.
“The leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress hereby express disgust over the nonavailability of the new naira notes and urged both the federal and state governments to address the shortage in the interest of the workers and poor masses in general.
“In the same vein, the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress calls on the federal and state governments to prevail on the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor to review the interest charged on electronic money transfer and other charges.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress, however, urged the Executive Governor of Kwara State to liaise with the Zonal Branch of CBN in Ilorin with a view to addressing the issue of acute shortage in the distribution of the new naira notes in the state”.
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