‘Tinubu’s Abeokuta declaration averted naira swap crisis’

A northern-based support group, Arewa4Asiwaju, has commended the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for speaking up against the January 31st deadline initially set for the swap of old naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).

The group said Tinubu’s ‘Abeokuta declaration,’ which it believes compelled the Federal Government to extend the deadline to 10th February, “saved the nation from going up in flames over the raging public anger that pervaded the atmosphere before the sudden 10 days extension.”

While attributing the sudden 10- day extension of the naira swap to what it called Tinubu’s sagacity and courage, the group said: “It was this courage and purposeful leadership shown by the Asiwaju that compelled the government to go back on its earlier “no going back stance”.

It said Nigerians certainly owe Tinubu immense gratitude for stepping in and risking everything to change the obviously bad situation occasioned by the initial January 31st deadline.

A statement by its North-Central Coordinator, Aliyu Musa Pass, reads: “Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, it is the courageous sagacity displayed by Tinubu that invariably saved the Nigerian commoner from suffering the pains of the initial timeline set by the Federal Government for the unpopular new currency swap.

“And by that singular action, Tinubu also saved the nation from going up in flames as a consequence of the raging public anger that pervaded the atmosphere before the sudden 10 days extension.

“Tinubu, proving himself a great statesman, in his now famous Abeokuta declaration, took the bold and necessary step of alerting on the dangers inherent in the new naira policy, its timing and deadline.

“Apparently rattled the President invited Asiwaju to Daura where the man stood his ground insisting the policy was unnecessary, unpopular and would only harm the common man and lead to greater conflict.

“The nation certainly owes Tinubu immense gratitude for stepping in and risking everything to save an obvious bad situation.”