The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has warned that the continuous scarcity of the newly printed currency notes may lead to economic recession as well as severe food inflation.
The Forum, in a communique issued at the end of its meeting on Saturday, lamented that though the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the Federal Government would comply with the order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria nullifying the February 10 deadline for the validity of three old notes, that is the N200, N500 and N1,000; Nigerians have not experienced any change so far.
It noted that the inability to use the new notes has had far-reaching economic effects, leading to the emergence of the Naira black market, severe food inflation, variable commodities prices based on the method of exchange, among other challenges.
At least five states have sued the Federal Government over the deadline for three old naira notes.