The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, on Monday, decried the hunger and anger that the protracted Naira scarcity has caused Nigerians.
The situation has worsened as the commercial banks are now refusing to accept the old notes as deposits, and which are not being accepted for transactions across the country.
As a result, many businesses as at Monday insisted on only the new notes.
But, lawyers said it amounted to contempt for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to have directed banks to continue to accept the old notes in line with the Supreme Court order.
Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court, in a case filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, barred the Federal Government or CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old naira notes.
In a unanimous ruling by a seven-member panel, led by Justice John Okoro, it held that the “interim injunction” will subsist “pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiffs/applicants’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.”
Worried by the naira crisis, the Sultan said it has made life unbearable.
He said there was increasing tension caused by the CBN monetary policy, adding that urgent steps should be taken to stem the heat.
The Sultan spoke in Abuja at a two-day conference by the Kano State government on livestock reforms and mitigation of associated conflicts.
The royal father said: “Let’s keep politics aside. The issues of development, especially for the common man, (should be prioritised).
“These people that God Almighty gave leadership over, one day, God forbid, will rise (against us).
“After all the English by professors (at the conference), how do we get these developments down to the common man who is a farmer, the common Fulani man who doesn’t know anything about development? He only cares about cattle.
“The people are hungry – is there money? People are angry and hungry. Let’s see how we can douse the tension.”