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.. urges CBN to take urgent steps to ease the burden of doing business in the state

By Samuel Oyadongha, Yenagoa

BAYELSA government has pleaded with residents of the state to remain calm and not engage in acts capable of truncating the existing peace in the state.

The appeal is coming on the heels of Friday’s protest over the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes and the rejection of the old N500 and N1000 notes by traders and transporters.

The protesters from the Akenfa suburb of the state capital blocked the Yenagoa-Mbiama Road, causing gridlock and a halt to socio-economic activities in the area for several hours.

The state Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayibaina Duba, in a statement on Saturday urged the CBN to take urgent steps to ease the burden of doing business in the state by making implementation of the policy less cumbersome.

He said: “the government understands the pains of residents of the state following the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy and the Supreme Court ruling on the old N200, N500 and N1000 currency notes.

“The government thus urges residents to be calm and not engage in acts that could jeopardize the peace of the state.

“The government notes that on March 3, the Supreme Court ruled that the old notes, which had been phased out by the CBN, remain legal tender till December 31 this year.

“While the state government is not against the naira redesign policy of the CBN or the Federal Government, it is however not comfortable with the method of its implementation that has resulted in further hardship on people of the state and, indeed, the country.

“The government, therefore, urges business operators in the state, particularly banks, traders and keke (tricycle) to take into consideration the Supreme Court ruling in order to reduce the pains of people of the state.

“The government also calls on the CBN to take immediate steps to ease the burden of doing business in the state by making implementation of the policy less cumbersome.”