Naira scarcity: Kidnappers now on break, bandits on holiday – Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has disclosed that the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has its benefits despite the challenges associated with it.

The Minister, who made the assertion on Wednesday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, argued that there were sound benefits Nigerians derived from the aforesaid policy.

However, Ngige acknowledged that the policy brought pain to Nigerians because the implementation process was not smooth enough.

His words: “The policy is not smooth in its implementation. I admitted that. But whether it is a good policy? Yes, it is a good policy.

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“It wasn’t smooth; it came with some pain but overall, did we get some sound benefits from it? Yes, we did: people didn’t buy votes on the line (queue) during the elections.

“I used to go for elections and I know what I see. There was no cash exchange for votes. It wasn’t easy anymore. Kidnappers are on break, they are on strike so to say or recess. Bandits, they have also gone on holidays.”

Meanwhile, the minister while speaking on the issue of the shelved strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the apex bank has released cash into the society and assured Nigerians the pain over naira scarcity will ease off in the days to come.