Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state, Northern Nigeria has written to the Presidency to postpone the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari, to the state.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ganduje gave the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s policy on redesigned naira notes and security concerns as reasons for the postponement.
Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, made this known in a statement in Kano on Saturday.
Anwar explained that Ganduje made this known during an interactive session with scholars, legislators, political leaders, and the business community in the state at Government House, Kano on Friday, adding that the decision was taken to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.
The statement said, “As we are waiting for this important visit, we found ourselves in this situation, which puts citizens into untold hardship. For security purposes, we wrote to the Presidency that President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano be postponed.
“We got an acknowledgement copy of the letter. People are really suffering because of this policy.”
During the meeting with sections of citizens in the state, they accepted that the decision was a unanimous one.
According to Anwar, two serving Senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress, Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, and Barau Jibrin; twenty members of House of Representatives; and thirty legislators from the State House of Assembly; were amongst the groups that put their weight behind the governor.
Ganduje lamented, “There are no banks in most of our rural communities. How these people get new Naira notes is of great concern. Just look at what is happening in our urban areas, people go and spend hours upon hours in banks. without any assurances of getting the new notes.”
The Governor lamented that one could not transact with ease even at Point of Sale, hinting that many of them closed shops due to uncertainty.
Ganduje emphasised that Kano being a commercial hub must be heard loudly, insisting, “This problem affects all of us. Therefore our voice must be heard in all nooks and crannies. We are a commercial hub. As such our position must be loud and clear.”
