The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday warned the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria that a mass public protest was imminent if nothing was done to address the naira shortage.
The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero gave the warning in a statement.
Ajaero said citizens who were already impoverished by the same policies of government, foisting this on them again, amounted to gross insensitivity and double jeopardy, it stated.
Ajaero said, “Fresh in the minds of every Nigerian is the excruciating conditions that we were subjugated to as a result of the last cash crunch earlier this year that was orchestrated by the ill-conceived and ill-implemented currency redesign policy of the immediate past.
“The sorrow that botched exercise foisted on us is not what Nigerians wish to witness again in one year.
“This time, there is no discernible reason by the Central Bank of Nigeria, neither any explanation from the government on why Nigerians should be subjected to this level of suffering once again in 2023; though we have heard reasons like the increase in fake notes in circulation and the hoarding of the naira.
“These reasons are clearly unacceptable as we cannot see anything that will make any Nigerian hoard the naira. In any case, it is not the ordinary Nigerian that hoards money in their houses”.
The NLC leader said if the CBN was saying that those with ill-gotten wealth were stashing cash in their houses to avoid detection, it became a heavy indictment on the government’s anti-corruption agenda.
