The Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, has said governors are concerned about the hardships caused by the scarcity of fuel and new naira notes.
Bello made this known at a fundraising dinner organised for a member of the House of Representatives and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Niger State, Mohammed Bago, and his running mate, Yakubu Garba.
While there is a shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in major parts of the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria had last year introduced a policy which, among others, set limits to cash withdrawals at the Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions.
The CBN had also redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 notes of the naira. However, there is a scarcity of new notes despite the extended February 10 deadline for people to swap the notes.
Three APC governors – Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara – had challenged the deadline, with the Supreme Court temporarily asking the CBN to suspend the deadline.
Speaking at the event held in Abuja on Tuesday night, the Niger governor said, “Some of us mentioned earlier on that things are difficult…fuel scarcity, cashless this cashless that. Yes, it is true. But with determination and the will of the people, we will make it.
“Fuel scarcity (and) all these issues will stop at some point. It will stop. All the governors of Nigeria are concerned about what is going on. It will stop. So, that shouldn’t distract us. We should be very optimistic. We should go to our polling stations and vote for Hon. Mohammed Bago as Niger State governor and Comrade (Garba) as his deputy governor.”
Bello also explained his relationship with the APC candidate, urging people of the state to vote for him.
“There is a bond between us that two of us know: a bond of trust and mutual understanding. He has supported me when I needed support. But let me tell you something, probably the most important thing about our incoming (governor); he will never abandon you.
“If he is with you, he is with you; if he is not with you, he is not with you. I remember after my second term election. Usually when people win their election they go back to do their thing. This gentleman came back to me and he stayed; he stayed to the last day and that I will never forget, and I really appreciate it.
“The people of Niger State have spoken and I deliberately refused to get involved in the primaries. Even with all the pressure, with all the lobbying, I said let the will of the people speak. Whenever you allow the will of the people to speak, you won’t have problems in the general election. What we are seeing today in Niger State, the acceptance and the reception during the campaigns is as a result of allowing people to decide who they want,” he said.
Similarly, Bago described the naira and fuel crises as “generic”.
The governorship candidate said, “People who are advising for the redesign of the naira and the implementation of the policy are not being considerate of the plight of the people. Politicians who have money are not raising funds, so they don’t care whether you change money or you don’t change money.
“The fuel scarcity is pure sabotage and there is a need for the government of the day to make sure that it enforces or put agencies in charge of this industry at work so that there will be the availability of fuel. But this is short-lived because you know the triumph for evil is short-lived anytime. So, we are sure by the grace of God.”
Bago noted that his team was already talking to traditional institutions about how to collaborate with them to tackle insecurity.
