CLO Cautions On N5,000 Note

The Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) in Akwa Ibom, says the
proposed N5, 000 note of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will worsen the
poverty level of Nigerians.

The state CLO Chairman, Mr Clifford Thomas, made this known
in Uyo.

Thomas said Nigeria should not contemplate introducing
higher denomination into the economy now that the country was still largely a
consuming nation.

“Nigeria is still a consuming nation as we import everything
including toothpicks. The N5000 note is anti-people.

“It is a deliberate policy to increase poverty, punish the
over 160 million Nigerians so that the richer will become richer and the poor,
poorer,’’ he said.

Thomas wondered why the apex bank continued to churn out
policies that were unfavourable to the poor instead of superintending over
monetary policies and working to reduce the inflationary rate in the country.

He also accused the politicians of frustrating policies that
would favour the poor, adding that as elected representatives of the people
they were supposed to work for the good of all.

According to him the devaluation of the naira notes proposed
by the former CBN governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, would have been the best
fiscal policy.

The chairman, however, expressed regrets that it was
frustrated by the politicians because “they knew they were not going to benefit
from it”.