The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, says kidnappers have gone on “strike” since the onset of naira scarcity occasioned by the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Ngige said this as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
He explained that the naira redesign policy is a good policy despite the challenges encountered in its implementation.
Acknowledging that the policy brought pain to the people, the former Anambra governor said that its benefits outweighed the demerits.
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“The policy is not smooth in its implementation. I admitted that. But whether it is a good policy? Yes, it is a good policy.
“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,” Ngige said.
Meanwhile, the minister hailed the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for shelving its planned strike over naira scarcity.
He assured that the pains associated with naira scarcity would be over in a few days as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released move cash into circulation.
The political period involved alot of cash transfers.Candidates used point men to disburse funds. Those who received the transfers voted on oath because it is very dangerous to take money from politicians and failing to comply.
To me only beggars suffered the worst.Though some beggars with bank accounts jointly secured POS tools. Kidnappers can easily receive multiple transfers to different bank accounts provided such did not go against CBN regulations. The true situation can not be exact because many families deal directly with kidnappers.