The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Sunday, in Abuja, said some of the hard-hitting policies of his eight-year regime were for the “overall good of the country.”
Buhari who admitted that his policies brought “temporary pain and suffering” to millions of Nigerians said they “yielded the desired results” nonetheless.
In a televised farewell message aired early Sunday, the outgoing President said “In the course of revamping the economy, we made some difficult choices, most of which yielded the desired results.
“Some of the measures led to temporary pain and suffering for which I sincerely apologised to my fellow countrymen, but the measures were taken for the overall good of the country.”
The PUNCH reported that the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria led to a nationwide shortage of naira notes.
Many farmers, particularly those in remote villages, switched to trade by barter in order to feed, losing about N30bn in the process, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria stated.
The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions also revealed that banks lost N5bn nationwide, following attacks and destruction of facilities by irate customers.
In early March, a supreme court ruling stopped the CBN from proceeding with the policy which planned to mop up N3tn of old notes from circulation and introduce new ones in controlled amounts.
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