The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi has said the current pain and inconvenience created by redesigning the Naira would bring significant long-term economic and social benefits.

Obi also urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and commercial banks to speed up efforts to make the new Naira notes available to small depositors and unbanked Nigerians.

He said this is to help reduce the pains of Nigerians, especially those living in rural communities.

The former Anambra State governor made the statement on Sunday in a post via his verified Twitter handle.

Recall that the country has been hit with the scarcity of new Naira notes, with many Nigerians being subjected to untold suffering.

Many have called for the extension of the deadline for the swap of the old Naira notes with the new notes by the apex bank, but the CBN insisted on the February 10 deadline it had set.

Obi called for an improvement to be made in the distribution of the new Naira notes, while urging that Nigerians bear with the Federal Government and the CBN.

He wrote, “The currency redesign is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is an exercise that comes with some inconvenience and pain, but it has significant long-term economic and social benefits.

“Even though there are improvements that can be made, I urge Nigerians to bear with the CBN and Federal Government with the hope that the general populace and Nigeria will harvest the gains that will come with the reforms.

“We equally implore the CBN and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors and the unbanked in order to reduce the pains of my fellow Nigerians, especially the underprivileged and those living far away from banks in the rural areas.”