Governor Ifeanyi Okowa
Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta and vice-presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has pleaded with Nigerians to be calm despite a shortage of fresh naira notes in circulation.
The governor's appeal follows protests by some state residents at Orhuwhorun Village in the state's Udu Local Government Area where a bank's ATM gallery reportedly caught fire.
Charles Aniagwu, the state commissioner for information, released a statement in Asaba that included Okowa's appeal.
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He urged citizens to maintain their composure while also pleading with the Central Bank of Nigeria and other monetary authorities to take additional measures to increase the amount of money in circulation.
"We urge our brothers and sisters in the state to be calm despite the difficulties they are currently facing as a result of the lack of naira notes in the nation.
"As a government, we are aware of your plight, but we implore you to have patience with the monetary authorities while they make efforts to increase the nation's money supply.
We understand your suffering and worries very well, but burning down a bank that employs our people won't bode well for us as a country and won't help fix the problem either; it will only make it worse.
As we continue to work with the CBN to make sure that more money is released to the country's banks, we once again implore you all to put down your weapons.