President Muhammadu Buhari, in defense of his approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN)’s redesign of some naira notes, said he was convinced that the economy stood to benefit from reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting, and excess cash in circulation.
The president, who voiced his support for the decision to launch new designs and replace high-value naira notes noted that Nigeria would gain a lot from the new initiative, especially its impact on illicit monies.
According to a statement by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, this was made known by President Buhari while speaking in a Hausa radio interview with famous journalists Halilu Getso and Kamaluddeen Shawai, which will be aired Wednesday morning on Tambari TV and Nilesat.
Shehu, in the statement, noted that the president said Nigeria has a lot to gain from the change in naira notes, adding that he did not consider the period of 3 months for the change to the new notes as being short.
What the statement is saying
Buhari said people with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with the decision but workers, and businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all.
Shehu in the statement titled, ‘CBN Has My Backing in Replacing Naira Notes,’ said, “Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that the economy stood to benefit from a reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation.
“He said he did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short.
”People with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with this but workers, businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all.”
What you should know
- Recall that on October 26, the CBN governor announced plans by the apex bank to redesign the N200, N500 and N1000 by December 15, 2022, to control the money supply and aid security agencies in tackling illicit financial flow.
- According to the CBN, the existing notes would cease to be regarded as legal tender by January 31, 2023.
- Emefiele said there was significant hoarding of naira notes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80% of the currency in circulation was outside the vaults of the commercial banks.
- However, less than 48 hours after, the minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the fiscal authorities were not consulted by the CBN.
- She said, “We are also looking at what the consequences will be. There will be some benefits but there are some challenges. I don’t know if the monetary authorities have looked very closely at what the consequences are and how they can be mitigated.’’
- In response to the minister’s claim, the CBN’s spokesman, Osita Nwanisobi, said the apex bank sought the approval of the president in line with provisions of Section 2(b), Section 18(a), and Section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act, 2007.
