The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele, planned to spend N61.5 billion on printing new notes for the implementation of its naira redesign policy.
A report by The PUNCH on Friday also shows that about N31.79 billion has been spent so far.
It was also disclosed that the former CBN governor contracted the redesign of the naira to De La Rue of the UK for £205, 000 under the vote head of the Currency Operations Department after the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM) said it could not deliver the contract in a short time.
It was also noted that N769 billion of the new notes were in circulation as of August 9, 2023.
The Ex-president did not approve the naira redesign policy
The report also showed that there was no approval from the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, for the redesign of the naira.
It was claimed that the former president’s nephew, who was also his personal secretary, Tunde Sabiu, was the first to tell Emefiele in September 2022 to consider the redesign of the naira.
It was also disclosed that the former CBN governor wrote to the former president that he wanted to redesign and reconfigure N1000, N500 and N200 notes on October 6, 2022.
A document quoted in the report read:
- “The former President tagged along but did not approve the redesign as required by law. Buhari merely approved that the currency be printed in Nigeria. The redesign was only mentioned to the board of the CBN on December 15, 2022, after Emefiele had awarded the contract to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc on October 31, 2022.”
More Insight
- During a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in October 2022, the former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said that the increase in inflationary pressure was being fuelled by the prevalence of N1,000 and N500 bills in circulation.
- Emefiele, who has since been removed from his position, stated in October 2022 that the banknotes of N200, N500, and N1,000 would be redesigned. He also announced the introduction of new notes, giving a deadline for old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
- The CBN’s naira redesign policy had a significant impact on the country’s currency supply, reducing it from N3.29 trillion at the end of October 2022 to N1.38 trillion by the end of January 2023. However, with the change in leadership at the apex bank, it appears that the central bank is allowing more cash to circulate.
- The central bank also removed the deadline for the legal tender status of old N200, N500, and N1000 notes from the initial December 31, 2023, to forever, which likely signals a complete end to the cash scarcity crisis faced early this year.
- Nairametrics earlier reported that the currency in circulation (CIC) has reached a new year high of N3.4 trillion as of December 11, 2023. With this new high of N3.4 trillion, currency in circulation has exceeded the level it was in October 2022 (N3.29 trillion) before the naira redesign policy of the CBN.