The Management of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, over the weekend, insisted that it followed the law on the bank’s Naira redesign policy.
The apex bank, in a statement on its Facebook page, noted that in line with the law, Naira redesigning was 12 years overdue.
It noted that its management had duly sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari in writing to redesign, produce, release and circulate new series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes, “in line with provisions of section 2(b), section 18(a), and section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act 2007.”
The financial regulator’s response follows media reports that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning , Zainab Ahmed, has dissociated herself from the Naira redesign policy due for implementation on December 15, 2022, warning of of economic consequences should the CBN go ahead to implement the policy.
But the CBN, in the statement urged, Nigerians to support the currency redesign project, which is in the overall interest of every citizen of the country.
“The hoarding of significant sums of banknotes outside commercial banks’ vaults should not be encouraged by anyone who means well for the country.
“CBN had tarried for too long, considering it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign. In contrast, the standard practice globally was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years,” the apex bank said.
