President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said that the Central Bank of Nigeria has his support on the decision to embark on the redesigning of Naira notes, amid controversies over the position of the Finance Minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.
Ahmed, at the weekend, declared that the CBN did not carry her Ministry along in the new Naira note plan, warning that the new notes could have dire consequences on the value of the Naira.
But Buhari in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said he is convinced the nation will gain a lot by doing so.
Speaking in a Hausa radio interview with Halilu Ahmed Getso and Kamaluddeen Sani Shawai, Buhari said reasons given by the CBN convinced him that the economy stands 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.
According to him, “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.”
The CBN, reacting to the position of the Finance Minister at the weekend, said it was surprised by the minister’s outburst and that due process was followed in arriving at the Naira redesign project, including obtaining the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Also, the apex bank doused concerns about the cost of printing the new notes, saying they will come at no outrageous cost, printed in the country and within the budget of the apex bank.
According to a statement from the CBN’s spokesman, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, the apex bank stressed that the CBN remains a very thorough institution that follows due process in its policy actions.
According to Nwanisobi, the management of the CBN, in line with provisions of Section 2(b), Section 18(a), and Section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act 2007, 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.
However, urging Nigerians to support the currency redesign project, he said it is in the overall interest of Nigerians, and that some persons were hoarding significant sums of banknotes outside the vaults of commercial banks. This trend, he said, should not be encouraged by anyone who means well for the country.
