Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari today unveiled the re-designed naira notes as proposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This comes weeks ahead of December 15th, earlier scheduled for the unveiling by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to control money supply and rein-in inflation.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had disclosed yesterday after the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) meeting that the President will unveil the newly-designed N1,000, N500 and N200 notes, which will also go into circulation immediately.
He also reiterated that the apex bank will not extend the January 31, 2023, deadline for all old notes to be deposited into commercial banks; a development that has caused banks to work even on Saturdays and caused some like Fidelity Bank to work extra hours till 6pm.
The unveiling today, marks the first time in almost two decades that Nigeria will be redesigning its currency notes.
Unveiling the new notes, which was held before the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, President Buhari underscored the importance of re-designing the new naira notes.
He said the move will aid Nigeria to address the issue of Illicit financial flows, corruption, improve the nation’s economy, and enhance the value of the naira.
Buhari also noted that this first set of currency, which was printed locally by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), will fundamentally prevent counterfeiting of the naira, and appealed to Nigerians to embrace the re-designed notes.
There is no need to think that the programme is targeted at anyone … This move is to enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to have control over the size of money in circulation.
At a briefing after the ceremony, Emefiele debunked insinuations suggesting that the early unveiling is targeted at some Nigerians, saying: “There is no need to think that the programme is targeted at anyone. During my speech at the unveiling, I said that plans for this started early in the year. We considered the pros and cons carefully.
“This move is to enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to have control over the size of money in circulation.”
According to him, the new notes will boost the steady transition into a cashless economy, as the amount of money that can be withdrawn across the counter will be reduced drastically.
Emefile reiterated that bulk withdrawal would require several procedures and security checks to track its use, as the bank will work with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives to monitor the purpose of any heavy transactions.
He noted that in the past, attempts to redesign and reissue the currency were resisted, adding: “Only a President of Muhammadu Buhari’s character could have made it happen.”
He equally assured that the redesigned currency note can never be counterfeited, as the apex bank will redesign the notes after every five to eight years to forestall such occurrences.
