CBN Has My Backing In Replacing Naira Notes, Says President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said that the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to launch new designs and replace high value Naira notes had his support and is convinced that the nation will gain a lot by doing so.

Speaking in a Hausa radio interview, President Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that the economy stood to benefit from 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, adding that 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.”

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, through its Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and spokesperson, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, announced in a press conference that President Buhari has approved the redesigning of the Nigerian Naira currency.

Some of the notes to be redesigned include N200, N500 and N1,000 notes. The benefits of redesigning the notes include helping to curb the incidents of terrorism and kidnapping according to CBN spokesperson Nwanisobi. Furthermore, he also stated, “due to access of persons to the large volume of money outside the banking system used as a source of funds for ransom payments.”

The CBN spokesman expressed optimism that the effort will, among other goals, deepen Nigeria’s push to entrench a cashless economy in the face of increased minting of the eNaira. He additionally expressed that that the currency redesign exercise was purely a central banking exercise and not targeted at any group.

Meanwhile, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, claims the CBN did not follow due process as far as redesigning three naira notes is concerned. “We were not consulted,” she said. “It was an announcement that we heard.

Part of the reasons that was advocated is that it is one of the ways to mop up the liquidity to manage inflation but, there are also consequences – we are looking at what the consequences will be, and there will be some benefits but there will be some challenges.”

A source reveals that there are some sentiments from average citizens commenting on this news on different social media platforms suggest that some believe the decision to call in N200, N500, N1,000 naira notes and abandon the current design notes as of January 15, 2023, is a ploy to destabilize financial support for certain presidential candidates for the 2023 presidential election.