Photo credit: Jungle Journalist.
By Correspondent
President Muhammadu Buhari says he in support of the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the three largest denominations of the naira
The president cleared the air on Sunday in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, adding that the CBN’s decision had his support, having been convinced that the policy would benefit Nigeria a lot.
President Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that the economy stood to benefit from the reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation, according to Shehu.
The presidential aide said the president spoke in a Hausa radio interview with two journalists, Halilu Getso and Kamaluddeen Shawai, to be aired Wednesday Morning on Tambari TV.
The president, said, he did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short.
”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,” Shehu quoted president Buhari.
The Reporters recalls that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele,last week told Nigerians that the apex bank planned to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
According to him,the old and the new notes would both be valid until February when the old notes would cease to be legal tender.
He anchored the policy on the fact that about 80 per cent of Nigerian currency was outside bank vaults, with many hoarded by criminals, adding that justified the reason for the policy to take place
Reacting to the CBN’s decision on the policy, the finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, said her ministry was not consulted before the policy was announced, and described it as ill-timed.
“We were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by the CBN on the planned naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards merits or otherwise,”she maintained.
Ahmed argued that though well-conceived,the timing of it, going by realities on ground,was very wrong.
According to her, the naira might fall to as low as N1,000 to a US dollar before January 31, 2023 fixed for full implementation of the policy.
But in response to minister’, reservation on the policy, Emefiele said he got the permission of the president before announcing the policy,a claim the confirmed.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
