Naira Redesign: Buhari Unveils New Notes
- CBN says no to deadline extension
- Says exercise will now hold every 5 – 8 years
BY EDMOND ODOK – President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday unveiled the new redesigned Naira notes of N200, N500, and N1,000 with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) assuring that henceforth, the exercise will take place after every five to eight years
The ceremony took place at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja shortly before the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the President.
Addressing State House correspondents after the brief ceremony, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said the Naira is supposed to be redesigned and re-issued between five and eight years in line with best global practice.
Emefiele said regrettably the Naira has not been redesigned for almost 19 years going due to a lack of political will by the past leaders.
He praised the President for being firm in approving the decision saying; “In the past, I have to confess that attempts by the CBN to redesign and re-issue the Naira notes have been resisted. It is only President Muhammadu Buhari that has the courage to do so.”
According to him, it was the CBN’s mandate to redesign and reissue the notes, assuring that going forward, the exercise would be conducted after every five to eight years.
Assuring that “After today, the CBN will begin to redesign and reissue the naira for every five to eight years”, Emefiele said with Nigeria having gone cashless, security agencies would closely monitor people making withdrawals at the counter to know how much is being withdrawn and also how the money is being used.
Further clarifying reasons behind the redesign, Emefiele debunked insinuations that the policy was targeted at some persons, adding that the CBN was determined to ensure that provisions of the law on the volume of money one should carry are strictly observed.
For him; “The world has moved to a cashless economy and the CBN has moved to a cashless economy. We will restrain the volume of cash someone will withdraw over the counter. We will follow up with the person’s data to know the reason for such withdrawal”.
The CBN Governor also addressed the issue of time extension for exchanging the old notes, saying; “We will not go with people that want an extension of time. From today, this currency that was re-issued will become a legal tender.”
Noting that there are banks agents across all the 774 Local government areas in the country, Emefiele said over one million points exist nationwide where people can go and deposit the old notes or exchange them for the newly redesigned ones.
He further explained that as of October 2022, the agency banking networks in Nigeria had hit the 1.4 million mark across all the local governments in Nigeria.
On the possibility of having fake notes within the financial system, the CB Chief firmly assured that the new notes cannot be counterfeited easily given their complicated features.
The Apex bank had on October 26 announced that it would issue the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, effective December 15, 2022, while the new and existing currencies will remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023.
