Nigeria’s Central Bank Doubles Down on Plans to Introduce Naira Banknotes

• CBN urges Nigerians to support the currency redesign project 
• Nigerians are expected to return the old notes by the end of January 2023

Just a few days after being publicly questioned by Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmad, the Nigerian central bank was forced to defend its controversial currency redesign plans on Oct. 29.

Nigerians were urged to “support the currency redesign project, which is in the overall interest of every citizen of the country,” according to the central bank, which asserts that the change was long overdue.

Written Approval from President Muhammadu Buhari 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insists that its recently announced plan to issue new naira banknotes is legitimate and “12 years overdue.”

In an obvious reprimand of Nigerian Money Priest Zainab Ahmad, who has freely scrutinized the arrangement, the national bank said it had “got the endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari recorded as a hard copy to upgrade.”

A day after the CBN’s unexpected announcement, Ahmad reportedly addressed lawmakers and stated that she had not been consulted and could not comment “on it as regards merits or otherwise.”

The local currency’s parallel market exchange rate is thought to have been sparked by the CBN’s plan to introduce newly designed naira banknotes, as reported by Bitcoin.com News. There, it tapped a new all-time low versus the dollar of N781:$1.

The naira-to-dollar exchange rate could fall as low as 1000 naira per dollar by the end of January 2023, according to opponents of the CBN’s controversial plan. However, on October 29, 2022, the CBN asked Nigerians to support the currency redesign policy in a defiant statement.

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Currency Redesign a Global Standard

The CBN urges Nigerians to support the project to redesign the currency because it is in the best interest of all citizens of the country, the statement reads. 

Anyone who cares about the country should discourage the hoarding of significant sums of banknotes outside the vaults of commercial banks, the central bank stated.

The CBN added, “tarried for too long considering that it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign,” making the currency redesign a global standard. In addition, the bank’s earlier assertions that the redesigned naira must be circulated every five to eight years are reiterated in the statement.

On December 15, new 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 naira banknotes are scheduled to be released 

into circulation. By the end of January 2023, Nigerians are expected to return the previous notes.

According to the most recent local reports, President Buhari has expressed his support for the move, despite critics of the currency redesign plan requesting that the CBN either extend the deadline or abandon the plan entirely.

Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.

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