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Tag: New Naira

New naira crunch: Ex-finance Minister blames CBN
A former Minister of Finance, Dr Idika Kalu, has faulted the logistics of the Central Bank of Nigeria for the crisis that has characterized the distribution of new N1000, N500 and N200.
Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, he noted that the new naira scarcity was a result of a huge logistic mistake.
He said, “It is obvious that what we are dealing with is huge logistic mistakes that have been made.”
Kalu added that the CBN ought to have done its preliminary assessment of how long and what it would take to ensure the efficient distribution of the new notes.
“You have to assess the timing, which is predicated on how long it will take to do the exercise that you want to do. So, that is where it is really up to the central bank and its advisers to come up to the government to say, you have agreed we will do this. This is how much time we need, every aspect of it, procuring the papers for printing, whether it is imported or locally made, the printing process itself, the logistics of identifying the various constituencies, the banks, the communities, the rural areas and all segments of this country.
“The people are not interested in all these details but you have to take into account how you are going to deliver. Is it by air, road, train or a combination of all that?,” he added.
He explained that the reason the new notes were not in banks when people needed them was due to poor logistics.
“The logistics have to be very carefully put together. It is very apparent that we did not do that. I think the logistics are really the problem not the question of jurisdiction,” Kalu noted.
He further faulted the CBN’s reasons for redesigning the old notes, stating that countries don’t change their currencies because they want to improve the effectiveness of monetary policies.
He also noted that there were other policies that the CBN and the Federal Government could have introduced if they wanted to tackle corruption and the high amount of currency in circulation.
Kalu also said that the naira redesign plan of the CBN would likely lead to a contraction in the economy.
He further questioned the metrics of inflation used to measure the effectiveness of the naira redesign policy.
“If you curtail the money supply, it will bring down inflation. But they will have to check on what it does to production and employment. So, it is not a one-dimensional measure of success,” he said.
He further described the naira redesign policy of the CBN as draconian, noting that there was something wrong with what the CBN was trying to do.
February 18, 2023
New Naira: El-Rufai’s Challenge treasonable, says Datti Baba-Ahmed
The vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said comments made by the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on the naira redesign policy following the nationwide broadcast of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd., are treasonable.
El-Rufai in a state broadcast on Thursday faulted the President on his directive to re-introduce just the old N200 banknote as part of measures to curb the cash crunch in the country.
El-Rufai, who said the old N1,000 and N500 are still legal tenders in his state, stated that the aim of the naira redesign is to scuttle the general elections in order to allow an interim government led by a retired army general
However, speaking during a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the LP vice presidential candidate said the governor’s comment, amounts to treason and wondered why the presidency is silent.
He argued that there is only one authority in Nigeria which is the president and wondered how a governor could counter the directive of the president.
“Anybody who commits this kind of indiscipline under our leadership the full weight of the law should bear on him. We have been more than bewildered at the failures we have witnessed in the past few days. However, it is more of an act of treason, so to say it is an act of treason. If an elected governor of a constituent part of a sovereign country will give direct instructions to the contrary of what is the exclusive preserve of the federal government.
“Why as a Commender-in-chief you give a clean executive constitutional order and a state governor goes out to say that you should continue to exchange those currencies? This is to say that there are two authorities in a country,” Baba-Ahmed said.
February 17, 2023
New Naira: FG reveals identity of those against deadline extension
The Federal Government, on Tuesday, slammed opposition political parties that went to court to restrain the President Muhammadu Buhari from stopping, extending or interfering with the naira swap deadline date.
It also accused the parties of politicising the situation, stressing that they were not mindful of the plight of Nigerians due to the cash crunch.
The new naira initiative is a policy of the Federal Government.
On Monday, 14 political parties threatened to boycott the February 25 election should the Central Bank of Nigeria extend the February 10 deadline for the currency swap which it had earlier announced.
Also, a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory restrained the President, the CBN, its Governor Godwin Emefiele and 27 commercial banks from suspending, stopping, extending or interfering with the currency swap terminal date.
The order was handed down on Monday by Justice E. Enenche following an application by four political parties.
Reacting to this, while speaking at the 23rd edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), which featured the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the action by the political parties was unscrupulous.
He said, “Recall that after his (Buhari’) meeting with the Progressives Governors’ Forum on Friday, President Buhari urged the citizens to give him a seven-day window to resolve the currency crunch that has emanated from the implementation of the naira redesign policy.
“Unfortunately, on Monday, some opposition political parties ran to court to obtain an injunction restraining Mr President and the CBN from extending the February 10 deadline for Nigerians to exchange their old notes for new ones.”
Mohammed said the court action came after a number of opposition parties threatened to boycott the 2023 general election if the deadline was extended.
He added, “These curious actions by the parties concerned are a clear evidence that the opposition has turned this whole issue into a political game, preferring to make Nigerians suffer more on the altar of an unconscionable political gamesmanship.
“Or how else can one explain the fact that these unscrupulous opposition parties do not want any action
that could reduce the pains being experienced by Nigerians?
“How else can one explain the fact that they have decided to legally hamstring Mr President, in particular, from providing any relief for Nigerians suffering from the cash crunch?”
He argued that it was bad politics when one puts the interest of desperate political parties over and above that of Nigerians.
He, however, stated that despite the antics of the opposition, the government was willing and able to take decisive steps to bring succour to Nigerians in the shortest possible time.
Mohammed said the Federal Government was mindful of the inconveniences currently being endured by the citizens as a result of fuel supply disruptions and the recent redesigning of some naira notes.
“Government is working assiduously to restore normalcy to these critical enablers of economic activity and to take added measures, where necessary, to alleviate the pains of Nigerians,” the minister stated.
February 7, 2023
New Naira Notes: Kogi, Kaduna, Zamfara Govts Sue FG
Concerned with the effects the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their respective states, the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara have dragged the Federal government before the Supreme Court.
The governors are seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the policy which takes effect on February 10.
In a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), the three northern states are urging the apex court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.
The governors have been at loggerheads with the CBN over the short notice and the impact of the policy.
The governors met the President last week and he promised to look at the issues within seven days.
February 7, 2023
New Naira Swap Targeted At Corrupt Persons, Not Businesses – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that the government will ensure that citizens are unharmed in their businesses and no disruption is caused to the entire supply chain arising from the currency swap due to end shortly.
Buhari was reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours to deposit old notes and get new ones, a situation which has triggered public anger and criticism from the opposition.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President underscored that the currency swap targets people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man.
He maintained that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding, assuring the public that the change will help stabilise and strengthen the economy.
While taking note that the poorest section of society is facing hardship as they often keep hard cash at home for various expenses, the President further gave strong assurances that the government will not leave them to their own fate.
He reiterated that a number of initiatives by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all commercial banks are underway to speed up distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.
January 28, 2023