Naira Scarcity: Council of State Orders CBN to Recirculate Old Notes

As the naira scarcity in Nigeria hit a tipping point, members of the council of state have asked the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to make more new naira notes available or recirculate old naira notes to alleviate the current hardship of Nigerians.

Expressing support for the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the council of state noted that printing new notes and recircling old notes will ease the tension in the country.

This development comes after a meeting held on Friday (today) at the Council of Chamber of the State House, Abuja. The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari and had in attendance former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan; Yakubu Gowon, and Abdulsalami Abubakar as well as ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Others include Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila were also present at the meeting.

Who are members of the council of state?

The incumbent President, Vice President, former Presidents and Heads of the government of the Federation, Former Chief Justices of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and all the Governors of the federation constitute members of the council of state.

The CBN’s naira redesign policy

Recall that on October 26, 2022, the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, announced that new Naira notes would be introduced to replace the current 200, 500, and 1,000 Naira notes. 

Emefiele noted that the naira redesign which will take effect from Thursday, December 15, 2022, will address issues bordering on currency fraud, insecurity, inflation and the amount of money in circulation.  He named January 31 as the deadline and later extended it to February 10  because of the scarcity of the new naira notes.

The Supreme Court had earlier ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to suspend the February 10 deadline previously declared for the swap of old naira notes for the new notes based on an exparte application submitted by the governors of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi states.

NEXT:Supreme Court Adjourns Suit Seeking To Halt Ban on Old Naira Notes