Despite mounting pressure to resolve the Naira problem that has gripped Nigeria for the past two months, the Presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave in on Monday 13th March 2023.
The Supreme Court’s decision on March 3 mandated that the N200, N500, and N1000 old naira notes be accepted as legal tender, and the central bank issued instructions to commercial banks directing them to begin taking the notes as soon as possible. This happened around 24 hours before some state governors threatened to bring contempt charges against the CBN and the Attorney General of the Federation if they did not comply with their demands.
The Central Bank’s decision was detailed in a statement published on Monday night by Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, the bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, made the statement. The statement said the old naira bills will be taken as payment until the end of 2023.
A few hours earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari had made it clear that the CBN would be disobeying the Supreme Court’s ruling on the redesign of the naira, and now the CBN has made that choice. This was ten days after the ruling, and neither the CBN nor the federal government said anything before this time whereas, merchants and business banks stopped taking the older notes as payment due to the economic instability this caused.
Professor Charles Soludo, Governor of Anambra state, had previously made the announcement via his social media accounts that the CBN had ordered commercial banks to dispense and accept the old naira notes. Several governors, including Lagos, have also taken steps to guarantee the legal tender status of older Naira notes in their states.
The Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, stated that the event would repair Nigeria’s shattered economy in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to direct commercial banks to dispense and accept the old naira notes. Yusuf stated that to achieve massive compliance with the regulation, the central bank of Nigeria was obligated to make the new development widely known to all Nigerians, including those living in rural areas.
Well, we’re grateful that, after a lot of pain on the part of Nigerians, they gave in to the pressure, but I think we should just put that in the past and move on. Now, it’s crucial that the central bank make a clear public declaration about the legal tender status of naira notes. It’s crucial that this occurs right now.
This is also a request to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the printing of new currencies so that the old notes can be phased out progressively. – The old notes should be phased out gradually, so this is also a call for more of the new currencies to be produced.
It’s important for individuals in Nigeria to be very careful because both old and new notes are in circulation. The quantity of money in circulation must be increased so that enough new naira notes can be produced and distributed. If the new notes are not available while the old ones are being phased out, the issue may continue for some time.
Till we meet again to consider another interesting topic have a great weekend.
Wale
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