FG NAIRA REDESIGN POLICY

The announcement by the now sacked Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in October 2022 that the highest domination of Nigeria’s currency, namely: N200, N500 and N1000 will be redesigned and phased out of circulation by 31st January, 2023, was received with mixed feelings. Nigerians were compelled to deposit the old notes with their commercial banks latest by the last day of January with the hope of collecting new naira notes.

While the policy on its merit was commended by Nigerians, its implementation was ill-timed was the general reaction from millions of Nigerians. Implementing such policy four weeks to the general election raises more questions which the authority, CBN and even the administration of the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari could not answer. On its trail was acute shortage in supply and circulation of the currency especially after the deadline which was earlier shifted to increase the percentage of compliance.

The policy triggered chaos and social unrest as it negatively impacted on the nation’s economy. Nigerians were subjected to unprecedented hardship as they lost access to their money saved in commercial banks. It was a season of harvest for most Point of Sale (PoS) merchants who charged as high as 50% on every withdrawal. Consequently, the policy which was said to have been targeted at solving the nation’s economic problems, ended up worsening the condition of the citizens. The rich and affluent ones were not spared as no one could access his or her money at will.

The nation’s currency suddenly disappeared from the banking halls. It was equally alleged that the banking managers in connivance with PoS operators, short-changed Nigerians in their selfish interest. Politicians also felt the impact of the policy implemented at a time they desperately needed raw cash to prosecute their ambitions. Some of them accused the CBN of attempting to undermine their chances of electoral victory with the policy. Little wonder some state governors initiated a lawsuit against Apex Bank, at the end of which bank ruled that the old and new currency notes should coexist as legal tenders till December 31st, 2023.

The court also chided President Muhammadu Buhari for disobeying its earlier order issued on February 8 on the issue, describing his action as a dictatorial tendency. In fairness to Emefiele, cash flow during the presidential and national assembly elections was minimal compared to what happened during the governorship and state assembly polls after the court had ordered that the old notes should be brought back into circulation.

Indeed money spoke across the country as Nigerians who had been starved of it, could not resist the moneybag politicians who stormed communities, wards and polling units with whooping sums of money to buy votes. The question one then asks is – of what gain is the policy? It was said to have been targeted at curbing corruption but corruption has continued unabated.

It was also aimed at lowering the inflation rate as well as checking insecurity such as kidnapping for ransom. Sadly, these problems persist to the vindication of the critics of the policy. One of them and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (ACC), Omoyele Sowore, stated in a tweet that the new naira policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was targeted at hurting the poor Nigerians. He described it as fraud, which in my opinion cannot be used to curb corruption.

Acute scarcity of money which resulted from the policy directly or indirectly claimed many lives in across many states including Ogun, Edo, Delta and Oyo where a 71-year old broadcast journalist in Oyo State popularly known as Baba Binti reportedly lost his life on March 12, 2023. Thousands of frustrated and disenchanted Nigerians took to the streets to protest the hardship orchestrated by the policy.

The policy is nothing sort of a façade. It aggravated the problems it was meant to address such as currency fraud and money laundering. Nigerians in privileged positions enjoyed monopolized access to money while ordinary citizens who needed the notes for survival could not access them. Long queues were seen in banking halls and ATM stands as citizens, some of whom had millions in deposit, struggled to get N5,000 cash.

The 218 billion naira spent on the naira redesign project should have been used to invest in federal universities and government schools. The impasse between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and other unions is yet to be over. Such amount would have helped a great deal in dealing with such nagging issue.

The scarcity of the new note has continuously brought chaos and disrupted business activities in local markets, restaurants and major sales outlets especially those in rural areas, where majority are not at home with modern ways of banking. At the moment, one cannot boast of the availability of the new currency notes, a situation which is believed to have informed the pronouncement by President Bola Tinubu, that the new and old notes will continue to coexist as legal tender.

What is manifestly lacking on the part of the federal government is the sincerity to use the naira redesign policy to fight corruption in the economic sector of the country. With a change of guard, fingers are crossed as Nigerians earnestly await the policy direction of the new administration. In all these, selflessness and patriotism on the part of government officials is sacrosanct to the desire and effort to revive the nation’s battered and comatose economy. No stone must therefore be left unturned.