The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday said it will
redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this during a
special press briefing in Abuja. The new
design and issues will be effective from December 15, 2022.
The action was taken in order to take control of the
currency in circulation, according to the CBN boss.
The apex bank, Emefiele stated, has secured the approval of
President Muhammadu Buhari to roll out new notes to replace the existing
currency in circulation.
“In line with the provisions of Sections 2(b), Section 18(a)
and Section 19, Seb section(a) and (b) (2007), the management of the CBN has
sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to redesign,
produce, release and circulate new series of banknotes at N200, N500 and N1,00
levels,” he said.
“In line with this approval, we have finalised arrangements
for the new currency to begin circulation from December 15, 2022 after its
launch by President Buhari.
“The new and existing currencies shall remain legal tender
and circulate together until January 31, 2023 when the existing currencies
shall cease to be a legal tender.”
Once the new notes are designed Nigerians are expected to
take old notes to banks for the new notes.
The CBN Governor is also concerned about how Nigerian
currency is being stored currently.
According to him, the bulk of the nation’s currency notes
was outside bank vaults and the CBN would not allow the situation to continue.
Emefiele added, “To be more specific, as of the end of
September 2022, available data at the CBN indicates that N2.7 trillion out of
the N3.3 trillion currency in circulation was outside the vault of commercial
banks across the country and supposedly held by members of the public.
“Evidently, currency in circulation has more than doubled
since 2015, rising from N1.46 trillion in December 2015 to N3.2 trillion as of
September 2022. I must say that this is a worrisome trend that must not be
continued to be allowed.”
According to him, the initiative by the CBN will help
address some of the nation’s security threats, especially kidnapping and
terrorism.
He believes that terrorists and kidnappers capitalise on the
large excess of money to carry out their nefarious activities.
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