[Updated] Buhari Defends the CBN’s New Naira Notes Policy, Says It Will Strengthen Economy; Deadline Extended

President Muhammadu Buhari has weighed in on the issue of the redesigned naira notes, currently stoking chaos across the country as its scarcity scuttles economic activities.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), last year, introduced the policy, setting January 31 deadline for its full implementation. The general public is expected to return old naira notes in their possession to banks before the deadline.

However, the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes are not adequately available to replace the old notes, riling up calls for the deadline to be extended. But the CBN said the deadline stays, triggering criticism from all quarters, with allegation that the move was initiated to make life more miserable for Nigerians.

Deadline for the return of old series of 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes remains January 31 2023. pic.twitter.com/ngHiXeHfNk

— Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) January 28, 2023

President Buhari, who had earlier defended the policy, saying that the central bank has his backing, said on Saturday that the move is targeted at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man.

In a statement released by Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesman, on Saturday, Buhari said the policy will stabilize and strengthen the economy. The statement is in response to reports of long queues of people waiting for long hours to withdraw the new naira notes from the banks’ ATMs.

The scarcity of the new naira notes has amplified calls for the deadline to be extended. But Buhari, in the statement, indicated that the benefits of the redesigned naira notes, outweighs the current hardship it’s causing. He said the policy has become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption and terrorism financing.

The president promised not to abandon Nigerians affected by the implementation of the new policy. He said that 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.

He pointed out that a number of initiatives by the 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.

The CBN has deployed agents to rural places across the country, receiving deposits of the old naira notes and issuing the new notes to people. Commercial banks have announced that they will run weekend operation to ensure that customers meet the deadline.

However, these measures have significantly failed to address the issue of ‘sufficient circulation’ of the new naira note, which is what is required to end the chaos. Buhari did not say if there a plan to increase the supply of the new naira notes across the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari said Saturday that he is aware poor Nigerians are ‘facing hardship’ due to the currency change policy of the government. Statement below…

President Muhammadu Buhari Saturday assured that 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.

Reacting to reports of long queues of people waiting for hours for their turn to deposit old notes and get new ones, triggering public anger and opposition’s criticism, President Buhari reiterated that the currency changes were aimed at people hoarding illicit funds and not the common man, and that it had become necessary to prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding. This, he assured, will stabilize 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, President Buhari 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 and all commercial banks are underway to speed up the distribution of the new notes and do all that is necessary to forestall cash squeeze and chaos.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Editor’s Note on Deadline Extension: The government has approved a new deadline: February 10th, 2023. A seven-day grace period, beginning on February 10 to February 17, 2023, has also been approved to enable Nigerians to deposit their old notes at the CBN after the February deadline when the old currency would have lost its Legal Tender status. Buhari gave the approval after a meeting with  Godwin Emefiele. According to Mr. Emefiele, 75 percent of the N2.7 trillion held outside the banking system has been recovered. This is all fine provided it happens before the elections.