The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has joined voices in urging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the February 10 deadline set for the implementation of the redesigned naira policy.
The IMF made the call on Wednesday when the Supreme Court of Nigeria issued an ex parte order restraining the CBN and commercial banks from enforcing the deadline until a pending suit on the matter, brought by Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara states, is heard.
“In light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline, should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline,” IMF Resident Representative to Nigeria, Ari Aisen, said in statement issued on his behalf by Laraba S. Bonnet, Office Manager for Resident Representation for Nigeria.
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The CBN introduced the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes late last year, fixing the January 31 deadline for the old naira notes to be phased out. The deadline was later extended as the scarcity of the new naira notes significantly undermines the implementation of the policy. But the deadline extension didn’t cut it. Hiccups continue to trail the naira swap exercise, with economic experts warning of its adverse implication on the economy, especially the informal sector.
Despite these warnings, the CBN, backed by the federal government of Nigeria, said it’s not backing down on enforcing the February 10 deadline, a move that has been criticized from political corridors as part of larger ploy to scuttle the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) chances of winning the February 25 election.
The naira redesign is believed to be President Muhammadu Buhari’s idea of curtailing moneybag politics ahead of Nigeria’s general elections, as it is also believed that politicians have stashed enough cash away, hoping to use it to influence the outcome of the election through vote-buying.
However, the poor circulation of the new naira notes has created a huge controversy around the implementation of the policy, giving rooms for lawsuits from political parties challenging it. Earlier, a coalition of political parties made up of Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and National Rescue Movement (NRM) had filed a suit challenging the policy, asking a federal high court to stop the CBN from implementing it.
The lawyer to the three states, Abubakar Mustapha, said they approached the Supreme Court because the policy is hurting the masses.
“The reason for it is that as well-intentioned as this policy of the Federal Government on this naira redesign, it is causing hardship all over the country. As we can all see, banks are being harassed, Nigerians are suffering, especially the downtrodden, even in the urban areas they are having difficulty, but it is more excruciating in the rural areas,” he said.
