Senate backs CBN on naira redesign

The Senate on Wednesday declared its support for the redesign of the Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The development followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and other Financial Institutions, Sani Uba, at the plenary in Abuja.

The upper legislative chamber’s position came a few weeks after the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, had last month announced the planned rollout of new N200, N500, and N1000 notes in December.

President Muhammadu Buhari had also confirmed that he approved the redesign of the Naira.

READ ALSO: EFCC chairman, Bawa, predicts crash in exchange rate to N200/$ after redesign of Naira

This followed a claim by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, that the ministry was not consulted by the CBN before making the plan public.

At the plenary, the lawmakers however disagreed with the CBN on the January 31, 2023 deadline for the phase-out of the old Naira notes in circulation.

The senate was of the opinion that the deadline was too short, and advised the upper legislative chamber to carry out aggressive enlightenment on the matter in a bid to prevent persons in rural areas from losing their money due to the change in currency.

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