Naira Redesign: CBN Didn’t Consult Finance Ministry, Says Minister *Warns new notes will have dire consequences on Naira’s value *CBN: We followed due process and the law Sunday Aborisade, James Emejo, Nume Ekeg
*CBN: We followed due process and the lawThe Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed yesterday declared that the Central Bank of Nigeria did not carry her Ministry along in its plan to redesign and roll out new N200, N500 and N1000 notes effective December 15, announced last Wednesday.
Bamidele had told the Finance Minister that barely two days after the announcement of the policy by the CBN, it had started having repercussions on the value of the Naira when compared to the US Dollar. She said, “Distinguished Senators, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by CBN on the planned Naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards merits or otherwise.
“The President is in support of how Emefiele is going about the Naira redesign. He is aware of the CBN governor not telling the ministers,” said the source. In a statement, spokesman of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, expressed surprise at the minister’s claim, stressing that the CBN remains a very thorough institution that follows due process in its policy actions.
On the timing of the redesign project, Nwanisobi explained that the CBN had even tarried for too long considering that it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign, whereas the standard practice globally was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years.
The Director of Monetary Policy, CBN, Hassan Mahmud and the Director, Currency Operations, CBN, Ahmad Bello Umar, both reiterated these yesterday when they appeared on the ‘Morning Show’ on Arise News.