Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has reacted to Zainab Ahmed’s criticism of the decision to redesign some Naira notes. Ahmed is the minister of finance, budget, and national planning.
Emefiele addressed the Minister’s criticism of the strategy in a statement he released and signed on Friday in Abuja.
He claimed in the statement that he need not consult Ahmed before redesigning the Naira notes.
He stated that the action was in accordance with Sections 19, Subsections A and B of the CBN Act 2007, citing pertinent sections of the statute creating the nation’s national bank.
He said that it was on the basis of this that the CBN’s management requested and received the president’s consent to redesign, print, and distribute a new series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.
The CBN does not need to contact anyone else, he continued, as long as the president has given his written consent.
According to The Eagle Online, Ahmed spoke on Friday in response to inquiries about the effects of the program from Senator Bamidele Opeyemi (APC-Ekiti) at her ministry’s budget defense session with the Senate Committee on Finance.
Since the CBN’s announcement of the policy, Opeyemi had criticized the parallel market’s irrational rise in the exchange rate of the dollar to the naira.
The CBN does not need to contact anyone else, he continued, as long as the president has given his written consent.
According to The Eagle Online, Ahmed spoke on Friday in response to inquiries about the effects of the program from Senator Bamidele Opeyemi (APC-Ekiti) at her ministry’s budget defense session with the Senate Committee on Finance.
Since the CBN’s announcement of the policy, Opeyemi had criticized the parallel market’s irrational rise in the exchange rate of the dollar to the naira.
Given the sharp rise in foreign exchange, he raised concern about the policy’s potential effects on the economy of the country.
In agreement with him, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC-Lagos), stated that the dollar has begun to rise since the policy’s release.
The Minister said that she was informed of the new policy in the same way as other Nigerians and added that, as a fiscal authority, her ministry was not involved in the creation or announcement of the policy.
We were not consulted, claimed Ahmed.
“We heard an announcement, that’s what.
“It was claimed that one of the reasons it was supported was because it was a method of capturing liquidity to control inflation.
“So I still advise that you have that discussion with the monetary authorities.”
Ahmed said it was her opinion, as a Nigerian, not as a fiscal authority, reiterating that as Ministry of Finance and fiscal authority, they were unaware of the policy.
Emefiele had on Wednesday told a news conference that the apex bank would redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes following the approval of President Buhari.
He said the action was taken to take control of the currency in circulation, pointing out that the bulk of the nation’s currency notes were outside the banking sector.
He said the circulation of the new notes will begin on December 15, 2022, while the old ones will no longer be tenable from January 31, 2023.
Adeola said one of the consequences of the policy was that the price of dollar to the naira was rising, adding that it might get to N1,000 before December, when the policy would take off.