President Muhammadu Buhari has shunned the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, for criticising the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) over the move to redesign some naira notes, as he backed Governor Godwin Emefiele of the apex bank.
Ahmed, on Friday, October 28, 2022, had disowned the move by the Apex bank to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes of the Nigerian currency, saying she was not informed.
The minister, who commented on the policy in response to a question raised by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, during the 2023 budget defence session, therefore, warned CBN of consequences that may arise from it.
Her words: “To me, the policy may be a well-conceived one, but the timing going by realities on the ground, is very wrong as the Naira may fall to as low as N1,000 to a US dollar before January 31, 2023, fixed for full implementation of the policy.
“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.
“However as a Nigerian privileged to be at the top of Nigeria’s fiscal management, the policy as rolled out at this time portends serious consequences on the value of Naira to other foreign currencies.
“I will however appeal to this committee to invite the CBN governor for required explanations as regards merits of the planned policy and rightness or otherwise of its implementation now.”
Shunning Ahmed, Buhari said Nigeria has a lot to gain from the change in naira notes. He added that he did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short.
”People with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with this but workers, businesses with legitimate incomes will face no difficulties at all,” the President added.
More to follow…
