CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

By Nnamdi Duru

Insurance professionals in the country have condemned  the introduction of N5,000 note as planned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the support of the Federal Government.

The professionals, acting under the aegis of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), said the planned introduction would send a wrong signal to the international community that the economy is riddled with problems.

The institute’s President, Mr. Wole Adetimehin who spoke on the position of his colleagues in a statement recently noted that the move to introduce the higher denomination of the national currency was not only unpopular but also unthinkable.

“The N5,000 note would send a wrong signal that all was not well with the nation’s economy. It will also amount to aiding inflation in a nation whose citizens are groaning under the burden of an inflationary trend calculated in geometrical proportions over the years,” he stated.

Adetimehin wondered why the apex bank would even toy with this idea at a time it should be pre-occupied with measures aimed at actualising the much-talked about cash-less policy.

“CBN’s cash-less policy is well conceived and commendable but it is now being contradicted by the proposed issuance of the N5,000 note”, the CIIN boss warned.

The CIIN president also noted that the public outcry against the move by the nation’s apex bank has continued to generate controversies with most critics calling on the Federal Government to call the leadership of the bank to order.

He also observed that if public opinion is anything to go by, the move should be stopped with immediate effect.