Funmi Ogundare
A former President and Chairman of Council of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Prof. Segun Ajibola, yesterday, stressed the need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to drive financial inclusion especially in rural areas so that Nigerians would not be stampeded into exchanging their old naira notes for new ones.
Ajibola who was a guest on The Morning Show, Arise News Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspaper, spoke on the backdrop of the apex bank deadline of old naira use. He stated that regulators owe Nigerians a duty to ensure that the exercise is seamless within the time frame, adding that there is no reason why the old notes should be stockpiled in homes or offices.
According to him, “as a country, we still have a lot to do in terms of financial inclusion. Available statistics showed that barely 50 per cent of Nigerians from the age of 18 and above, are not financially included as at today which means half of the population that should be financially inclusive, are still excluded.
“That is one of the reasons why there is still so much pressure. If majority of Nigerians have embraced financial inclusion, as a way of life, we will not have the kind of pressure we have been having in terms being stampeded to change from the old to new naira notes. It doesn’t have any reason being stockpiled in homes or offices. So we need to re-evaluate.”
He however expressed concern that there is a limit to what the apex bank can do about the bank’s swapping the old naira notes to new ones within the spate of time until the recent extension, saying that with the efforts of the regulators, there is need to know where the disconnect is.
