With banks allegedly frustrating the new currency redesign project and jittery politicians targeting the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, the new economic strategy is on course, Louis Achi writes
The power of focussed presidential resolve was dramatically demonstrated last week when US President Joe Biden ordered his military to shoot down a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon loitering at 60, 000ft over continental US airspace.
Significantly, President Muhammadu Buhari demonstrated a similar resolve when he sternly backed Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele to maintain course in actualising the new currency policy despite extreme efforts by some shadowy and well-known politicians – and worse – even some banks to scuttle the well thought out economic plan.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, last week, captured the heart of seeming sabotage by banks of the new currency policy berthed by the Godwin Emefiele-led CBN. The nimble and savvy governor alleged a certain state governor collected N500 million new naira notes from an unnamed bank. This was disdain for law and ungoverned influence at its worst.
El-Rufai also fingered unnamed politicians who, though targets of the new policy, would not feel suffer because of their ability to circumvent most economic strategies. In a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service, El-Rufai said politicians who are targets of the naira redesign policy already have their way.
His words: “I tell you this change does not affect politicians, they have their money and they are prepared, they know how to access the new notes, it is poor don’t have ways, even yesterday we were told one of the governors was given N500 million of the new notes.”
Although supporting the currency redesign policy, he expressed reservations about the allotted time-frame of the new currency policy. Hear him: “It is not wrong to change currencies, every country does but you cannot change it at this season of elections and give this limited time, where in this world that ever happened? Politicians and big businessmen who are targeted by the policy have their ways of accessing the new notes, some of them own the banks, but what of poor, petty traders?”
In his stated position, El-Rufai finds a soul mate in Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) who also said the policy would not affect the rich.
But if El-Rufai and Kwankwaso were tame in their observations, the Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum who supports the CBN policy was more activist. Following the alleged hoarding of the naira notes by the banks, he directed banks in the state, last week, to dispense the new notes via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and banking halls or risk losing their lands to the state government.
“Any bank in Borno State unwilling to ensure their ATMs are fully dispensing new naira notes cash to ease the suffering of our people, we will withdraw their land title immediately. We will only spare Banks with verifiable constraints. As you can see here, only the less-privileged people are queued up. I didn’t see rich people here.” Zulum said.
Further according to Zulum, “We just released salaries of about N5 billion, and the banks don’t have money; some of the ATMs are not working. We don’t have any problem with the CBN policy or the withdrawal limit, they said individuals could only withdraw N20,000, but why can’t everyone have access to that N20,000?”
On the directive of the CBN Governor Emefiele, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have waded in to stop sabotage of the new currency by banks and other quirky players.
The ICPC last week arrested bank officials in Dei Dei, Abuja, for hoarding cash. One of the bank officials, the branch service head of the Deidei Branch of the bank, was taken into custody for her deliberate refusal to upload cash into the branch’s ATM even when the money was available and people were queuing at the ATMs.
In a related development, the ICPC Compliance Team in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, last week busted another bank where some ATMs were loaded with cash with their wrappers un-removed, thus preventing the money from being dispensed.
It could be recalled that on October 26, 2022, Emefiele, announced that new naira notes would be introduced to replace the current N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and that the redesign will take effect from Thursday, December 15, 2022. At the unveiling of the new naira notes at the State House on November 23, 2022, the CBN boss told newsmen that existing notes would cease to be legal tender by January 31, 2023.
Since this policy enunciation and rollout, all hell broke loose as politicians who nursed unconventional agenda to corner power in the looming elections were seriously threatened. Even some state institutions were curiously roped in to achieve the illegal objective of caging Emefiele.
But in all of the Machiavellian plots to remove Emefiele on specious, trumped up charges, one fact stood out starkly and ultimately saved the day: President Muhammadu Buhari who appointed the top banker was stoutly behind him. President Buhari has repeatedly assured Nigerian that he wants to leave an economy reasonably stabilised even against the enervating vagaries of the global village.
Coming ahead of a crucial general election, especially the presidential poll, the currency redesign policy is perceived to have spooked many politicians who see the new economic footing as potentially disruptive of their plots to game the election and achieve pre-planned agenda.
Moves by even state security institutions, the judiciary and even the federal legislature to hobble the policy, subtly garbed in the borrowed robes of public interests hardly diverted the focus of the CBN boss.
It could be recalled that Reps’ Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, a protégé of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, unendingly summoned Emefiele to the National Assembly to ‘explain’ the new currency policy. But the perceived subterfuge fooled pretty few Nigerians as they believed other motives were at play.
Incidentally, when Emefiele who was away on leave returned to the country, he went to the House of Representatives with his team and succinctly explained the new currency policy move. During the meeting with the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the CBN’s Cashless Policy and Extension of the Timeframe of the Currency Swap programme, held in Abuja, the CBN boss assured Nigerians that nobody would lose their legitimately earned money due to the naira redesign project and that the exercise was in the overall interest of Nigerians and the economy.
The CBN Governor who was accompanied to the meeting by all the four Deputy Governors of the CBN, also explained to the parliament that the value of old naira notes of N200, N500 and N1000 would still be redeemed even after they have ceased to be legal tender after the February 10 deadline, at the CBN. He explained the redemption was in tandem with the law, precisely section 20 (3) of CBN Act. The essence was to mop up the old notes in circulation, he stated.
While laying out steps taken by CBN to ensure effective distribution of the new banknotes, he revealed that about N1.9 trillion of the old banknotes had so far been collected since the commencement of the exercise.The currency redesign policy has so far recorded about a 75 per cent success rate given the fact that many of those in the rural and underserved locations across the 36 states of the country have had the opportunity of swapping their old banknotes for the new series of the banknotes, he further clarified.
Stating that one of the reasons for the naira redesign was to bring in the N2.7 trillion outside the banking system which is currently being held in people’s homes, he accused commercial banks of breaching the apex bank guidelines, with the way the new naira was being sprayed in parties.
He also explained the apex bank was working closely with relevant agencies of the federal government to ensure full compliance with the CBN guidelines issued to the banks for the seamless distribution of the new banknotes, he further apprised the lawmakers.
Emefiele appealed for Nigerians’ support, stressing that the naira redesign was for the country’s good. Hear him: “I addressed the bankers on Sunday and I expressed to them my disappointment and in fact, the disappointment of the president, the disappointment of leaders in the country with the way this has gone on because many of us have unfortunately seen the new naira instead of being used for the purpose it was meant, the new naira is being used in parties, in celebrations.
To check deviance by banks, he explained the CBN has secured the support of security agencies to track the policy compliance. In his words, “When I met President Buhari, I told him that we have met with the EFCC, the ICPC and NFIU and that we are now going to bring EFCC, ICPC, NFIU to join us in monitoring the flow of this currency to our people. We are beginning to see some of the benefits.
“Inflation last month is not rising, not stagnating but somehow moderating. We are expecting that it will continue to moderate. The exchange rate to be stable and we are hoping that with this exercise, the naira can even get stronger.”
