The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has described as misleading, the report that claimed to be quoting CBN govemor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, as attributing the current challenge in the distribution of the newly redesigned Naira banknotes to a shortage of printing materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc.
In a statement issued on Saturday, CBN spokesman, Osita Nwasinobi, said at no time did the CBN governor made such statement during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
Mr Nwasinobi said Emefiele only told the meeting that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the Naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians.
He said while the CBN appreciates the concerns shown by all stakeholders about the distribution of the new Naira notes, “we are alarmed at the extent to which vested interests are attempting to manipulate facts and pitch the public against the Bank.”
Nwasinobi said the CBN remains committed to performing its monetary policy functions, as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007 (as amended).
“We also wish to restate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the Naira.
“The bank, therefore, wishes to appeal to the public to disregard the said report and exercise more restraint, even as we work assiduously to increase the circulation of the new notes in the country,” he added.
On a particular voice note trending on the social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geopolitical region of the country, the CBN said there was no such plan and that the claims were illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system.
“The public is therefore advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the Bank,” he stated.
