Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has revealed that since President Muhammadu Buhari announced his latest directive on the new Naira policy on Thursday, he (Emefiele) has met with the leadership of about 15 commercial banks.
The CBN Governor stated this when he visited the Presidential Villa hours after the nationwide televised broadcast by the President where he announced that only the old N200 note will remain a legal tender until April 10, 2023.
Buhari Approves Old N200 Banknote To Remain Legal Tender Till April 10
He said the meeting with the bank executives earlier on Thursday was to ensure ample supply of the old N200 notes to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.
He also appealed to Nigerians to allow the Naira redesign policy of government to work.
According to him, allowing the currency swap to work will go a long way to help the nation’s economy.
Also speaking, chairman of the House Special Ad-hoc Committee on Cashless Policy, Naira Redesign and Currency Swap and Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ado Doguwa, emphasised that going into election without “hard cash” will put members of the National Assembly at a disadvantage irrespective of the political party they belong.
He affirmed that each member of the House of Representatives is entitled to N70 million cash to pay polling agents and for other election running costs, saying if they have no hard cash, they will be disadvantaged in the exercise.
Doguwa explained that his committee was mandated by the House and by extension, the National Assembly, to interface with the president and the CBN on the implementation of the policy.
He said although most of what they wanted to discuss with the president had been taken care of by his broadcast earlier in the day, especially the extension of the validity of the old N200 notes, there was the need to do more to ensure that his directive to the apex bank to make the money available is carried out immediately.
Doguwa said “Now that the President has issued the directive, how do we ensure that the president’s directive is being carried out on the ground?
“This is what we came to iron out today. No matter how professional a policy is, it is counterproductive if it induces suffering on Nigerians.”
