CBN to redesign the Naira every five years - Governor

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said the redesigned denominations of the Naira have features that make their counterfeiting near impossible. In order to forestall such occurrence, the CBN will redesign the currency every five to eight years. The current unveiling marks the the first time in 19 years since Nigeria last redesigned its currency notes.

He was speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at a ceremony in which President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes as proposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The unveiling ceremony and official launch of the new Naira notes by the President, November 24, held at the weekly meeting of Federal Executive Council, FEC. 

With the unveiling, the circulation of the henceforthnew notes has commenced, 22 days ahead of December 15, ealier scheduled for their circulation.

Speaking during  the ceremony, President Buhari underscored the importance of redesigning the Naira notes. According to him, the measure would help address the twin evils of illicit financial flows and corruption, and impact the nation's economy as well as ensuring enhanced value of the Naira.

He further noted that the currency redesign would boost the CBN's monetary initiative. He revealed that the first set of currency unveiled were printed locally by the Nigeria Printing and Minting Company, adding that the new notes have security features that make them difficult to counterfeit. He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to embrace the action.

At a briefing after the ceremony,  the CBN Governor dismissed insinuations that the unveiling of the new notes at this time was targeted at some Nigerians. He appealed to the public to disabuse their minds as nothing could be further from the truth. He cautioned against such unguarded speculations and misinformation. 

 Emefiele told journalists that the CBN would intensify its monitoring process and interrogate the process of cash withdrawals. He stated that there would be heavy restrictions on the volume of cash that Bank customers could withdraw over the counter. He said the CBN would work with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to interrogate the purpose for any huge transactions.