The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew N2 trillion from circulation and replaced the old notes by minting only N400 billion, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, has said.
El-Rufai said this in a tweet on Sunday, which sparked a debate on the naira redesign policy of the apex bank.
“During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, currency confiscation was then unilaterally and unlawfully implemented by the CBN. Trade and exchange have collapsed. Human suffering, impoverishment, and economic contraction resulted.
“The policy objective was derailed into a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the elections to prevent vote-buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was lawfully approved failed,” he said.
The Kaduna governor noted that although President Muhammadu Buhari approved the naira redesign policy, he was deceived by the apex bank.
“Currency redesign was approved by the President and announced. Currency recoloring resulted.
“Currency swap was envisaged by s.20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act as approved by PMB. Swap means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes & I receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more, no less,” El-Rufai said.
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