The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has insisted that it followed the law and due process for naira redesign.
The apex bank said this in a statement released via its official Facebook page on Saturday.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed had said that the ministry was not consulted before the CBN announced the redesign of the naira notes.
However, the apex bank said in its statement that its move followed the law and due process and was 12 years overdue.
“Management of the CBN, in line with provisions of section 2(b), section 18(a), and section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act 2007, had duly sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari in writing to redesign, produce, release and circulate new series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.
“The CBN urges Nigerians to support the currency redesign project, which is in the overall interest of every citizen of the country. The hoarding of significant sums of banknotes outside commercial banks’ vaults should not be encouraged by anyone who means well for the country.
“CBN had tarried for too long, considering it had to wait 20 years to carry out a redesign. In contrast, the standard practice globally was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new local legal tender every five to eight years,” the statement read in part.