The Senate yesterday, via a consensus, has agreed to provide legislative support for the policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the naira.
Recall that in October, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced the plan to redesign the 200, 500 and 1,000 notes which will go into circulation in December.
The resolution of the Red Chamber was affirmed following a motion on the policy by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani. They also resolved to provide legislative support for the policy.
However, despite supporting the move to redesign the Naira, the lawmakers kicked that the deadline of January 31st, 2023 to pay all cash in circulation into banks was too short.
Some of the senators who spoke on the matter during yesterday’s plenary said the timeframe given by the apex bank is too short for many of them – and Nigerians – to comply. This ‘disagreement’ threw the chamber into a rowdy session for some minutes.
To ensure that all Nigerians are informed of the new policy, they demanded for an extension of the deadline while others disagreed. They also called for an aggressive education on the CBN’s part, particularly in rural areas.
