Following the Naira Scarcity in Nigeria, here is the Latest CBN News On New Naira Notes today 28 Feb 2023.
Currency in circulation drops to N1.38tn – CBN
The total amount of currency-in-circulation in the country dropped from N3.29tn as of the end of October 2022 to N1.38tn as of the end of January 2023 as a result of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Figures obtained from the CBN showed this represents a drop of N1.91tn in the three-month period.
The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, had in October 2022, announced plans to redesign the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
Emefiele also announced deadlines for Nigerians to swap their old with the new notes.
The banking sector regulator said, “Accordingly, all Deposit Money Banks currently holding the existing denominations of the currency may begin returning these notes back to the CBN effective immediately. The newly designed currency will be released to the banks in the order of first-come-first-serve basis.
“Customers of banks are enjoined to begin paying into their bank accounts the existing currency to enable them to withdraw the new banknotes once circulation begins.”
He decried the challenges associated with currency management including significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 per cent of currency-in-circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks.
IMF projects N4.26tn as currency outside banks
Amid the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund has projected that currency outside banking system would hit N4.26tn in 2023.
In its report titled ‘Nigeria: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Nigeria’, IMF that maintained there would be an increase in the volume of currency outside banks despite CBN’s aggressive effort to bring in more cash into the banking system and out of the hands of the public.
The report stated that the money outside of the banking system would be up from N2.94tn in 2021 to N7.66tn by 2027.
It was also projected that the money outside bank would be N3.54tn in 2022, N5.1tn in 2024, N6.08tn in 2025 and N6.99tn in 2027.
EFCC intercepts N32.4m ‘election money’ in Lagos
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Friday intercepted the sum of N32,400,000 in Lagos.
The money is suspected to have been earmarked for vote buying in Lagos, according to Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC Head of Media.
The spokesperson confirmed suspects involved have been taken into custody for further questioning.
EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa has implored all personnel deployed for election monitoring duties to show courage.
Bawa warned them not to give room for unscrupulous persons to undermine the integrity of the elections through financial inducement.
A tactical team of operatives are currently on ground in all the states of the federation and the FCT, the commission announced.
“Telephone hotlines have already been circulated through social media for members of the public to share information regarding financial malpractices,” Uwujaren added.
Naira swap crisis: Fed Govt not in breach of Supreme Court order, says Malami
The Federal Government said yesterday it was not in breach of the Supreme Court order restraining it from enforcing the February 10 time limit for the validity of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami gave the government’s position during a weekly ministerial briefing in Abuja.
Also yesterday, Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila and Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu restated their displeasure with the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) naira redesign policy and fuel scarcity in the country.
While Gbajabiamila described naira and fuel scarcities as a “rigging” plot against the All Progressives Congress(APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Tinubu, Akeredolu called on voters to brace the hardship caused them by the shortages and cast their votes for the former Lagos State governor tomorrow.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on February 16, 2023, directed the CBN to re-circulate the old N200 notes, thereby extending its validity till April 10.
This was in spite of the Supreme Court order that the three old denominations (N1,000, N500 and N200 ) should remain legal till it delivers judgment in the case filed by some states against the Federal Government. The verdict will be given on March 3.
The President’s broadcast and express exclusion of the N500 and N1,000 notes had since been flayed by the public and Senior Advocates of Nigeria(SANs).
Asked to comment on the alleged flouting of the Supreme Court order by the President, Malami said: “Your question can best be answered within the context of what constitutes a rule of law in the Nigerian situation.
“Where an order is made by a court, you have multiple options, but let me state before even addressing the issue of the options available at our disposal as a government.
“The fact is that we are not in breach of any order made by the court, inclusive of any order associated with the naira redesign. We are not in breach.
“I’m not a banker, but you have not gone to establish which bank is it that you have gone to present N1000 or N500 notes that have been rejected. So we are not in breach.
“But then, assuming we are in breach, the fact remains that this matter is sub-judice, as you rightly know. It’s being contested before the Supreme Court and when an order is made, you have multiple options within the context of the rule of law.
“One, you are entitled as a matter of right, if the facts and evidence support your position, to apply for setting it aside.
“The position of the law, legal jurisprudence is clear, once you are attacking and you seeking for a setting aside of an existing order of the court, cannot be said to be operating in breach when you presented your application for setting aside.
“If the court is not an apex court, you equally have a right of appeal and support the right of appeal with an application for a stay, of execution order. So the bottom line of what I’m trying to state is if the matter is sub-judice and within the context of the rule of law, we are doing the needful as a government, in terms of ensuring that the right of the government, within the context of the naira redesign, is protected.”
New naira: Supreme Court fixes March 3 for judgment
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned judgment in the new naira policy suit to March 3, 2023.
With the apex court’s decision, Nigerians, especially consumer and business groups as well as professional and trade unions looking up to the apex court for a favorable judgment (today) that they expect will ameliorate their suffering, will have to wait.
The Supreme Court had on February 8 restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline for swapping the old naira notes with new ones, but the Central Bank of Nigeria refused to shift the deadline.
The injunction was a sequel to a suit filed by Zamfara, Kogi, and Kaduna state governments against the Attorney-General of the Federation on February 3.
Other states including Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Kano, Sokoto, Ogun, and Cross River have also joined the suit as co-plaintiffs.
While taking arguments on Wednesday, counsel for the Federal Government, Kanu Agabi, said the Supreme Court held that all reliefs are rooted in section 20 of the CBN Act.
He argued that the apex court has no jurisdiction to hear the suit as the action cannot commence with an Originating Summons.
He also contended that the plaintiffs did not deem it fit the CBN to court as a respondent despite making reference to the apex bank 32 times in their originating summons and despite the fact that seven of the reliefs sought to relate to the CBN.
He asserted that Nigerians were already turning down the old notes way the President’s directive.
Agabi also asserted that by asking Nigerians to deposit their old naira at the CBN designated centres, the president was abiding by the court order and that Buhari is empowered under the constitution to veto any legislation.
Naira: We won’t be your scapegoat, Supreme Court tells FG, states
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, said it would not allow the Federal and states governments turn the Judiciary to a scapegoat in the legal dispute that is currently trailing the ban on use of the N200, N500 and N1,000 old banknotes as valid legal tenders.
Justice Inyang Okoro, who is heading a seven-man panel of the apex court, made the declaration while consolidating various suits that different states filed to halt the full implementation of the Naira swap policy that was recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The court had, shortly before it stood down its proceedings to allow all the states it joined as interested parties in the matter to regularise their processes, bemoaned the fact that the dispute had placed the judiciary in the eye of the storm.
The Attorney-General of Lagos State, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), had before the court went on 10 minutes break, drew attention to the fact that it had yet to receive any process from the Federal Government, in respect of the case.
Onigbanjo noted that with the development, the planned hearing of the consolidated suits of the states may be hampered.
However, Onigbanjo could conclude his submission, the apex court panel restated its resolve to ensure that the matter was expeditiously heard and determined.
“We want to make it very clear that we are going to hear this matter today because we don’t want a situation where the judiciary will be made a scapegoat.
“With the way this matter is going, they want to make the judiciary a scapegoat but we can’t allow that.
“We are going to hear everything and take our decision. If you have a contempt proceeding, we will also hear it today,” leader of the panel, Justice Okoro stated.
