Financial experts have praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for extending the deadline for swapping old naira notes for new ones until February 10. This decision, announced on Sunday, came in response to widespread calls from various stakeholders, including the 36 state governors, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Arewa Consultative Forum, and bank customers, who sought a review of the policy and an extension of the original January 31 deadline. Uche Uwaleke, the President of the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria and the country’s first professor of Capital Market, expressed his views in a telephone interview, stating that the CBN’s extension demonstrates its responsiveness to the needs of Nigerians.
Uwaleke noted that the revision of cash withdrawal limits indicates the CBN’s commitment to addressing issues that affect the populace. He emphasized that the extension would alleviate long queues at ATMs, reduce panic and uncertainty among small business owners in remote areas, and provide more time for the new naira notes to circulate while the old notes are returned to the CBN. He highlighted that approximately N900 billion remains outside the banking system, as revealed by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. Furthermore, Uwaleke pointed out that the new deadline is strategically set before the February 25 presidential election to mitigate vote-buying and discourage the rejection of old notes, which remain legal tender. He commended both the CBN and President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the extension.
In a separate reaction, Dr. Nnaemeka Obiaraeri, an investment banker and CEO of Taurus Capital Limited, described the monetary conversion policy as commendable. He argued that it has contributed to reducing the ransom demands made by kidnappers and has hindered politicians from hoarding cash to purchase votes in the upcoming election. Obiaraeri noted that those hoarding money now face the choice of depositing their old notes or risking loss due to the policy. He referenced data from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the CBN, which indicate that over 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, with more than 178 million earning less than N60,000 per month and struggling to afford daily meals amid rising inflation.
To further safeguard the policy’s integrity, Obiaraeri urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Department of State Services, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission to closely monitor bank officials, including branch managers and CEOs, to prevent any actions that could undermine the policy. He also recommended that the CBN engage KPMG Advisory Services, PwC, and Deloitte to conduct a rapid audit within the next week to assess how commercial banks are handling the old notes deposited and the new ones distributed by the apex bank. Emefiele, while discussing the extension, reported that the CBN has received N1.7 trillion worth of old naira notes so far, with an additional N500 billion yet to be collected. However, he did not disclose how much cash would remain outside the banking system following the naira redesign.
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