The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on New Naira Re‑Design and Naira Swap Policy warned that the current crisis over the naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria could jeopardise the upcoming 2023 general elections. In a statement issued on Friday, the committee’s chairman and House Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado‑Doguwa, said President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) had “left much to be desired” in his handling of the situation.
The committee began investigating the controversy surrounding the redesign of the ₦1,000, ₦500 and ₦200 notes, particularly the shortage of new notes after the Central Bank declared the old ones invalid. Instead of reporting its findings to the House, the panel met with President Buhari on Thursday, shortly after his televised address announcing that the old ₦1,000 and ₦500 notes would cease to be legal tender and extending the validity of the ₦200 note to 10 April 2023.
While Ado‑Doguwa affirmed that the President’s declaration should be enforced, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila later issued a statement addressing both Buhari and Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. In a seeming reversal, Ado‑Doguwa’s Friday statement—titled “House C’ttee Meets Buhari, Insists Naira Policy Unpopular, Could Jeopardise Polls”—called for urgent measures to alleviate Nigerians’ suffering caused by the naira crisis. He wrote:
“The steps taken so far by Mr President leave much to be desired. The policy is, at this time, very unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardise the upcoming general elections. Mr President may, of course, have good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption and engender global best practice in fiscal policy management but, unfortunately, due to wrong timing and the work of some criminal elements in both the CBN and the commercial banks, Nigerians are left suffering.”
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