CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele
Emefiele regrets ‘temporary pains’ over Naira scarcity, begs Nigerians to allow policy work
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has appealed to Nigerians to allow the Naira redesign policy of the Federal Government to work, amid protests over the prevalent scarcity of the currency notes which followed the declaration of the old money as non-legal tender by the regulatory bank, last Friday.
Fielding questions by State House Correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday morning, in Abuja, Mr Emefiele disclosed that the pains currently associated with the policy are temporary, explaining that the policy will further enhance government’s fight against corruption and boost the economy.
The CBN Governor who was also at the State House, Abuja, for another meeting with the House Adhoc Committee on Redesign Naira currency, said he had since directed the leadership of commercial banks in the country to adhere to the President’s directive to make available the old N200 notes for circulation, to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.
“The truth is that we are all servants. We are serving Nigerians. As far as we are concerned the Attorney General has spoken on this matter and the President has sealed the whole issue this morning in his broadcast. I think I can only just appeal to Nigerians, let’s allow this policy to work.
“This policy is one policy that goes to reduce the problem of corruption and illicit financial flaws; this policy goes to resolve some of the problems in the economy; this policy also goes to reducing the level of insecurity in the country.
“So these three issues which are the tripod of this administration’s policy are all embedded in this policy. We should just allow it to work. We keep saying this, there are some temporary pains, but I can assure Nigerians that the long-run benefit to Nigeria is overwhelming and we should just give it a chance to work.”
On what Nigerians should expect from the CBN following the directive of the President, Emefiele said, “President has given his directives, I have met with about fifteen banks this morning and we have given them a directive on how to get all the old N200 available effective today.
He assured Nigerians that the move would reduce the pain, emphasising that they meet with the bankers at least once daily to get feedbacks.
He urged Nigerians to allow the policy to work, saying the temporary pains are regrettable as he gave assurance of good result.
