Naira redesign: EFCC moves to clamp down on currency hoarders

Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it will clamp down on currency hoarders who have been affected by the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive.

Abdulrasheed Bawa, EFCC’s chairman, said this while applauding the CBN’s move to redesign and reissue higher denominations of the naira.

On Wednesday, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, explained that the decision was reached due to persisting concerns with the management of the current series of banknotes in circulation — particularly those outside the banking system.

He said currency management has recently faced several daunting challenges that have continued to grow in scale and sophistication with attendant and unintended consequences for the integrity of the CBN and the country.

Emefiele said one of these challenges includes significant hoarding of banknotes, with statistics showing that over 80 percent of currency in circulation is outside the vaults of commercial banks.

He said as of the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicate that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country — and supposedly held by the public.

The new design will be effective from mid-December 2022.

In a statement on Thursday, Bawa described the development as “a well-considered and timely response” to the challenges of currency management.

He said the challenges have negatively impacted the country’s monetary policy and security imperatives.

“The EFCC, the CBN and some other regulators in the financial sector have worked closely in the recent past to determine how best to stabilise the country’s monetary policy environment,” he said.

“It is heart-warming that the CBN has demonstrated courage in taking this bold decision which I believe will bring sanity to the currency management situation in Nigeria.”