Emefiele insists additional new naira notes can’t be printed, and won’t release old notes mopped
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Godwin Emefiele has disclosed more new naira notes cannot be printed for now because the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (the Mint) lacks the capacity to do it, according to a source who attended the Council of State meeting.
Yet he is not willing to release even part of the N2 trillion old notes withdrawn from circulation, arguing it would defeat the new naira policy meant to force cashless transactions on Nigerians. The CBN released only N300 billion new notes.
Muhammadu Buhari chaired the meeting in Abuja last Friday which was attended virtually and physical by former Presidents and Heads of State, Governors, security chiefs, and other government officials, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.
The President conveyed the meeting to advise him on how to get Nigerians out of the new naira notes mayhem.
The Council told him to co-circulate both the old and new notes until sufficient new notes are available, said Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai who briefed journalists after the parley.
But a source at meeting has confided in Vanguard that Emefiele told the gathering the Mint lacks the capacity to print more new notes to replace the old N200, N500 and 1,000 notes.
“The Mint has run out of papers to print N500 and 1,000 notes. They have placed orders with a German firm and De La Rue of the UK (for papers) but they have been placed on a long waiting list, so their orders cannot be met now,” Emefiele said, per the source.
“The Mint had received CBN’s request to print 70 million copies of the new notes, totalling N126 billion to be pumped into circulation by today (yesterday), The Mint doesn’t have the capacity.”
The source stressed Buhari was non-committal at the meeting, and barely spoke before leaving for Jummah prayer.
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Before the Council of State meeting 10 February, All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors called the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) had on 3 February met with Buhari over the new naira policy.
El-Rufai told reporters after the meeting the CBN withdrew N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N300 billion new notes, which amounts to only 15 per cent, whereas a minimum N1 trillion should have been printed to head off shortage.
He said APC Governors asked Buhari to prevail on the CBN to allow old and new naira notes to co-exist to ease the hardship Nigerians are going through.
He insisted the new notes in circulation are insufficient and if the CBN truly wanted to implement the cashless policy, it should have printed at least half of the cash withdrawn, which should be N1 trillion.
El-Rufai reiterated many Nigerians are suffering with traders of perishable goods losing their wares daily from low patronage.
He cited the example of how tomato sellers from the North travel to Lagos only to waste their goods because consumers lack the cash to buy.
Buhari told the PGF and announced publicly after the meeting that Nigerians should give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch that has become a problem across the country from the policy of the CBN.
A statement he issued through his Media Aide Garba Shehu acknowledged television reports on the cash shortage and hardship to local businesses and ordinary people.
Buhari is yet to deliver on the promise 12 days after he made it.
