Naira Redesign: Politicians won’t be allowed to intimidate voters – Buhari

• Buhari said politicians won’t be allowed to intimate voters with money during the election
• The naira redesign is meant to curb the naira devaluation and help the country’s integrity

President Muhammadu Buhari asserts on naira redesign that the planned redesign of the N1,000, N500, and N200 banknotes cannot be undone and that politicians will not be permitted to assemble thugs and resources to intimidate voters in the general elections of 2023.

After meeting His Royal Majesty King Charles III in Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, the President announced this during an interview in the UK.

Buhari added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given enough time for Nigerians to exchange their current naira bills for the newly redesigned ones that will be issued by December 15, 2022, by depositing their old bills at banks.

“On this change of currency, there will be a lot of money but time has been given from October to December, three months is enough for whatever money you have, to get it changed through the legal system.

“So, I don’t know why people are complaining about it,” the President said. Additionally, he stated that the strategy announced by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on October 26, 2022, is now permanent.

“No going back,” Buhari said of the decision to redesign the three naira notes.

“I aim to make sure that Nigerians believe we respect them as an administration.

“So, Nigerians should vote for whoever they like from whichever political party. Nobody can mobilize resources and thugs to intimidate people in any constituency. That is what I want to go down in Nigerian history for as a leader.”

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Meanwhile, the redesign of the N1,000, N500, and N200 notes was announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria on October 26. When the new naira notes were first announced, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele advised bank customers to start paying off their old notes so they could withdraw the new notes once they went into circulation on December 15, 2022.

Emefiele stated that the CBN and the country’s integrity were at risk as a result of some intimidating challenges in managing the current supply of banknotes in circulation, particularly those outside the banking system.

He lamented the “significant hoarding” of the banknotes, which meant that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion in currency in circulation as of September 2022 was outside the vaults of commercial banks throughout the nation.

Emefiele also mentioned the growing difficulty and risk of counterfeiting, which was supported by several security reports, and the country’s compliance with the international standard that calls for the circulation of new legal tender every five to eight years.

He added that the redesign of the naira would strengthen efforts to promote a cashless economy, reduce instances of terrorism and kidnapping because they would have less access to large sums of money used for ransom, and help control the currency outside the banking system.

He noted, “On the basis of these trends, problems, and facts set out above, and in line with provisions of Sections 2(b), Section 18(a), and Section 19, subsections a and b of the CBN Act 2007, the Management of the CBN has sought and obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to redesign, produce, release and circulate new series of banknotes at N200, N500, and N1,000 levels.

“In line with this approval, we have finalized arrangements for the new currency to begin circulation on December 15, 2022, after its launch by President Muhammadu Buhari. The new and existing currencies shall remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023, when the existing currencies shall cease to be legal tender.”