Emefiele to Meet Governors Thursday over Redesigned Naira Notes

By Adedapo Adesanya

Governors of the 36 states of the federation have invited the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, to a virtual meeting on Thursday, January 19, over issues related to the new naira notes introduced by the apex bank.

The Head of Media and Public Affairs, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NFG) Secretariat, Mr Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said that the meeting, according to the invitation issued to Mr Emiefele by the Chairman of NGF, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, would commence at 9 pm prompt.

“Issuing the invitation, the Nigeria Governors Forum Director General, Mr Asishana Bayo Okauru, said the agenda is on the recent CBN policy of redesigning the Naira Notes,” Mr Bello-Barkindo said.

The CBN announced the initial decision of the apex bank to redesign the Naira note on October  26, 2022, while it also set January 31, 2023, as the deadline for the old note to serve as legal tender.

Mr Bello-Barkindo said that the virtual meeting agenda is titled The Economic and Security implications of naira redesign and withdrawal policy and the discussion, noting that it promises to foster participation and dialogue between various stakeholders, including governments and civil society organisations, to come out with a solution to the lingering issue.

Mr Emefiele had resumed after a brief hiatus touted as his annual leave on Monday, January 16, 2023, amid a confusing squabble with the Department of State Services (DSS).

That same day, agents visited the headquarters of the CBN in Abuja.

However, a spokesperson of the bank didn’t make any mention of this. Instead, it was announced that “The Governor resumed with renewed vigour to perform his duty ahead of the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the year scheduled for January 23 to 24, 2023.”

Thanking the public for keeping faith with the bank, the CBN statement said, “we urge Nigerians to continue to support the policies of the Bank aimed at ensuring a stable financial system and the Nigerian economy in general.”