CBN Withdrew N2trn, Printed Only N400bn, El-Rufai Alleges

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria of withdrawing N2 trillion from circulation and replacing the old notes by minting only N400 billion.

He made the allegation on his Twitter handle on Sunday, adding that the apex bank only confiscated the currency as against what was obtainable in the currency swap policy.

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“During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, currency confiscation was then unilaterally and unlawfully implemented by the CBN. Trade and exchange have collapsed. Human suffering, impoverishment and economic contraction resulted,” he tweeted.

“The policy objective was derailed into a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the elections in the name of preventing vote-buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was lawfully approved failed.

The governor claimed that what was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari was different from what the CBN did regarding the redesigning and swapping of the currency.

According to him, President Buhari approved the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 notes, whereas the CBN only did recolouring.

He added, “Currency redesign was approved by the President and announced. Currency recolouring resulted.

“Currency swap was envisaged by s.20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act as approved by PMB. Swap means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes & I receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more, no less.”

The naira crisis worsened last Thursday following the President’s nationwide broadcast ignoring the Supreme Court by extending the validity of old N200 notes while insisting that old N500 and N1,000 remained illegal.

Urging Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the CBN, Buhari said the old N200 note would be legal tender for the next 60 days till April 10.