The Senate has resolved to provide legislative support to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the redesign of the N1,000, N500 and N200 naira notes. The upper chamber made this resolution after a heated debate on a motion moved by Senator Uba Sani on CBN’s policy to redesign the three-naira notes. But majority of Senators across party lines supported the redesign of the naira but some of them were concerned about the deadline set by the apex bank for the old notes to be deposited in commercial banks. THISDAY gathered that call by the lawmakers for a shift in the January 31, 2023 deadline for the old banknotes to be withdrawn from circulation, to April 2023, was to enable them offload the cash they had stockpiled for elections. THISDAY had reported on Sunday that politicians who stashed billions of naira outside the banking system to prosecute the 2023 general election were plotting against the reintroduction and redesign of Nigeria’s currency. These politicians, it was learnt, had mobilised the National Assembly to pass a resolution against the naira redesign as several lawmakers may have stockpiled cash for the 2023 general election.
THISDAY