Nigerians Will Lose Hard-Earned Money Over CBN’s Deadline – Experts

Economic specialists have warned that Nigerian citizens could suffer financial losses due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) refusal to extend the January 31st deadline for the phasing out of N200, N500, and N1000 notes. After the Monetary Policy Meeting on Tuesday, the CBN’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated that there is no going back on the deadline, which is 90-100 days from the time of the announcement.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, argued that the CBN should extend the deadline, as they have production and logistics challenges regarding the new banknotes. He further noted that if the CBN does not extend the deadline, there will be severe business disruptions, especially within the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the informal sector and the rural economy, and that many innocent Nigerians will lose their hard-earned money.

This sentiment was echoed by a financial expert, Mr Idakolo Gbolade, who concluded that the deadline is punitive and could cause some uninformed Nigerians significant loss. Similarly, an Accounting and Financial Development don at Lead City University, Ibadan, Prof Godwin Oyedokun, commented that citizens should not be made to suffer due to the inefficiency of those charged with governance.

On October 26th 2022, the CBN announced the naira redesign policy, and a month later, President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new naira notes, which were circulated on December 15th.