Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, has condemned the handling of the Naira redesign policy under Godwin Emefiele.
Moghalu said months after the CBN set out to implement the Naira redesign policy, Nigerians are still suffering from the policy.
He said in a statement that there was confusion regarding the purpose of the Naira redesign policy, from economic reasons to political, resulting in the failure of the CBN policy.
“First, the 90-deadline, which I warned was too short to be effectively executed. Second, the timing, so close to the elections. But, as later became clear, there was a haphazard and incoherent communication of the purposes of the policy.
“In one breath, it was said to be to reduce the money supply and help tame inflation (after the Bank had created and lent N23 trillion to the Federal Government, illegally because that was way beyond approved limits under the CBN Act of 2007).
“Next, it was promoted as a national security measure to halt kidnapping, Naira hoarding and sundry crimes. Then, next, it became about “free and fair elections “ to stop vote-buying,” he wrote.
Recall that the Supreme Court forced the central bank to suspend the Naira redesign policy implementation on Friday, 3 March 2023, when it delivered a judgement that the policy was a breach of the 1999 constitution.
Prime Business Africa also reported that the Supreme Court extended the legality of the old Naira N500 and N1,000 notes till 31 December 2023, against the 10 February 2023 deadline of the CBN to phase out the currencies for the redesigned notes.
READ ALSO: Dogara Leads Campaign To Remove Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed
Further addressing the crisis caused by the Naira redesign policy, Moghalu said: “Expectedly, politicians who felt the policy targeted them complained loudly and wanted the deadline extended, while those who believed it helped their own political agendas hailed the tight and impractical deadline and did not want it moved.”
Part of his statement reads: “Today, whatever may have been the benefits of the naira redesign policy have been cancelled out by the economic and social gridlock it has created.
“We are still suffering from it, after the “almighty” presidential election has come and gone. There are several lessons here. One such lesson is the importance of effective risk management that was evidently absent in the conception and execution of the policy.”
