Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Sola Obadimu, has suggested that the introduction of N5,000 notes would have prevented the Naira policy debacle.
Obadimu argued that if he was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he would have printed N5,000 banknotes rather than redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000, as done by the head of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, to mop currencies in circulation.
Recall that in October 2022, Emefiele stated that the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes will be redesigned to compel Nigerians to deposit N2.7 trillion outside the vaults of commercial banks and to fight money laundering, hoarding and soaring inflation.
Speaking on the crisis surrounding the redesign notes, Obadimu said introducing a higher denomination would have been more effective, faulting the decision of Emefiele.
“If I were the CBN governor, all I would have done was to have introduced a N5,000 note,” adding “That would have helped to mop up the money in circulation without the kickbacks we are getting. Because it is a higher denomination, fewer amounts of bills would have been printed.”
He, however, threw his weight behind the central bank for a cashless society, stating that is where the world is heading.
But he criticised banks, arguing they are not well prepared for the cashless society call, as many still struggle with having a functional digital banking system.
“For instance, when a financial transaction declines, you get debited and the bank cannot refund you for up to three weeks even if the transaction is to the same bank,” Obadimu said.
The NACCIMA DG buttress his point by canvassing for more investment in infrastructure to make Nigeria fully digital, “So, for the urban network to improve and for the rural areas to catch up, the government has to invest heavily in infrastructure so that every part of Nigeria will be digitised,” he said.
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