Lagos, Feb. 11, 2023 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied reports that the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had attributed scarcity of new naira notes to shortage of printing materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).
The CBN made the denial in a statement issued on Saturday by the CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Osita Nwanisobi
The CBN said that the CBN Governor did not make such attribution during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
It said what Emefiele told the meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians.
“While the CBN appreciates the concerns shown by all stakeholders about the distribution of the Naira, we are alarmed at the extent to which vested interests are attempting to manipulate facts and pitch the public against the Bank.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN remains committed to performing its monetary policy functions, as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007, as amended.
“We also wish to restate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the Naira.
“The Bank, therefore, wishes to appeal to the public to disregard the said report and exercise more restraint, even as we work assiduously to increase the circulation of the new notes in the country.
“Similarly, there is a misleading voice note trending in social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks, particularly in a particular geopolitical region of the country.
We wish to state unequivocally that there is no such plan and that the claims are illogical and do not comply with the workings of the Nigerian banking system.
“The public is, therefore, advised to ignore such recordings as they do not represent the policy thrust of the CBN and are only the desperate attempts of persons bent on inciting the public against the Bank,” the apex bank said.
