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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, says over N1 trillion has been deposited by Nigerians since the apex bank redesigned the naira.
Emefiele made this known while speaking with journalists after his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura on Thursday.
The CBN governor, who also spoke on the cash withdrawal limits put in place by the apex bank, said it wasn’t targeted at any individual.
He noted that the process to go cashless has been ongoing for close to 10 years and the apex bank believes Nigeria is ready for it.
He also added that banks have received the redesigned naira notes and would start distributing to customers.
He said: “Well, the Senate is the National Assembly, they are the legislative arm of the government and from time to time, we brief them about what is happening and about our policies and I’m aware that they have asked for some briefings and we will brief them.
“But I think it’s important for me to say that the cashless policy started in 2012. But on almost three to four occasions, we had to step down the policy because we felt that there was need for us to prepare ourselves and deepen our payment system infrastructure in Nigeria.
“Between 2012 and now 2022, that is almost about 10 years, we believe that a lot of electronic channels have been put in place that will aid people in conducting banking and financial service transactions in Nigeria.
“We heard people talk about some of the people in the rural areas and the truth is that even online banking, as I was coming out to Daura, I saw a kiosk that had a super-agent today. It’s because of the way we felt that there was a need for us to deepen the payment system infrastructure. We have 1.4 million super agents that are all over different parts of the country, all local governments, and all villages in this country.
“And I have told my colleagues, some of their names are already on the CBN website and we will publish all the names of all the super agents. And super agents are different from the banks and microfinance banks, which is different from other financial institutions. Having 1.4 million of them is as good as having 1.4 million banking points where people can conduct services.
“We think, Nigeria as a big country, the biggest economy in Africa that we need to leapfrog into the cashless economy. We cannot continue to allow a situation where over 85 per cent of the cash that is in circulation is outside the bank. More and more countries that are embracing digitization have gone cashless.
“I said it at different fora, that this is not targeted at anybody, it is meant for the good and development of the Nigerian economy and we can only continue to appeal to Nigerians to please see this policy the way we have presented it.
“We will be reviewing from time to time, how this is working because I cannot say that we are going to be rigid. But it is not to say that we will reverse it, it is not to say that we will change the timing, but whether it is about tweaking some amount to be a little bit higher or a little bit lower, and all the rest of them.
“We will do so because we are humans, we want to make sure that we are making life good for our people. We do not want to make life difficult for them. So, there is no need for anybody to worry. The CBN is monitoring what is happening and I can assure everyone that we are up and alive to our responsibilities and we will do what is right for Nigeria and Nigerians.”
On distribution of the redesigned naira notes, Emefiele said: “There are so many things happening, issues bordering on the new currency and the fact that only on Wednesday, the new currency has now reached the banks and we expect that the banks will now begin to distribute those currencies to their customers.
“I can only assure you that it will go round, let us just be calm, luckily the old currency continued to be legal tender till January 31, 2023. So, I want to crack a joke, both the painted (new notes) and unpainted (old notes) will operate concurrently as a legal tender. But by January 31, the unpainted one will not be useful to you again, so please take it to your bank as quickly as possible.
“At the Central Bank, we have taken in over half a trillion and with the banks, we also have close to half a trillion. But what we have done in the Central Bank is to move more people from different departments into currency processing, so that they can process this cash as quickly as possible and from there, banks can now move what they have with them.”
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