As Nigerians continue to express concerns that the newly redesigned naira notes are still not in circulation six months after it was unveiled, the in-coming administration of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged to conduct a full scale investigation into the Naira Redesign Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which worsened Nigeria’s economic woes and resulted in lost of valuable lives.

The redesigned naira notes have been scarce and currently not in circulation in all the states of the federation despite the colossal amount of money the CBN spent of it.

Whereas the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had claimed some saboteurs in the banking industry were hoarding the new notes, the commercial banks have continued to blame the apex bank for the scarcity, insisting the CBN is not supplying the banks with the new notes for customers.

Irked by the development, the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has called on the President-elect, Tinubu to question Emefiele and those involved in the failed Naira redesign project.

Senator Adeyemi, who insisted the naira redesign was a calculated attempt to frustrate Tinubu’s presidential ambition, pointed out that despite Emefiele’s firm assurances to Nigerians that there would be enough new naira redesigned notes that would circulate, the new notes are now off circulation months after they were unveiled.

Adeyemi, a journalist by profession, who was a guest on Friday’s edition of Channels Television Politics Today, lamented the huge losses the heavily-criticised naira redesigned  policy caused Nigeria and Nigerians.

“I will call on Emefiele and others to come and explain what happened and what was the reason behind the redesigning of the naira notes,” the Senator said on Friday when asked what he would do about the naira redesign policy if he were in Tinubu’s shoes.

“People died in that period, and people developed strokes because they couldn’t have access to their money. And because you and I survived, we should not care about those who died for what was not their making?

“Some people were forced to die due to the situation at that time, that policy killed some people innocently,” he lamented.

The Senator noted that the proactiveness of the Judiciary saved Nigeria from the impending chaos, insisting that “the naira redesign was a calculated attempt to frustrate Tinubu’s presidential ambition.”

“Tinubu should not forget this. Because the calculated attempt then was to stop the APC from winning. Now that we have won, in order not to allow a recurrence, we were told that they have redesigned the naira, but where are the new notes that have been redesigned?

“Gradually they are off circulation. We were told by those who planned the redesigning of the naira notes that in two weeks at that time, there would be enough new naira design notes that would circulate,

“But months after the judgment of the Supreme Court, up till now, the so-called redesigned notes are disappearing,” the lawmaker pointedly noted.

Naira redesigning, in whose interest?

Speaking in the same vein, a legal practitioner, Barr. Sanctus Umuna, stated that the CBN Governor “simply used the naira redesign policy as a ploy to frustrate Tinubu’s presidential bid.”

“Don’t forget that Emefiele was interested in running for the highest office. He went as far as seeking the order of the court to declare him qualified to contest the 2023 presidential election despite holding office as the CBN Governor.

“He misled President Muhammadu Buhari to believe that the naira redesign policy would curtail currency hoarding, corruption and vote buying, whereas his real motive was to stop Tinubu.

“Now, Nigeria’s scarce resources have been spent on a policy that brought sorrows to Nigerian homes and businesses and further worsened the country’s economic problems”, he posited.

“Aside the failed Naira redesign policy, Emefiele’s foreign exchange policy resulted in the collapse of the naira. His so-called Anchor Borrower Programme was meant  to serve his personal interest” , Umuna said, even as he insisted that the CBN boss should have questions to answer regarding the naira redesigning project.

Drop in GDP caused by cash crunch

A just released report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth fell to 2.31 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 from 3.52 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, no thanks to the failed Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The report obtained on Wednesday, blamed the poorly implemented Naira redesign policy of the CBN which resulted in cash crunch, for the fall in Nigeria’s economic growth between January and March 2023.

The NBS stated that the cash crunch, occasioned by the Naira redesign policy, impeded the growth of Nigeria’s economy.

“Gross Domestic Product grew by 2.31 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2023. This growth rate declined from 3.11 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022, and 3.52 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“The reduction in growth is attributed to the adverse effects of the cash crunch experienced during the quarter,” the NBS report said.

The report added: “The performance of the GDP in the first quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the Services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.35% and contributed 57.29% to the aggregate GDP.

“The agriculture sector grew by -0.90%, lower than the growth of 3.16% recorded in the first quarter of 2022. Although the growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31% relative to – 6.81% recorded in the “first quarter of 2022, agriculture, and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the quarter under review compared to the first quarter of 2022.”

The NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for March 2023  showed 0.13 per cent points higher compared to the 21.91 per cent recorded in February 2023.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2023 was 6.13 per cent higher than the rate recorded in March 2022 at 15.92 per cent.

Similarly, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 22.22 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April 2023, according to the latest release by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On Wednesday, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN,  raised the interest rate from 18 percent to 18.5percent, citing the nation’s inflationary pressure.

The development was the third consecutive time the apex bank would be increasing the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures the interest rate.

The apex bank, in March, raised its benchmark lending rate to 18 percent in an aggressive push to tame the country’s inflationary pressure.

Emefiele told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the decision was aimed to curtail the rising inflation in Nigeria.

The ill-timed Naira redesign policy, brought untold sufferings, resulted in deaths and huge economic losses to Nigeria and Nigerians.

Succour came the way of Nigerians, when some concerned Nigerians sought and obtained the order of the Supreme Court to suspend the implementation of the policy for six months.

The CBN, after the initial disobedience of the Supreme Court order, bowed to pressure and extended the deadline for the use of the naira notes to December, 2023.  The decision was that the old and new naira notes would co-circulate till December 2023.

However, the new naira notes are still not in circulation, despite the CBN’s insistence that there is enough supply of the new notes to commercial banks.