Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to engage Emefiele on naira redesign, cash withdrawal

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele will have a meeting regarding the naira redesign, cash withdrawal policy and some of the policies recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The virtual engagement is scheduled for Thursday, NGF’s spokesman Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Bello-Barkindo said the state’s chief executives plan to engage Emefiele on “the economic and security implications of naira redesign and withdrawal policy.”

According to the statement, NGF Chairman/Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has sent an invitation to Emefie on the virtual meeting scheduled for 9pm tomorrow.

He quoted the NGF Director-General, Mr. Asishana Bayo Okauru, as stating that the virtual meeting’s agenda will centre on the recent CBN policy of redesigning the naira notes.

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Bello-Barkindo added: “For the virtual meeting, the agenda is titled: ‘The Economic and Security implications of naira redesign and withdrawal policy,’ and it has lingered for some time now.

“The discussion promises to foster participation and dialogue between various stakeholders including governments and civil society organizations to come out with a solution to the lingering issue.”

On October 26, last year, Emefiele announced the apex bank’s decision to redesign the naira note.

The CBN told Nigerians that the redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 notes will remain legal tenders till January 31. The new notes were unveiled on December 15 last year.

Also on December 6 last year, the CBN announced cash withdrawal policy.

The policy, which became effective on January 9, initially pegged over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities at N100,000 and N500,000 respectively per week.

But following the intervention of the National Assembly, the CBN issued a circular two weeks after, raising the cash withdrawal limit per week to N500, 000 (for individuals) and N5 million for organisations.

Individuals willing to draw above the prescribed N500,000 weekly limit will pay a fee of three per cent. Corporate bodies will be charged five cent if withdrawing above N5 million across the counter.