The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has debunked reports claiming the apex bank is incapacitated to print new naira notes.
There were reports earlier in some media claiming that the governor of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the apex bank does not have the capacity to print adequate new naira notes.
The reports claimed that Emefiele made the disclosure on Friday when he briefed former Nigerian leaders at the emergency meeting of the National Council of State.
They also claimed that, on Friday, Emefiele had told the leaders that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (The Mint), suffers capacity constraints, resulting in the failure to print adequate new notes to replace the old N200, N500 and 1,000 notes.
But, the CBN, in a statement signed by its Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN, said, at no time did the CBN Governor,, disclose this during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday, February 10, 2023.
The apex bank noted that its attention has been drawn to a misleading report misquoting Emefiele, as attributing the current challenge in the distribution of the newly redesigned naira banknotes to a shortage of printing materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc.
The statement reads partly, “For the records, what Mr. 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,” it said.
The statement further said, “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,” it added.