By our correspondent
As reactions continue to trail the decision of the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele to redesign the nation’s currently notes, group operating under the aegis is Arewa Consultative Youth Movement has queried the loyalty of the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed following her recent utterance that the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the naira could have dire consequences on its value.
The youths in a statement by its leader, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf wondered if the Minister is working towards helping President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve his economic agenda or if she’s trying to protect the evil people laundering and counterfeiting the Naira.
The group noted that if the Minister has Nigerians best interest at heart, then she should welcome this development as it will among other things, help capture money launderers.
According to them, if the Minister doesn’t tender an apology to President Buhari and the CBN, and support this laudable initiative, then it’s obvious where her loyalty lies, and this should be looked into by the President.
“The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Friday said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not carry her Ministry along in its plan to redesign and roll out new N200, N500 and N1000 notes, saying that the plan
could have dire consequences on its value.
“The Minister knows deep down that the CBN is doing the right thing, as the decision to replace some Naira denominations with new ones would be positive for the economy in the medium and long-term.
“It will go a long way in ensuring that a lot of Naira notes circulating outside the banks are crowded in. If it leads to large deposits in banks, it means the banks will have more money to lend, which may reduce interest rates.
“Also with this laudable initiative, the Financial Intelligence Unit will be on the watch out for huge deposits as a way of monitoring illegitimate transactions”, the statement read.
