Thelma Osatohanmwen
Human Rights lawyer, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) printed only N402 billion to replace approximately N3 trillion old banknotes that were taken out of circulation during the currency redesign policy earlier this year.
This was revealed on Monday, during an interview on Channels TV’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ to address corruption in Nigeria.
He said that the CBN’s redesign of higher denomination banknotes was aimed at combating counterfeit money and preventing vote buying during the 2023 general elections but enough notes were not printed.
In his words, “To my outer dismay, whereas the CBN mopped up 3.2 trillion from the public, it only printed N402 billion.”
Falana also shared that he used the provisions of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to gather specific information about the printed currency and how the implementation process was managed.
Due to the shortage of currency before the general elections, Falana pointed out that the CBN did not demonstrate compassion for Nigerians as they experienced distressing incidents, such as collapsing and loss their lives while queuing at banks.
He added that some frustrated customers also resorted to attacking and setting fire to banks.