How CBN Scammed Nigerians; Recoloured Naira Notes, Did Not Redesign – Gov El-Rufai

By Ayodele Oni

Kaduna tate Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, continued with his onslaught and attack against the currency swap as he alleged that the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN)  withdrew N2 trillion from circulation and replaced the old notes by minting only N400 billion.

The allegation was contained in a statement on his Twitter handle adding that the apex bank only confiscated the currency as against what was obtainable in the currency swap policy.

“During the implementation of the cash swap, the CBN withdrew over N2 trillion from circulation but printed only N400 billion, so in effect, currency confiscation was then unilaterally and unlawfully implemented by the CBN.

“Trade and exchange have collapsed. Human suffering, impoverishment and economic contraction resulted,” he tweeted.

“The policy objective was derailed into a deliberate national fiasco to sabotage the elections in the name of preventing vote-buying. All efforts to get CBN to implement what was lawfully approved failed.”

The governor claimed that what was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari was different from what the CBN did regarding the redesigning and swapping of the currency.

According to him, President Buhari approved the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 notes, whereas the CBN only did recolouring.

“Currency redesign was approved by the President and announced. Currency recolouring resulted.

“Currency swap was envisaged by section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act as approved by PMB. Swap means I take N100,000 to the bank in old notes and I receive N100,000 immediately in new notes. No more, no less.”