When the presidency of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) ends in May 2023, it is anticipated that the Central Bank of Nigeria will have destroyed N6 trillion damaged and outdated currency.
Data from the CBN’s annual reports between 2016 and 2020 revealed that throughout the five-year period, the apex bank destroyed mutilated banknotes worth N4.1 trillion.
However, as a result of its intention to redesign the N100, N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes, the central bank is anticipated to destroy more than 80% of the N3.23 trillion in banknotes currently in circulation.
With this action, the quantity of Naira notes that have been destroyed by the current administration would reach at least N6 trillion.
By December 15, 2022, the CBN will issue new naira notes, according to a statement made on Wednesday by Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele made this declaration at a special press conference in Abuja, where he also explained the reason for the decision.
The CBN governor claims that the action is intended to limit the amount of currency in circulation as well as to reduce the use of counterfeit money and ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.
According to a breakdown of CBN data for the years 2016 through 2020, the central bank destroyed mutilated notes totaling N829.94 billion in 2016. The CBN once more destroyed damaged currency worth N977.23 billion in 2017. Banknotes of N814.59 billion, N814.44 billion, and N698.59 billion, respectively, were destroyed in the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.
