Naira redesign: Tinubu to treat old, new notes as legal tender -

Newly inaugurated President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, said his administration will revisit the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and will treat the old and new banknotes as legal tender.

On October 26, 2022, the CBN announced that the high naira value of N200, N500 and N1,000 would be redesigned and introduced into the economy from December 15, 2022, while commercial banks were directed to return existing denominations to the CBN.

“The currency swap was too harshly applied by the CBN given the number of unbanked Nigerians. The policy shall be reviewed. In the meantime, my administration will treat both currencies as legal tender,” Tinubu said during his inauguration at Eagle Square, Abuja on Monday.

He said the monetary policy needed thorough house cleaning and that the CBN should work towards a unified exchange rate.

Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, welcomes the decision of the new president to put in place a unified exchange rate regime. It should be clarified that this is not a devaluation proposition. Rather it is a pricing mechanism that reflects the demand and supply fundamentals in the foreign exchange market which allows for rate adjustments as and when necessary.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.