The piece you are about to read was written by a former distinguished university professor, former Nigerian Ambassador to a European country, and widower now in his 80’s. His name is omitted here because the piece was circulated within a private (though not a small) private chat group but because the issue discussed is topical and again because salient points …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is reportedly in talks with a New York-based tech company, R3 to rebuild its digital currency platform after suffering sluggish adoption by Nigerians. Another financial software firm, Bitt has been working on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira since 2021. With R3, the CBN seeks to revamp and drive the mass adoption …

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided the bulk of the cash it requested for the payment of critical service providers. There have been concerns that the ongoing Naira scarcity may affect the payment of persons providing logistics services for the commission. INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu also said …

There is a popular theory that Nigerians are resilient. The naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) put that famous theory to the test in several ways. People have been stretched in a myriad of directions in the scramble to overcome the scarcity of new naira notes. Banking halls, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) points, and Point of …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked a purported press release shared on the Instagram page of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari. In the release shared on Aisha’s page on Tuesday, it was alleged that the old N500 and N1,000 notes remain legal tender for the next 70 days. In a nationwide broadcast last Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari had …

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu and the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) on Sunday called for compliance by the Federal Government to the Supreme Court order on the controversial naira swap policy. The call came on the heels of a meeting between Adamu and the APC governors in Abuja over a policy that seemingly deepens …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) openly admitted of having mopped up over ₦2.1 trillion of the old ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes. According to the apex bank, about ₦900 billion was still hiding away under pillows, sacks, in pits, pockets and streets, forests and homes around Nigeria. There’s a huge disparity between the quantum of money in circulation and …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to start collecting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from the public with immediate effect. It, however, pegged the maximum amount the banks can collect at N500,000. The CBN maintained that the old currencies were no more legal tender. A source from the bank said the CBN ordered the banks to …

It’s hard to imagine that it’s nearly eight years since. This time in 2015, I was over the moon with the prospects of a general election that was certain to end the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, which had lost its way. Folks were so excited at the prospects of change that in the South-West, a Yoruba version of “February” …

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has created a portal for the collection of the old Naira notes as the deadline to submit to banks directly elapsed last Friday. The CBN published a notification titled ‘Redemption of Currency Notes’ on its website. The notification delivers a link to the portal to enable users redeem (deposit) their old N1,000, N500, and …