Recirculate old notes back into system, Nat. Council of State tasks CBN »

The National Council of State has backed the Federal Government’s new monetary policy but tasked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take urgent steps to arrest the scarcity of cash across the nation.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele was advised to make new naira notes available or re-circulate old naira notes to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami accompanied by Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu(Lagos) and Darius Ishaku (Taraba) briefed reporters with presidential spokesman Femi Adesina on outcomes of the meeting.

Disclosing the final resolutions of the meeting, Malami said the two major issues deliberated were the level of preparedness for the general elections, for which he ssid the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba assured of adequate readiness.

He said the briefing on the new monetary policy, including the re-designing of some categories of the naira, elicited reactions and opinions, adding that the conclusion was that the CBN should do more to ensure there is circulation of adequate cash in the system to alleviate the harsh realities trailing the policy.