Arabic inscriptions will remain on redesigned naira notes, says Sanusi

The former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said the Arabic inscriptions known as ‘Ajami’ will not be removed from the redesigned naira notes.

Speaking with Daily Nigerian on Monday, Sanusi said the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, had confirmed to him that the inscriptions will remain on the redesigned currency.

Ajami is an Arabic derivative of Hausa.

The CBN, last Wednesday, announced that it redesigned some new naira notes.

The apex bank said the new notes include N200, N500 and N1000, adding that the new design and issues will be effective from mid-December 2022.

The development had sparked rumours on social media that the currency redesign was a ploy by the federal government to remove the Ajami inscription from the notes.

But refuting the rumours, the former Emir urged religious leaders to desist from spreading unverified and misleading information to the public.

Sanusi particularly appealed to Islamic preachers to always verify and seek clarification on issues that are not clear to them, instead of acting on unsubstantiated claims.

He said, “There has been speculation going round about the change of some naira notes. I heard various scholars commenting, with some implying that the Ajami on the naira notes would be removed.

“I want to use this medium to authoritatively confirm to the Muslim ummah that there are no such plans.

“Since the issue came up, we have spoken to some people in the Central Bank, and they confirmed to me that such a plan is non-existent.

“When the misconception became widespread, I spoke to the CBN governor himself, and he also confirmed to me that there is no plan whatsoever to remove the Ajami.

“So, I want to appeal to Islamic scholars to please stop acting on unsubstantiated reports.

“I know some of the scholars making these comments are doing so without investigating the information brought to them.”