Naira redesign: CBN collected N3.2trn, printed only N402bn, says Falana

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, only printed 402 billion Naira out of the 3.2 trillion Naira it collected from various sources.

Falana made this revelation while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.

Recall that the CBN, during the administration of the Former President Muhammadu Buhari announced Naira Redesign policy to phase out the old N200, N500 and N100 notes with new ones.

The senior lawyer tackled the former central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, for the currency redesign which led to a scarcity of the naira currency at the time.

Speaking on distressing events that greeted the naira redesign policy, Falana said he took legal action by invoking the Freedom of Information Act, submitting a request to the Central Bank to disclose the exact amount of money that had been printed.

Falana said, “I had to write to the central bank under the Freedom of Information Act to know how much was printed.

“To my utter dismay the central bank collected about 3.2 trillion from customers and others the bank only printed 402 billion naira,” he added.

The human rights lawyer urged the government to use the law to fight corruption and gather essential information to protect the interests of the people.

He said, “We must take advantage of the law and use the law to enforce corruption and get information to defend our people.”