Senior government officials in Nigeria are dancing naked in market places over a recent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy to redesign some Naira notes in the country.

The Federal Government through the country's Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Hajiya Zainab Mohammed on Friday, disagreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, just 48 hours after he announced that the apex bank will introduce a redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes on December 15, 2022. 

Minister Zainab in disowning the CBN plan while facing a 2023 Budget defense session before members of the Senate Committee in Abuja, bluntly said the nation and its economy would suffer greatly if the redesign was put into place.

Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District had asked the Finance Minister a question about the currency redesign policy, and Zainab responded by alerting the CBN to the potential repercussions.

africafirstnew.com Correspondent at the National Assembly reports that Senator Bamidele in his question to the Finance Minister had stated that the value of the Naira to the US dollar had increased from N740 to N788 just two days after the CBN announced its new policy. He attributed this increase to a rush to exchange stashed Naira notes for foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar. "To me, the policy may be well intentioned but the timing, considering the realities on the ground, is very incorrect as the Naira may decline to as low as N1,000 to the US dollar before January 31, 2023, the fixed date for the policy's full implementation", the Senator is quoted to have commented. 

Then, when asked about the policy, the Minister responded that she had only learned about it from the Media. "Distinguished Senators, the speaker said, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by the CBN on the planned Naira redesign and cannot comment on its merits or otherwise. However, as a Nigerian who has the privilege of overseeing Nigeria's fiscal management, I am concerned that the policy as it is being implemented now will have a negative impact on the value of the Naira in relation to other foreign currencies. However, I'll make a request to this committee to invite the CBN governor to provide the necessary justification for the planned policy's merits and the appropriateness or otherwise of its current implementation", the Nigerian Finance Minister told the lawmakers during the Budget session.