👨🏿‍🚀 Daily – Was the naira redesign politically motivated? |

For months, Nigeria’s apex bank, the CBN, and its past governor, Godwin Emefiele, told Nigerians that the hardship they endured during the hasty and ill-timed Naira redesign was worth it and that the redesign would “increase financial inclusion, control inflation and assist in the fight against corruption”. 

But it did the opposite. 

Nigerians were financially excluded as a cash scarcity developed and banks struggled to accommodate the surge in digital payments; inflation rose to 21.82% in January 2023 and 21.9% in February; and vote buying was rampant during the elections. 

Many Nigerians thought that the timing of the redesign—near the elections—showed that the redesign was politically motivated. Now, Folashodun Shonubi, the former acting CBN governor, has confirmed those thoughts. 

Emefiele is currently facing four charges brought against him by Nigeria’s financial crimes unit for causing injury to the public and acting illegally during the naira redesign. 

On Thursday, Shonubi testified in court that Emefiele admitted the naira redesign was politically motivated and that what the CBN produced after the redesign was different from what former President Buhari approved.

He also testified that the CBN, under Emefiele, went against its standard protocol for currency redesign by allowing the former governor to unilaterally create the document that Buhari approved for the redesign. 

Under CBN law, the Currency Management Department, not the governor, is responsible for initiating currency redesign, followed by the CBN’s board approval before presidential assent. 

Shonubi’s testimony, combined with Emefiele’s failed presidential bid, complicates the former CBN governor’s defence, making a conviction seem increasingly likely.