EXCLUSIVE: Acting CBN Governor Shonubi Architect Of Controversial Currency Redesign Policy – Memo Reveals

Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, alongside the suspended Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele were the architects of the controversial redesign of the naira.

This was discovered in an internal memo obtained by Gatekeepers News.

According to the document titled “Memorandum to the Committee of Governors for Currency Redesign” dated August 2022, and approved by Shonubi, the Deputy Governor (Operations), he anchored his case for the redesign of the naira on “Wholesale hoarding of naira banknotes by members of the public, worsening shortage of fit banknotes in circulation, high and increasing cost borne by the bank as well as high counterfeit risk.”

See the documents below:

Gatekeepers News gathered that the memo prompted Emefiele to set up a task force for the redesign with the suspended bank governor as chairman. At the same time, Shonubi and Aisha Ahmad, the Deputy Governor of Financial System Stability, served as co-chairs.

The currency redesign, which was implemented within just a few weeks to the general elections, severely disrupted economic activities and led to the scarcity of banknotes in the country.