Senate & TUC Says No To Sanusi On N5,000 Note Issue

The Senate yesterday faulted the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) currency policy and consequently asked it to stop the plan to introduce the N5,000 note immediately.

The Senate also warned that no such policy that has far reaching implication on the people must be embarked on without its knowledge of and other stakeholders, adding that ‘until this is done the CBN’ must stop action.

Senate handed down the order through its Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Currency, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Bassey Otu (Cross Rivers, South).

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, he informed that the Senate was sending a letter to CBN to stop all further actions on printing of the new N5,000 note until the Senate of the Federal Republic was properly briefed.

The new policy, he added, was scary and would send wrong signals to both the domestic and international business community.

TUC condemns proposed CBN N5000 note

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has condemned the plan by the CBN to produce five thousand naira (5000) denomination.

This was disclosed in a press statement signed by the union President, Comrade Peter Esele and the secretary, John Kolawole.

According to Esele, “Nigerians are witnessing another round of the theatre of the absurd orchestrated by the Central Bank of Nigeria under  the leadership of Sanusi Lamido. “We were treated to the unfortunate characterization of the CBN as an unserious and insensitive charity organization run without recourse to statutes and due process. We are surprised that the CBN could at this time decide to embark on the mission to make changes to the nation’s currency and to also create a N5, 000 denomination. The intention at coining the N5, N10 and N20 denominations does a psychological damage to the value of the Naira. We are surprised that despite CBN’s acquiescence to this, it still intends pushing forward with this objective”.

TUC considered the development a deep confirmation that those managing the different facets of nation’s economy did not have time to give deep thought to their policies before churning them out and executing them.

Esele stressed that the decision showed a continued and persistent inconsistency in policy objectives within the CBN family which made it impossible for the nation to reap any benefit from previous policy decisions.