It was recalled that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had on October 26, announced the decision of the apex bank to redesign N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
According to Emefiele, the new design will be effective from mid-December 2022, urging bank customers to begin depositing the old Naira notes.
The CBN governor said the apex bank had become concerned over some daunting challenges in the management of the existing banknotes in circulation, especially those outside the banking system, noting that such portended some consequences for the integrity of the CBN and the country.
It was reported that the development had triggered controversies from concerned Nigerians across the country, as many kicked against the move, claiming that it would cause more harm than good, while others lauded the decision of the CBN.
Some political and religious leaders, including the controversial , Ahmed Gumi had claimed that a good number of Nigerians, especially the rural dwellers depend on cash transactions, warning that any move that can cause more cash crunch will resort to a disaster for the nation.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 30, voiced his support for the decision of the CBN, noting that the country would gain a lot through the new initiative, especially its impact on illicit monies.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that “the economy stands to benefit from reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash currently in circulation.”
The President stated that they did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians, who spoke with our correspondent on Saturday in Abuja, expressed optimism that the development would have a good effect on the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
According to them, plans by some political bigwigs who may have stashed billions of Naira in their various houses to buy votes in 2023 have been crippled.
An activist, Mr Kenneth Monday, who was one of those that organised the EndSARS protest in Abuja in 2020, told a correspondent that those kicking against the move by the apex bank are suspects that should be placed under watch.
He said, “They turned their houses to banks because the money was acquired illegally. Most of them are crying right now. Because they know that the money in their possession cannot be accounted for and the bank can’t trace it, they wanted to use it to buy votes as usual.
“With the CBN move, it is either you go to the bank and deposit the ill-gotten money, or the cash becomes useless. This will be good for the coming elections because they may not be able to get all the cash to execute their evil plans again.”
It was recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday revealed that several serving governors have been placed under watch over stashed Naira notes.
Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who made this known while fielding questions from reporters after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, had earlier raised an alarm that three governors who stashed money in their Abuja houses were planning to pay workers with cash.
“Everything happening in the country right now shows that God will be involved in the 2023 elections. Who knows, Buhari may be doing these to ensure that the election is free and fair. We are taking back our country”.
Similarly, a bank source revealed that some politicians who believe in manipulating elections with the use of cash may find it difficult in the next election.
According to him, there is a limit to how much cash withdrawal an individual can make in a day.
He said, “If the government actually wants to do things the right way, some of those election riggers who use cash, may find it difficult in the next election.
“All withdrawals can be monitored through the BVN. There is a limit to how much can be withdrawn from both individual and corporate accounts. If the issue of stashing Naira notes must come to an end, the CBN and the EFCC have more work to do”.
New statistics show that more Nigerians are making calls and surfing the Internet as telecommunications operators activated and reactivated 2.47 million telephone lines in July.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in the latest industry subscription data released at the weekend, active subscriptions for telecommunications services across mobile networks of MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile rose to 208.6 million in July, moving from 206.5 million in June.
The data shows that Glo, which recorded the highest gain of 2.1 million subscriptions in the month, drove the increase. In total, the four GSM operators recorded a combined 2.5 million increase in subscriptions in the month under review.
In July, MTN activated 392,440 telephone lines; Airtel 90,955 and 9mobile subscription fell by 63,840.
With the growth recorded by operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, also jumped from 108.15 per cent in June to 109.47 per cent in July 2022.
According to NCC, the teledensity is calculated based on a population estimate of 190 million.
Further analysis shows that the mobile network operators gained 13.5 million new subscriptions, a departure from last year, when they lost close to 20 million subscriptions as a result of the government’s ban on new SIM registration between December 2020 and April 2021.
ALSO, in terms of Internet subscriptions, the quartet of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile pushed the numbers from 150.7 million in June to 151.4 million by July. Other platforms to access the Internet (Fixed Wired, ISP wired/wireless) added 366,271 to push the figure to 152 million.
Broadband connections also leaped by 310,631, moving from 84.6 million in June to 84.9 million in July.
Largely, MTN, which, on August 24 began a pilot 5G services in Nigeria with the hope of spreading commercial services to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan Kano, Owerri and Maiduguri by year-end, maintained its dominance of the market with 38 per cent penetration and 79.4 million customers.
Globacom is next with 58.3 million users and 27.9 per cent market reach. Airtel is third with 27.9 per cent reach and 58.2 million users, with 9mobile in fourth position, servicing 12.5 million users and six per cent penetration.
IN a related development, NCC has said that over 50,000 cases of major destruction to telecoms infrastructure and facilities have been reported across the country in the past five years, raising alarm over the implication of these incidents to the quality of telecommunications services.
Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who disclosed this at the 2022 edition of Youth Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit (YCSSS), which took place at Army Resource Centre, Abuja, expressed worry over how the incidents have continued to affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers.
Danbatta, in the statement, spoke through the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of the Commission, Mrs. Nnena Ukoha.
He said the negative impacts of incessant vandalism of telecoms equipment, evidenced in fibre cuts, theft of telecoms facilities, like generators at sites, vandalism of base stations, among other vices, have become a major burden on service providers, while telecoms consumers have continued to suffer unwarranted disruptions of hard-earned services.
He said: “The impact of vandalism on infrastructure is felt by all in the quality of services rendered as it results in increasing drop calls, data and Internet connectivity disruptions, aborted and undelivered short messaging services (SMS), as well as countless failed calls.”
He added that considering the fact that the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence, improvement in businesses processes, government services, education, as well as social and family networking through seamless connections, every community should get involved in protecting the critical infrastructure that makes these services possible.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO; MAMA BOVAS & EGBON MATRIX.. Mrs Victoria Samson, MD/ CEO BOVAS and Company Ltd. ALHAJI Aliu...
