The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday, acknowledged that the current shortage brought on by the implementation of the new naira and the cash withdrawal policy had not been expected.
This came in the midst of several demonstrations and bank attacks by irate Nigerians who were unable to get cash for their daily transactions.
Folashodun Shonubi, a deputy governor of the bank, made the admission at the 22nd fellowship conferment lecture and ceremony, which the Nigerian Society of Engineers organized in Abuja.
The lecture was titled, “The intricacies of the naira redesign and its benefit to Nigerians”.
Contrary to popular belief, he clarified, the redesign plan, which had been in the works for two years, was not intended to penalize anyone but rather to boost the economy.
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The deputy governor, who added that the difficulties encountered were the result of a new line of business established by indigenous Nigerians, revealed that various benefits had been realized, including the recovery of N2 trillion from the banking system.
He said, “As you know, Nigerians are very ingenious. And we created a whole new line of business for people that we never envisaged.
“An aspect of that is queuing, where you sell your position on the queue for money. Night crawling, where you wait till night, collect numerous cards from your friends and family and go to an ATM and empty them using different cards and then take the cash to sell.
“So it’s been a bit stressful to be honest because we did not anticipate this kind of behaviour.”
Shonubi, on the other hand, stated that the necessary challenges will soon be a thing of the past and that the apex bank will do everything in its ability to salvage the current situation.
“I believe that sooner rather than later, the stress ongoing in relation to money would reduce,” he said.
