Legal Tender: Reps Urge CBN to Reinforce Coins Usage

The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to reinforce the use of coins as a legal tender and ensure that Banks comply with the use of coins to the fullest.

This is sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Muda Umar from Bauchi at plenary.

Moving the motion, Umar noted that on February 28, 2007, as part of the economic reforms under the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, N50, N20, N10 and N5 banknotes were reissued with new designs as well as the coining of N1 and 50 kobo, while a new N2 coin was introduced.

He also noted that despite the huge budgetary sum that was expended by the Federal Government in the production of coins as part of the legal tender, the said coins seem to be extinct at the moment.

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The lawmaker said the House observed that: “the day to day business transactions of ordinary Nigerians have been significantly affected as the lack of coins and other lower denominations have resulted in prices being summed up to the nearest Naira equivalent, a situation that can best be described as inflation in economic terms.

“Worried that while other countries make use of coins for their daily financial transactions, the Nigerian coins comprising 50kobo, N1 and N2 have not been fully utilized in that regard.

“Believes that injecting low denominations and coins into the economy will go a long way in curbing price inflation and stabilizing the economy.”

The House, while adopting the motion, mandated the Committee on Banking and Currency to ensure compliance.