Following the announcement by Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is Nigeria’s President-Elect.
Tinubu reportedly received the majority of votes and met the constitutional requirement of 25% to be declared the winner of Nigeria’s tightest election in history.
During the heated campaign season, the Nigerian government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), implemented a cashless policy aimed at reducing cash outside the Nigerian banking system.
On October 26, 2022, the CBN announced a currency redesign project, stating that Nigeria’s top three banknotes would be redesigned.
The CBN specifically stated that the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes would be redesigned before December 15, 2022, in order to address several monetary and economic challenges such as ransom payment, counterfeiting, and excess cash in circulation.
Some, particularly political parties and candidates, interpreted the CBN’s decision as punitive and detrimental to their ambitions.
In the majority of his campaign speeches, Bola Tinubu repeatedly condemned the policy.
Many governors, including Kaduna’s El-Rufai and Kano’s Ganduje, also mocked the move. According to experts, based on his campaign rhetoric, Tinubu would repeal the new naira policy in his first week in office, primarily because he sees it as anti-people and anti-growth.
Charles Ike, a financial expert and journalist with Anadolu Agency, stated that Tinubu would not spend a single day in Aso Rock before dismantling the policy.
Tinubu, according to Ike, sees the policy as an attempt to stymie his presidential ambitions and eventual election as Nigeria’s next president.
He stated: “It will be his top priority now that INEC has declared him the winner. He will not spare the policy or its supporters. I’m certain because he’s never liked it.”
Ike stated that he saw nothing wrong with the policy, but that it was poorly managed and implemented.
“Tinubu will be advised to revise the policy. It’s a good one, but it could be improved. It will reduce corruption and increase revenue for the federal government “Ike stated.
Former banker Bamidele Ogunaike stated that the former Lagos State governor saw the naira redesign policy as his interest and ambition, and that he would not wait a minute in Aso Rock before scrapping it.
