With suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele still undergoing ‘official’ scrutiny in the hands of the Department of State Security (DSS), emerging facts indicate that the Acting Governor of the apex Bank, Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, was the actual architect behind the controversial Naira redesign policy during the regime of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

A memo sighted by Gatekeepers News showed that Shonubi worked with the suspended and detained CBN Governor, Emefiele, on the policy that saw Nigerians going through the roughest of hard times leading to the 2023 general elections.

In the internal memo entitled: “Memorandum to the Committee of Governors for Currency Redesign,” dated August 2022 and approved by Shonubi, who was then the Deputy Governor in charge of Operations, it was stated that the redesign aimed to check hoarding of the Naira banknotes and worsening shortages of fit banknotes among others.

Shonubi said in the memo that the policy would address; “Wholesale hoarding of Naira banknotes by members of the public, worsening shortage of fit banknotes in circulation, high and increasing cost borne by the bank as well as high counterfeit risk.”

It was further gathered that the memo accordingly prompted Emefiele to set up a task force for the redesign of the Naira. While Emefiele was the Chairman of the task force, Shonubi and Aisha Ahmad, the Deputy Governor of Financial System Stability, served as Co-Chairmen to drive the policy implementation.

Credit: Gatekeepers News