The House of Representatives has 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.”
Members of the House had at the plenary on Tuesday unanimously adopted the motion moved by a member, Muda Umar, titled ‘Call on the Central Bank of Nigeria to Reinforce the Use of Coins as a Legal Tender in Nigeria.’
Umar, while moving the motion, recalled that a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, on February 28, 2007, reissued N50, N20, N10 and N5 banknotes with new designs as well as the coining of N1 and 50 kobo, while a new N2 coin was introduced, as part of the economic reforms.
The lawmaker said despite the huge budgetary sum that was expended by the Federal Government in the production of coins as part of the country’s legal tender, “the said coins seem to be extinct at the moment.”
He said, “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.
“The House is 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 utilised in that regard.
“The House believes that injecting low denominations and coins into the economy will go a long way in curbing price inflation and stabilizing the economy.”
