The House of Representatives at its plenary session of Wednesday 18 July 2018 urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to commence an immediate withdrawal of mutilated naira notes in circulation and replace them with new notes.
Presenting the motion, Hon. Adekoya Abdel-Majid Adesegun (PDP: Ogun) decried the devaluation of the Naira in the international market and its challenges within the country as represented in the poor manner that citizens handle it. He said that the Naira was often seen in “inglorious forms” with most of the notes in circulation being badly torn, terribly squeezed, soiled, cello taped, dirty and mutilated, especially the 100 Naira note carrying the face of Obafemi Awolowo-the late sage and historical leader of the former South West region.
He also expressed concern on the serious health implications posed by dirty naira notes, as they carried parasites and bacteria and were therefore sources of infection and potential carriers of communicable diseases. In addition, he blamed the banks stating that their general practice of paying customers in N1000 and N500 notes often meant that lesser denominations stayed longer in circulation gathering dirt with attendant consequences on human health. He also questioned the said general practice of banks as the lesser denominations were often readily available in black markets.
The House of Representatives also mandated its Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the black-marketing of mint naira notes on streets despite being unavailable in banks and assigned its Committees on Legislative Compliance to ensure strict compliance.
