Senate, House to CBN: don’t
print N5000 note
By Onyedi Ojiabor, and Sanni Onogu,
Abuja 43 minutes ago
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Lawmakers will urge Jonathan to stop
Sanusi
AFTER a brief lull, the N5,000 banknote row
resurfaced yesterday.
Senators were angry with Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) Governor Mallam Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi’s insistence on introducing
the N5000 banknote.
They unanimously vowed to stop the CBN
from re-denominating and issuing N5000
note.
It was their first sitting after a long break.
The lawmakers resolved “to urge President
Goodluck Jonathan and the CBN to stop
issuance of N5000 note and all issues
connected therewith”.
This followed the unanimous adoption of a
motion entitled “Introduction of N5000
notes by the CBN”.
The motion, sponsored by Rules and
Business Committee chair Senator Ita Enang
(Akwa Ibom North East) saw Senators
express anger over what they described as
exhibition of “arrogance, high handedness
and claim of monopoly of knowledge” by
Sanusi
Senate President David Mark noted that it
was obvious that the argument for the
introduction of N5000 “is not convincing”.
“The disadvantages of the N5000 note, at
the moment, far outweigh not introducing it
and, on balance, we should not go for it,” he
said.
Mark said: “I also heard it from the news the
way you heard it. I was not briefed. The only
briefing I had about this issue was in the
national dailies.
“The important thing is that if Nigerians say
they don’t want a particular policy at any
given moment, there is no harm in
government retracing their stand on the
issue and I think that is the situation that
we find ourselves.
“I have listened to the arguments from
those who support it, but those arguments
are simply not convincing.
“They appear to me to be highly theoretical
and technical in nature and they do not
address any practical issue on ground.
“Any policy that does not address issues
directly but just talking about indices we
cannot verify for now should wait.
“We have not reached that level where we
are just talking of hypothetical cases all the
time.
“I think the disadvantages of the N5000
notes at the moment far outweigh not
introducing it and on balance, we should
not go for it.
“And also, from the contributions on the
floor, we are all in support of the fact that
the timing is wrong and the policy is
unnecessary at the moment and the
arguments being advanced is not
convincing and there is no urgent need for
it to take place now.
“There is no ambiguity on our stand on the
issue. I am not sure that Sanusi is aware of
the Constitution. If he was, he would make
reference to us before addressing the
issue.”
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu
noted that though he may not be an
economist, he understood the implications
of the controversial fiscal policy.
Ekweremadu said on the basis of
sovereignty, Nigerians have spoken through
their representatives, “it is in the interest of
the government to listen and withdraw
from this course they are pursuing”.
Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (Cross
River Central), who seconded the motion
described it as timely.
Ndoma-Egba noted that in a democracy,
nobody should claim a monopoly of
knowledge or wisdom.
According to him, monopoly of knowledge
and wisdom is strange to democracy and
“even if the policy were to be for the good
of the people and they say they don’t want
it, it is their right to reject something that is
even good for them”.
“This is one moment that our policy makers
must listen to every Nigerian, even those in
the street, Ndoma-Egba said, adding:
“In this case, I am not an economist and I
don’t pretend to be one, but former heads
of state of this nation has spoken.
“Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has spoken
against this policy and, recently, the very
respected Yakubu Gowon spoke against it.
“They may not be economists, as has been
alluded, but with their knowledge or lack of
knowledge to manage the economy of this
country for very many years, we must listen
to them.”
Ndoma-Egba said that Nigerians must
reaffirm their commitment to the fight
against corruption.
He said, “We cannot in one breadth be
saying we are committed to the fight and in
the same breadth we make it convenient for
people to move around with millions of
Naira in their pockets. So, on those two
points, because I believe that there are
several other points against but with just
these two, I support this motion and urge
our other colleagues to support it.”
Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North)
said that the debate of the planned
redenomination of the naira is important
because it has a lot of technical contents as
well as emotional aspects.
He added that the parliament must be able
to distinguish between both and be seen to
inform the public appropriately.
He said, “There are about four platforms
upon which this policy is predicated and
over the period of the holiday, I had the
privilege of doing extensive study to find
out what really is the motive behind this
policy, which has generated a lot of debate.
The very first one is the issue of
dollarization.
“A respected member of the Economic
Management Team of Mr President had said
and I quote, Mr. Atedo Peterside:
“Money is a store of value and all these
thieves and vagabonds running around the
various states and all over the country, when
they steal money, they will want to keep it
outside the banking system.
“So, they need higher denominational notes.
Right now, they are using the $100 notes all
over Nigeria because they are the best store
of values for them.
“If you give them a better store of value,
they will move away from dollar and reduce
the demands for American notes and move
into our currency as opposed to the use of
dollars to hide their loot.”
“This was Atedo Peterside speaking to
Nigerian media on the reason why
Nigerians should support this policy of
government and here we are as a
legislature, part of the ruling class that is
being referred to, that this note is meant for
us to hide loot.
“This is a serious issue. It is true that the US
dollar and British Pounds is a store of value
outside the United States and the United
Kingdom.
“You want to store your value in a currency
that is stable and hard, not in naira.
“We need to work naira to the level of
reputation that other international
currencies are enjoying now before we can
position naira to store value locally.
“We are also told that the equivalent of this
N5000 naira is just about 30 dollars.”
Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West)
described the planned fiscal policy as
“ungodly, satanic, unconstitutional and
uncalled for and does not make reasonable
economic sense”.
Adeyemi cautioned President Jonathan to be
wary of some of his aides.
He said Sanusi has turned out to be one of
those misleading Jonathan.
He said it is ungodly for Sanusi to attempt to
divide Nigerians through the introduction of
a currency that would be used by only a
section of Nigerians.
Finance Committee chair, Senator Ahmed
Makarfi, said the statement by Sanusi that
the N5000 is not for every Nigerian is a
slight on Nigerians.
He said that the CBN boss woke up and
announced a major fiscal policy, thereby
taking Nigerians for granted.
Enang, in his lead debate, urged the Senate
to note that on Thursday, the 23rd of
August, 2012, the CBN announced the
introduction of the 5000 Naira note as legal
tender in Nigeria and the redenomination of
the Naira.
He said the Senate should consider the
proposal as a direct negation of the cashless
policy of the Jonathan administration, which
discourages cash transaction in preference
for electronic cashless transactions now in
operation.
He noted that the Senate should be aware
that in cashless economies, such as Nigeria,
high bills or currency notes, such as the
proposed N5000, are not required as
transactions are conducted from the payer
to the payee’s accounts without any need
for physical exchange or handling of cash by
either of the parties.
The Senate, he said, should be worried that
the policy will create multiple economic
problems, such as inflation, corruption and
security challenges, and would erode the
value of the nation’s currency and ruin the
economy.
Other Senators who supported the motion
included Senators Abdul Ningi, Nurudeen
Abatemi-Usman, Isa Galadu, Atai Idoko, Bello
Tukur, Mohammed Ali Ndume and Bassey
Otu.

Nija for life
This guys just know hw to keep the paper busy with suspense and events.
Who told them that sanusi lamido does not know the constitution?
What is the economy and who is it targeted to favour?
Why re they taking panadol for our headache?
5000naira note or not nija will move on
All these masses sef who told you that looting is back dated to ghana must go?
Nonsense when there is e-transfer every where
Its only the mallam for cows and okechukwu for containers that should have trouble handling the note
After all how may of you masses handle a 1000naira note in a month?
It ll even help you to save and hide some under bed or skip paying offering in church and givin arms to the poorest in our ghettos, let them leave it cos the advantages re much to the masses

nigeria has senate?

That Atedo Peterside should be shot in the eye, for that silly reason he gave for the introduction of 5k. I jst hope the senators succeed against that arrogant bascard, SLS.