President Goodluck Jonathan reconsiders proposed N5,000 notes

Barely 24 hours after the National Assembly vowed to move against the proposed currency restructuring exercise and the introduction of N5,000 banknote by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), there are indications that the project may be shelved.

President Goodluck Jonathan met behind closed doors with the leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday night where the two arms of government reviewed the project and agreed in principle to explore the possibility of shelving it.

Both chambers of the National Assembly, after debates at their plenary sessions on Tuesday, had adopted motions rejecting the project.

In separate motions, the parliamentarians unanimously voted against the currency restructuring exercise and urged Jonathan to direct the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to halt it.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who addressed journalists after the plenary, said the Senate considered the matter as very urgent because of the likely impact of the currency restructuring exercise on the populace.

He said the resolution of the Senate is that the proposed action of the CBN was illegal because it directly contravenes Section 4(2) of the constitution which states: “The National Assembly shall have power to make laws, order good governance of the federation or any part thereof on any matter included in the exclusive legislative list set out in Part 1 of the Second Schedule of this Constitution.”

Although there was no formal briefing on what transpired at the secret meeting between Jonathan and the National Assembly leadership, sources confirmed that the presidency was persuaded to drop the project because of the perceived negative impact it will have on the economy.

Jonathan was also said to be getting weary of swimming against the tide of public opinion and the rage of the parliament.

It was learnt that one of the reasons behind the plan to shelve the introduction of the N5,000 banknote was because the president, notwithstanding the fact that he had approved the project, is having a rethink based on the strong opposition to the exercise.