The former director of currency operations of the CBN Ahmed Umar has told the FCT high court sitting in Maitama that the former governor of the central bank Godwin Emefiele printed his own design of the Naira.
In his evidence in chief, he highlighted the features in the design approved by former president Muhammadu Buhari which is different from what was printed by the CBN under Mr Emefiele.
Approval of the former president Muhammadu Buhari for the Naira redesign was obtained on 6th October 2022 two months after the board of directors of the CBN met on 15th December 2022.
The CBN act requires that recommendations be made from the board of directors to the president and the president shall approve the form design and device on any currency note.
But the former CBN governor got the approval of the former president before meeting with the board
The design approved by the President had a QR code, which the currency in circulation does not, the positioning of the portrait was on the right side, that printed by the CBN was on the left and the number scheme approved by the president is different from what the CBN produced.
Under cross examination by Mahmoud Magaji counsel to Emefiele, he admitted that former President Buhari actually gave approval to the naira redesign project.
He also admitted that former President Buhari on December 29, 2023 publicly launched the re-designed naira currency for the use of Nigerians as legal tender.
Another witness the Managing Director of Nigeria security and minting company Ahmed Halilu say Godwin Emefiele approved the design of the currency in circulation against what was approved by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his evidence in chief he admitted that the the CBN under Godwin Emefiele had approached the company for the printing of the Naira, but was recommended to involve De La Rue, a UK-based company and the original designer of Nigeria’s currency..
De La Rue’s engagement was crucial due to the complex security features required to prevent counterfeiting, including QR codes and enhanced watermarking.
The redesigned notes by De La Rue lacked the QR codes initially proposed.
After De La Rue completed the redesign, the samples were submitted to the CBN Governor for approval, which was granted on October 19, 2022.
De La Rue was paid £205,000 by the CBN for their services.
