May 21, (THEWILL) – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied reports that it planned to replace the Naira notes in circulation with digital currency, the eNaira.
The Director, Corporate Communications Department of the (CBN), Osita Nwanisobi, said the statement purportedly made during a stakeholders’ engagement on eNaira adoption in Asaba, Delta State was incorrect.
Nwanisobi, who asked the public to disregard the reports, said the digital version of the Naira was meant to complement the notes and would exist simultaneously as a means of exchange and store of value.
On the benefits of adopting the eNaira, Nwanisobi said the digital legal tender aside from the safety and speedy features, would also ensure greater access to financial services by the underbanked and unbanked populace, thereby enhancing financial inclusion.
Nwanisobi urged members of the public and business owners to embrace the digital currency, the eNaira, which he said, offers more possibilities.
The eNaira was formally launched into circulation by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2021.
Since the unveiling of the eNaira, the CBN has maintained in various interventions that it is the digital form of the Nigerian physical Naira currently in circulation.
Issued in line with Section 19 of the CBN Act, the apex bank has always clarified that eNaira is, in essence, its direct liability built on a blockchain open ledger technology that prevents duplication or creation of fake units, with each eNaira note being unique and different.
Although the eNaira is a digital currency issued and backed by the authority of the Nigerian government as a legal tender equivalent to the physical Naira cash, pegged against the traditional Naira and will not fluctuate due to market influence at a different rate from the traditional Naira.
“The eNaira is a legal tender and will form part of the currency-in-circulation. More importantly, the e-naira will be at par with the physical Naira, maintaining the same exchange value as the Naira, meaning one eNaira is of the same value with one traditional Naira i.e N1=1 eNaira”, the CBN had said at the launch of the digital currency.
