From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has described as baseless the recent claim of its former deputy governor that about 20 per cent of the naira notes in circulation are fake.
Spokesman of the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, while setting the records straight, said there are stringent policies in place in Nigeria to ensure currency counterfeiting remained very minimal as no country is totally immune to it.
“Indeed, our records at the bank clearly indicate that the prevalence of counterfeit notes in Nigeria from January to December 2016 was far less than one per cent (0.0014 per cent) or 14 counterfeit pieces out of one million bank notes.
“In line with our core value of proactivity, we have always endeavoured to use strong security features to make it difficult for dishonest persons to counterfeit the currency. In addition to that, we have carried out periodic massive nationwide enlightenment of Nigerians on easy identification of fake bank notes and the reporting of such to the appropriate quarters.
“We therefore find it rather curious that a former high ranking official of the CBN would make such bogus and unauthentic claims apparently calculated to destroy confidence in our national currency and sabotage the collaborative efforts of the CBN and the Federal Government at ensuring enduring stability of the financial system.