Nigeria releases 1,000-Naira note
 

2005

The Central Bank of Nigeria was set to release a new, higher denomination bank note, valued at 1,000 Naira, into circulation Oct. 12.

The note (worth about $7.70 U.S.) depicts the first two Central Bank governors, Clement Isong and Aliyu Mai-Bornu, on the face, and a picture of the bank's main office on the back.

The signatures of current CBN governor Charles Soludo and CBN director of currency Ben Onyido appear on the face, where there are also two security seals, a rectangular seal on the lower right and a green  triangular seal in the middle. Nigeria's coat of arms also appears on the back.

The note measures 151 milimeters wide and 78 milimeters tall. Its primary color is mauve.

Foreign bank note printer De La Rue printed the notes, according to an Oct. 3 report in Newswatch Nigeria, www.newswatchngr.com. It cost 939,174,000 Naira (or $7.24 million U.S.) to print 120 million notes, the report said.

Bank personnel have denied that issuing the note would increase inflation.

"Whatever the source, inflation cannot be sustained without an accommodating increase in the money supply," Shamsudeen Usman, deputy governor of the CBN, told Newswatch. "The Central Bank will not  increase currency in circulation. What will happen is in terms of substitution. We are not increasing money supply."

The 1,000-Naira note is the latest in a series of higher denomination notes issued since 1999. The 100-, 200- and 500- Naira notes were released in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively.

Current notes, ranging from 5 Naira to 500 Naira in face value, will remain in circulation.

Usman said the bank tested production in polymer but suspended it because the printers could not meet the delivery deadline.

Even before the note was released, some people were upset with the design. As part of a broader political battle raging in Nigeria, the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria filed a lawsuit against the Central Bank because of Arabic inscriptions on the note, according to a Sep. 30 report in the Nigerian Tribune at www.tribune.com.ng.

The suit also includes Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian minister of finance, and Bayo Ojo, attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice.

It was filed Sep. 13, and states that the bank can't issued notes with Arabic inscriptions because the language is one "not officially recognized by the constitution and which is not indigenous to the Federal Republic on Nigeria," the Tribune reported.
 

The suit seeks an order restricting future issuance of "any form of money with Arabic inscription in any language that is not official or indigenous to Nigeria." In addition, it seeks the withdrawal of all currency from circulation bearing Arabic language, signs or inscriptions and their replacement with notes bearing language that is official or indigenous to Nigeria in the next two years, the Tribune reported.

Bank officials recently announced that the bank would no longer issue bank notes or coins produced outside of Nigeria after December 2006, according to a Sep. 9 report in the Tribune. The original deadline had been one year later, but the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions changed it because of improvements in the operations of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Co., since the Central Bank of Nigeria acquired it.

Soludo told the Tribune that the bank is considering restructuring the sizes of the bank note denominations, and eliminating some of the low denomination notes in favor of coins, because it costs 8 Naira to print a 5-Naira note.