Nigerians, Behold Your New Redesigned Naira Notes

Today, Wednesday morning, the N200, N500 and N1,000 denomination of the redesigned naira notes was unveiled.

President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new currency notes on Wednesday morning before the federal executive council (FEC) meeting at the state house, Abuja.

"The naira notes are long overdue for a change as the current tender has been in circulation for nearly 20 years," the President said.

"A cycle of banknote redesign is generally aimed at achieving specific objectives, including but not limited to: improving the security of banknotes, mitigating counterfeiting, preserving the collective national heritage, controlling currency in circulation, and reducing the overall cost of currency management,” he said.

He added that “the new Naira banknotes have been fortified with security features that make them difficult to counterfeit.’’

‘‘There was an urgent need to take control of currency in circulation and to address the hoarding of Naira banknotes outside the banking system, the shortage of clean and fit banknotes in circulation, and the increase in counterfeiting of high-denomination Naira banknotes.

“It is on this basis that I gave my approval for the redesign of the ₦‎200, ₦‎500 and ₦‎1000 banknotes,” Buhari said.