Daily Independent (Lagos)
By Adeola Yusuf, Reporter, Lagos
17 November 2008
The Naira may be re-denominated after all, with the government, seemingly, at the weekend making a U-turn on the matter - months after the gambit on it by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, ended in a fiasco.
Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, led government officials to hold a meeting on it in Abuja, which Soludo, financial experts, and senior members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attended to deliberate on the desirability of the exercise.
It was learnt that at the meeting, which held on Friday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, the preponderance of opinion did not favour the re-introduction of the plan.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Chairman, Tony Elumelu, was said to be the Chairman of the meeting, which was declared open by Jonathan.
Also present was the Head of Bureau of Economic Policy and Programme Implementation, Haruna Dabin.
Others were PDP National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, former Finance Minister, Esther Usman, a professor of economics at the University of Lagos, incoming First Bank Managing Director, Lamido Sanusi, Financial Derivatives Managing Director, Bismark Rewane, and finance consultants Biodun Adedipe, Okey Udezue and Chizea Boniface.
A source recounted that "there were two major camps; the first was made up of the people in favour of the policy, the second had the majority of the experts arguing against it. The participants were mandated to come up with a report that would be submitted to President Umaru Yar'Adua on Tuesday."
Another source, a member of the committee, who does not want his name in print confirmed last night that it was believed at the meeting that the government would return to the issue of the re-denomination.
He said the government rejected the idea last year because the Yar' Adua felt the timing and presentation was wrong.
"But the majority of the consultants at the meeting felt that the Naira is not too bad and that the country has not witnessed hyper-inflation to warrant redenomination.We should be moving in the direction of a cashless economy," he said.
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