The House of Representatives has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reinforce the use of coins as legal tender in the country.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Muda Umar (APC-Bauchi) at the plenary on Tuesday.
Umar in his motion, said that the former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had on Feb. 28, 2007 reissued N50, N20, N10 and N5 banknotes with new designs, as part of economic reforms.
He said that N1 and 50 kobo were also coined, while a new N2 coin was introduced.
Umar said, however, that coins seemed to have vanished after a while, in spite of the fact that huge sums of money was used by Federal Government to produce them.
READ ALSO: Abduction: Police Confirms Killing Of Woman During Rescue Operation In Kwara
The lawmaker said that the daily business transactions of ordinary Nigerians has been significantly affected by the absence of the coins which were the lowest denominations of the country’s currency.
“Lack of coins and other lower denominations, have resulted in prices of goods being summed up to the nearest naira equivalent, a situation that has contributed to inflation in the country,” he said.
He expressed concerned that while other countries make use of coins for their daily financial transactions, the Nigerian coins were not being fully utilised.
“I believe that injecting low denominations and coins into the economy will go a long way in curbing price inflation and stabilising the economy,” he said.
The House, therefore, urged the CBN to ensure that banks complied with the use of coins, and mandated its Committee on Banking and Currency to ensure compliance. (NAN)
