The Central Bank of Nigeria may have since announced that the naira notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 would be redesigned for some reasons, but it is the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, a government-owned banknote printer and mint, that will see the action through.
Founded in 1963, the Federal Government-owned minting firm is presently under the leadership of Ahmed Halilu.
He was a participant of Senior Executive Course 39, 2017 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, near Jos, Plateau State.
The Economic Confidential reports that Halilu, who was appointed the Managing Director of NSPMC last month, is an elder brother to Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Before his latest appointment, Halilu had headed the company in acting capacity, following the resignation of Abbas Masanawa on May 16, 2022.
Buhari approved the appointment of Halilu after the recommendation of the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, who serves as the chairman of the Board of NSPMC.
Halilu has over 23 years of experience in the Banking industry, having worked with African International Bank Limited and Zenith Bank Plc.
Halilu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture B. (Agric), Masters in Business Administration as well as Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy, all from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He has earned several other professional and diploma certifications that proved his wealth of knowledge.
His managerial experience is not in question considering his 15 years of managerial and financial portfolio.
Economic Confidential gathered that his first working experience post-National Youth Service Corps in 1992 was at African International Bank at Kano State.
He would thereafter become the Deputy Manager in charge of Foreign Exchange Department in 1998.
Furthermore, his earliest managerial position was his two-year stint at CBN, Kaduna Branch as the manager in charge of Corporate Banking Loans and Advances Recovery.
In his long career as a financial expert, he had attended not less than 17 high-value courses.
The Adamawa State-born technocrat is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management.
Emefiele, while announcing the Apex Bank’s intention to redesign the country’s currency, said CBN would release the re-designed naira notes by December 15, 2022.
According to the CBN Governor, this was targeted at controlling currency in circulation as well as curb counterfeit currency and ransom payment to kidnappers and terrorists.
He noted: “Indeed, the integrity of a local legal tender, the efficiency of its supply and its efficacy in the conduct of monetary policy are some of the hallmarks of a great central bank.”
On how it would help curb ransom payment, Emefiele said: “Also, in view of the prevailing level of security situation in the country, the CBN is convinced that the incident of terrorism and kidnapping will be minimised as access to large volume of money outside the banking used as source of funds for ransom payment will begin to dry up.”
He further identified more reasons that necessitated the re-designing of naira notes.
According to the apex bank governor, the challenges included significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public; worsening shortage of clean and fit banknotes with attendant negative perception of the CBN and increased risk to financial stability; and increasing ease and risk of counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports.
Editor’s Note: Economic Confidential is a sister publication of PRNigeria
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