A former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Muhammadu Sanusi, says the apex bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, has confirmed to him that the Arabic inscription, known as Ajami, would not be removed in the redesigned currency.
Mr Sanusi, who is also the 14th emir of Kano, stated this while dispelling rumours that the CBN was planning to remove the Arabic inscription.
CBN had on Wednesday announced plans to redesign the N100, N200, N500, and N1,000 notes by December 15, 2022.
The announcement by the apex bank was, however, greeted with mixed reactions, with some Islamic scholars alleging that the naira redesign was part of a plot by the CBN governor to remove the Ajami inscription.
But speaking on the matter, the former CBN boss urged religious leaders to desist from spreading unverified and misleading information to the public.
He particularly appealed to Islamic preachers to always verify and seek clarification on issues that are not clear to them, instead of acting on unsubstantiated claims.
Mr Sanusi said: “There has been speculation going round about the change of some naira notes. I heard various scholars commenting, with some implying that the Ajami on the naira notes would be removed.
“I want to use this medium to authoritively confirm to the Muslim ummah that there are no such plans.
“Since the issue came up, we have spoken to some people in the Central Bank, and they confirmed to me that such a plan is non-existent.
“When the misconception becomes widespread, I spoke to the CBN governor himself, and he also confirmed to me that there is no plan whatsoever to remove the Ajami.
“So, I want to appeal to Islamic scholars to please stop acting on unsubstantiated reports. I know some of the scholars making these comments are doing so without investigating the information brought to them”.
