CBN refutes claim of high naira counterfeiting

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted claims of high rate of naira counterfeiting in the country.The apex bank put the prevalence of forged currency in Nigeria from January to December 2016 at less than one per cent (0.0014) or 14 counterfeits out of one million bank notes.

This was a reaction to what the bank described as “spurious and grossly uninformed claims,” which suggest that about 20 per cent of naira notes in circulation are counterfeits.

According to the bank: “While we acknowledge that no currency in the world is immune from counterfeiting, the rate of counterfeiting in Nigeria has been very minimal due to appropriate policies put in place.”

A statement by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, said: “In line with our core value of pro-activity, we have always endeavoured to use strong security features to make it difficult for dishonest persons to counterfeit the currency.

“We, therefore, find it rather curious that a former high ranking official of the CBN would make such bogus and unauthentic claims apparently calculated to destroy confidence in our national currency and sabotage the collaborative efforts of the CBN and the Federal Government,” he said.