The Organised Private Sector (OPS) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have opposed calls for the introduction of higher-value currency notes, warning that such a move would not fix Nigeria’s economic problems but instead worsen inflation and undermine progress in the country’s cashless policy.
Their reaction followed a report by “Quartus Economics”, which urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to issue N10,000 and N20,000 notes to “restore the naira’s portability” and reduce cash transaction costs. The report, titled “Is Africa’s Eagle Stuck or Soaring Back to Life?”, argued that the N1,000 note had become “practically obsolete in terms of purchasing power.”
However, OPS and labour groups dismissed the idea as “ill-timed, elitist, and economically risky.”
The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Segun Kuti-George, said introducing a N20,000 note would mainly benefit the wealthy and contradict the government’s digital economy drive.
Kuti-George said, “Such a policy could worsen inflationary pressures. The mere consideration of these denominations reflects underlying inflationary trends, and their introduction would likely escalate them further. If at all necessary, a N2,000 note could suffice, but anything beyond that is neither practical nor economically sound for our current realities.”
He warned that the move appeared to be designed for the rich, who would find it easier to hoard cash.
“At a time when the nation is deliberately encouraging reduced cash transactions and promoting more secure and efficient digital payment systems, issuing higher denominations would only take us backwards,” he said.
Kuti-George further argued that introducing N10,000 and N20,000 notes would worsen inflation and erode the naira’s value. “Let us assume minimum wage is N70,000, so they will just give you three pieces of N20,000 and one piece of N10,000 note. It has no meaning,” he said. “Doing such a thing isn’t going to have a positive impact on the poor; it is the rich that will be agitating for it because they want to use it to stock corrupt money.”
Similarly, the Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Eke Ubiji, warned that introducing higher denominations could push the economy into deeper crisis.
Ubiji said, “It’s a very bogus thought. The planners of that idea should think properly before they launch it; otherwise, they will put the economy into a deeper crisis.”
He noted that inflation and weak purchasing power were already crippling small businesses. “Our economy is already in a dilemma caused by policies like the removal of fuel subsidies,” Ubiji added. “Do you know that today you can carry N200,000 to the market in a small polythene bag and come back with very little? It will not do anything to reduce inflation. Instead, it will compound the crisis we already have.”
The President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Dr Femi Egbesola, described the idea as counterproductive, saying it would derail Nigeria’s progress toward a cashless economy.
“For me, introducing a higher currency does not help Nigeria’s economy. Globally, the world is pushing for digital means of payment through different platforms and reducing the use of hard cash. By the time you begin to print higher bills, it somehow begins to drive inflation,” Egbesola said.
He advised the CBN to focus instead on strengthening the naira and promoting financial inclusion. “What should be important is how to improve the value of the currency, not to print higher bills just to compensate for shocks in the financial markets,” he said. “Our direction should be to make more people banked and to integrate more citizens into digital payment systems.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said while higher-value notes could reduce the cost of cash management, the risks outweighed the benefits.
“On the positive side, higher-value notes could reduce the cost of cash management and make currency handling more efficient for the CBN and banks,” Yusuf said. “However, it would also raise the risk of counterfeiting and could undermine the country’s cashless policy by encouraging more cash transactions.”
He suggested a moderate approach, adding, “A moderate increase, such as introducing a N5,000 note, might be a balanced solution. It would address the current inadequacy without excessively increasing risks or reversing cashless gains.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress also rejected the idea, calling it a recycled economic mistake.
NLC Assistant Secretary-General, Chris Onyeka, said, “I’ve seen this kind of move before, and honestly, it’s nothing new. If they like, let them go ahead and turn the economy upside down; at the end of the day, we’ll all swim in the same troubled waters.”
He recalled that similar proposals were made under former President Goodluck Jonathan but were abandoned after public criticism.
“When Jonathan mooted similar ideas about currency redesign and restructuring, these same people went wild with criticism. They said it was unnecessary and would destroy the economy. Yet Ghana took a cue from that very proposal and implemented it effectively,” Onyeka said.
He insisted that issuing N10,000 and N20,000 notes would not stop inflation or strengthen the naira. “If the goal is to ease transactions or fight inflation, there are better ways to do it, strengthen production, stabilise prices, and improve purchasing power. Printing higher denominations won’t stop the naira from falling; it only confirms that the economy is sinking deeper,” he said.
Onyeka added, “Since they’re determined to go ahead, let them. We’ll all feel the impact together; nobody will be spared.”
In 2012, the CBN under Governor Lamido Sanusi had planned to introduce a N5,000 note featuring Margaret Ekpo, Funmilayo Kuti, and Gambo Sawaba, but the idea was later dropped after backlash and intervention by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Analysts at “Quartus Economics” claimed that if the N5,000 note had been introduced in 2012, it would now be equivalent to N50,000, showing a 94% fall in the naira’s purchasing power over two decades.
However, business groups and labour unions insist that introducing N10,000 or N20,000 notes would be a “step backwards” that could worsen inflation and weaken public confidence in the naira.
The CBN did not respond to enquiries about the development when contacted.
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