Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, has confirmed to him that the Arabic inscription aka ‘Ajami’ would not be removed from the redesigned Naira notes.
Since his announcement of the redesigning of the N200, N500 and N1000 notes, there have been calls by some Nigerians for retaining or removal of the Arabic inscriptions. While some argue it is not an official language and should be removed from the Nigerian legal tender, others insist it has to remain on the naira notes.
Speaking with Daily Nigerian, Sanusi, who was a former Central Bank governor said the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, has assured him that the Arabic inscription will not be removed from the redesigned naira notes.
”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 authoritatively 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.”
