The Organised Private Sector and the Nigeria Labour Congress have rejected calls for the introduction of higher-value currency notes, warning that the proposed move would not solve Nigeria’s economic or currency problems but would worsen inflation and undermine cashless policy gains.

Their reactions followed a report by Quartus Economics urging the Central Bank of Nigeria to introduce N10,000 and N20,000 notes to restore the naira’s portability and reduce the cost of cash transactions. The report, titled “Is Africa’s Eagle Stuck or Soaring Back to Life?”, claimed that the N1,000 note, Nigeria’s highest denomination, had become “practically obsolete in terms of purchasing power.”

In separate interviews with The PUNCH, OPS and labour groups dismissed the proposal as “ill-timed, elitist, and economically risky.”

The National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George, said that introducing a N20,000 currency note would only favour the rich and contradict the government’s digital economy agenda.

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.”

The NASSI VP cautioned that the proposal appeared to be engineered to primarily benefit the wealthy, enabling them to stockpile large sums of cash in private vaults with greater ease.

He stressed, “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 warned that introducing N10,000 and N20,000 notes would worsen inflation and further diminish the value of the naira. Kuti-George questioned the rationale of issuing large notes in a country with a minimum wage of N70,000, stating, “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.

“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, Eke Ubiji, warned that introducing higher denominations could plunge the economy into a 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 argued that inflation and weak purchasing power were already crippling small businesses and that introducing higher-value notes would only worsen the situation.

“Our economy is already in a dilemma caused by policies like the removal of fuel subsidies,” the NASME President said. “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.”

On his part, the President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Dr Femi Egbesola, described the call for a higher currency as counterproductive, saying it would derail the country’s move toward a cashless economy.

Egbesola said, “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.”

He urged the CBN to focus instead on improving the value of the naira and deepening 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.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the issue had both merits and risks but cautioned against introducing excessively high denominations.

“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 explained. “However, it would also raise the risk of counterfeiting and could undermine the country’s cashless policy by encouraging more cash transactions.”

He proposed a moderate approach, suggesting that a N5,000 note could balance the need for efficiency with economic prudence. “A moderate increase, such as introducing a N5,000 note, might be a balanced solution,” he said. “It would address the current inadequacy without excessively increasing risks or reversing cashless gains.”

The Nigeria Labour Congress dismissed the idea as a recycled economic mistake that would not solve Nigeria’s inflation crisis or boost the naira’s value.

Reacting to the proposal, the 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 plans under former President Goodluck Jonathan were halted after widespread criticism, even from some figures who are now supporting the current proposal.

Onyeka said, “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.”

He insisted that the introduction of N10,000 and N20,000 notes would not strengthen the naira or fight inflation, stating, “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.”

The labour leader warned that the policy would ultimately affect all Nigerians, adding, “Since they’re determined to go ahead, let them. We’ll all feel the impact together; nobody will be spared.”

In 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria, under then-Governor Lamido Sanusi, had announced plans to introduce a N5,000 note featuring portraits of national icons Margaret Ekpo, Funmilayo Kuti, and Gambo Sawaba. The plan was later suspended following public backlash and halted by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Analysts at Quartus Economics argued that had the N5,000 note been introduced in 2012, it would now be equivalent to N50,000 in value, reflecting a 94 per cent decline in the naira’s purchasing power over two decades.

But for now, business groups and labour maintain that introducing N10,000 or N20,000 notes would be a “step backwards” that risks deepening Nigeria’s inflationary woes and undermining public confidence in the currency.

Based on its digital footprint, Quartus Economics presents as an independent economic think tank and policy advisory firm based in Nigeria. Whereas the organisation has no publicly available exact founding date and specific leadership names are not prominently featured in public profiles, it was established relatively recently. It operates through periodic reports and advisory publications and dates back to at least 2024.

Meanwhile, the CBN did not react to the development when contacted by one of our correspondents.