By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, Ahmed Halilu, says the printing firm deployed the best international practices in the production of
the new Naira Notes.

Halilu who spoke against the backdrop of criticism trailing the release of the redesigned currency by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in statement last night said, “we shall continue to ensure that it meets international standards”.

According to him, the new naira notes “leave traces of intaglio inks when rubbed on plain white surfaces”.

“The best international practices have been deployed in the production of our national symbol, the (Naira), and we shall continue to ensure that it meets international standards,” he said.

The NSPM Plc, he said, has been meeting the currency needs of Nigeria “with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria since 2014”.

Halilu added: “Nigeria has achieved zero importation of currency, developed local capacity and, to an extent, conserved foreign exchange within this period.”

He said the new notes are of the same substrates and passed through the same printing processes and finishing procedures as the old notes they are about to replace.

According to him, the new notes are “therefore, basically the same as the other notes in circulation”.

Halilu said the new banknotes are generally light when issued, but over time become heavier as they stay in circulation and on getting in contact with dirt and moisture.

“The second stage of currency printing (Intaglio) requires a heavy deposit of special inks with fairly large particles to give a tactile feeling of the portraits as well as other raised prints by way of design,” he said.

One of the properties of intaglio inks, he said, is its “non-solubility in water and ease of transfer (light stain) on plain white materials owing to the size of the particles”.

This ink, he said, is “a security feature of all banknotes that easily differentiates them from forged or counterfeited notes”.

Halilu noted that the legal tender is a national symbol and urged “Nigerians and other users of the Naira banknotes not to subject our banknotes to experiments in order to prove a point”.

“Nigeria has achieved zero importation of currency, developed local capacity and, to an extent, conserved foreign exchange within this period”, he added.