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Nigeria will revert to paper banknotes in a policy switch that bucks a trend around the world for tougher polymer-based currency. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signed a deal in 2006 with Australia's Securency International to print more-circulated lower units of the naira in polymer, while higher denominations were kept in paper form. But six years later - and after allegations the manufacturer bribed foreign officials to secure contracts, including in Nigeria - the CBN said it was being forced to reverse the policy. "Polymer has been on a test run since 2007. This explains why we did not go the whole hog by printing all the notes in polymer," CBN spokesman Ugochukwu Okoroafor told AFP. "We only used polymer for N5, N10, N20 and N50, while N100, N200, N500 and N1000 are in paper form. "We soon discovered that the (polymer) notes easily fade out because of our peculiar hot climate in Nigeria ... making them look tattered when ...

UNITED STATES (U.S.) Senator Ted Cruz at the weekend apologised and called for a peace meeting with Nigerian-Americans who have demanded that he retracts his controversial joke last week, which many of them considered insulting.   According to a letter from the senator released at the weekend to leaders of the Nigerian community in Houston, Texas, where the controversial comments were made, Cruz “regrets any misunderstanding.”   The letter was signed by one of the aides of the Senator, Mr. David Sawyer, the South-East Texas Regional Director in his office.     Sawyer, in another statement, is also asking for a peace meeting today between Senator Cruz and representatives of the Nigerian community in Houston.   Cruz has been bombarded with several phone calls from Nigerians in Houston and all across the U.S. since last Monday, October 21, comments.   Besides, there has been a big splash of negative media focus on the American senator in the U.S., w...

Nigeria's ambassador says comments about 'Nigerian email scammers' are offensive. | AP Photo Close The Nigerian ambassador to the United States on Thursday decried Sen. Ted Cruz’s joke earlier this week that “Nigerian email scammers” built the government’s health care exchange website, saying his comments are offensive and demanded an apology. Ambassador Ade Adefuye told POLITICO that Nigerians are “disappointed and shocked” by Cruz’s comments. Continue Reading Cruz (R-Texas) made   the remarks   Monday night in Houston at a “Welcome Home” event with tea party supporters. The following day, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) criticized the comments and said they appeal to a “backward” part of Cruz’s base that believes the president is from Africa. “We deplore the statement, and we demand an apology, and we demand it be withdrawn,” Adefuye said. ( PHOTOS: Key quotes from Ted Cruz ) Adefuye said he was surprised when Cruz did not deny the “offensive” remarks, ...