Fakoyejo Olalekan
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said commercial banks will continue to receive the old Naira notes after the deadline on 10, February 2023.
Emefiele said the CBN Act mandates the financial regulator to accept a local currency even after it has ceased to become legal tender.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelRecall that criticism had trialled the short deadline after the apex bank boss gave two months for the transition from the old Naira notes to new Naira notes.
Emefiele had disclosed late in October 2022 that the CBN will redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes, however, the new currencies were not released until December last year.
The CBN had initially stated that the deadline was 31, January 2023, but two days before the deadline, the financial regulator extended it to 10, February 2023.
Updating the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy on Tuesday, 31, January 2023, after several snubs, Emefiele said the CBN will not reject the old Naira after the deadline.
While he didn’t reveal how long the CBN is willing to accept the old Naira notes after the deadline, Emefiele said the apex bank will act in line with Section 20 (3) of the CBN act which states: “Notwithstanding sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the president and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this act, shall be redeemed by the bank upon demand”.
The CBN governor told the committee at the interactive session that, “we (CBN) are mandated to collect this money (old notes) and I stand with the house of representatives on this”.
He further stated: “What does that mean? It could (old notes) have lost its legal tender status which means we have moved on.
“But if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank, we will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it.
“Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do exchange, we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians.”
