German Embassy Rejects Old Naira Notes Before CBN’s Deadline

The German Embassy has disclosed that it will stop accepting old naira notes before the deadline set by the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Prime Business Africa had reported that the central bank redesigned the naira and announced that the old currency would cease to be legal tender at the end of January next year. 

However, the German Embassy said it would not wait until January 31, 2023, stating on its website that Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate General in Lagos will only be accepting new naira bank notes starting from January 9, 2023.

There have been complaints regarding the timeframe the central bank set for the deadline to phase out old notes, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Gbajabiamila, criticising the deadline. 

Gbajabiamila, during a probe of the cash withdrawal policy and naira redesign last week, had stated that the United Kingdom’s central bank gave the country two years notice after changing the country’s currency to King Charles notes, but the CBN gave only two months to do same in Nigeria. 

“I want to address the issue of – although you may say the horse has left the stable – the redesigning of the naira. All your policies may be of good intentions, but they say the road to hell is sometimes paved with good intentions. 

“We are aware of the Bank of England, we are aware of the US. Just recently, the Bank of England changed their notes to the King Charles notes, and the bank made a publication that it would not come into effect until 2024. In other words, they gave a year’s notice in a cashless society. 

“How then can we rationalise two, three months’ notice in a ‘cashfull’ society? And not only do they give that kind of notice, in the United States, and in other places, even when the law or the policy takes effect, you are allowed to continue to use the old notes at the same time until it is completely phased out. So, these are questions that are begging for answers,” Gbajabiamila said.