Emefiele: Banks’ll accept old naira notes after deadline

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, says commercial banks in the country will continue to accept old naira notes after the February 10, 2023, deadline.

Emefiele made this known when he appeared before the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on new naira redesign and naira swap policy on Tuesday.

The governor of the apex bank, who made reference to Section 20 (3) of the CBN act which mandates the CBN to continue to accept old notes after its expiration, failed to disclosed when the commercial banks will stop collecting the old currency.

The CBN act reads: “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.”

Speaking on the CBN act, Emefiele said the banks can collect the old currency after it has lost its legal tender status.

“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 an exchange, we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians,” the CBN boss stated.

The apex bank had, on Sunday, extended the deadline for the collection of old naira notes to February 10, 2023, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the extension.

It had earlier fixed January 31 as the deadline for the validity of old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

The Star recalls that the CBN announced plans to redesign N200, N500, and N1,000 notes on October 26, 2022.

It later set December 15 as the official commencement date for the circulation of the new naira notes, which President Buhari unveiled on November 23, 2022.

The apex bank later issued a revised cash withdrawal policy, stating that cash withdrawals above N100,000 and N500,000 for individuals and corporate organisations will attract processing fees of five per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

The Star