As the February deadline for the use of old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes as legal tender and deposit at financial institutions has passed, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has insisted that there will be no extension of the deadline.
“The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10,” Emefiele said while briefing the diplomatic community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja on Tuesday.
Banks are are no longer accepting the deposit of old naira notes, the Supreme Court order, saying there was no counter directive from the CBN. The CBN had said that the old old notes can only be deposited at the CBN offices in each state from 15th to 17th February.
The CBN Branch Controller in Bauchi, Haladu Idris Andaza, explained how to deposit the old naira notes at the CBN while briefing journalists on Tuesday, saying that the old notes were no longer legal tender.
- Visit the CBN website, go to the portal and fill an online form to generate a code or go along with the money to the nearest CBN branch in your state to obtain the form and fill.
- You can print the code generated or go with it on your phone to the CBN office.
- You should have means of federal government recognised identification card such as the national identity card, voter’s card or driving licence.
- A teller would be issued to you at the CBN branch and the old notes will be collected and deposited into your accounts. The operation starts from 9am to 2pm, from February 15 to 17
She said, “So for the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state categorically that CBN is ready and is opened to receive all of those old notes based on certain conditions and criteria. Customers are free to come to the Bank and deposit which they cannot do at the Commercial Banks anymore because the currency has seized to be a legal tender since the 10th of this month.
“Consequently, the management of the CBN decided that those customers will have a sigh of relief by coming to the offices of the CBN in all the 36 states in the Federation including FCT to deposit their money.
“The customer has to go to the CBN portal and fill a form in the portal, there will be a form there concerning this currency redesign and exchange. After filling the form, you generate a code, you either print it or come with it in your mobile phone, give us the code and the information contained therein. In the form, you are expected to provide all the basic information about yourself, your account details and the amount you want to deposit.”
“By the time you have done it correctly, you come to the CBN where the code will be accepted from you as well as the money, process and confirm the genuineness or otherwise of the money to avoid receiving fake notes because there are some fake notes in circulation now.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
