The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has declared that the old Naira Notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 have ceased to be legal tender in Nigeria since the 10th of February, 2023.
The Branch Controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bauchi, Haladu Idris Andaza made the declaration while briefing Journalists on Monday at the CBN, branch in Bauchi.
This comes as several businesses and banks across the country including Access Bank, UBA, Zenith Bank, FCMB amongst others started rejecting the old notes from Monday.
Recall that the apex bank had set January 31 deadline for the use of old notes as legal tender and deposit to financial institutions but later shifted it to February 10.
However, the scarcity of the new notes and continued issuance of the old notes by banks to their customers has made the deadline unattainable.
Following the hardship and the slowing of economic activities across the country caused by the CBN policy, Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States approached the Supreme Court, seeking that the CBN be restrained from going ahead with the deadline.
The Court answered their prayer and adjourned the case till February 15. While the Federal Government said it would abide by the Supreme Court order, the Central Bank had been silent.
CBN’s silence on the issue has thrown Nigerians into confusion as the old notes are now widely rejected but accepted by some.
Andaza said, “In the last 24 hours, we have been inundated by questions from various angles of the general public about our operational guidelines on the old currency notes, be that as it may, there are so many questions here and there which people have been asking about.”
“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.
