The Kano State government has threatened to take legal action against anyone who refuses to accept old Naira notes as a form of payment, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) strict stance against the circulation of these notes.
The old naira notes are still legal tender, according to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who issued the warning in a statement released by Malam Muhammad Garba, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs.
Until a gradual and complete phase-out, he claimed, old naira notes would continue to be accepted as lawful tender alongside new ones under an interim injunction issued by the Supreme Court.
The governor made note of the fact that the government has learned that some business owners, including supermarkets, malls, banks, restaurants, hotels, vendors in marketplaces, filling stations, and motor parks, among others, have a practise of refusing to accept old naira notes for payments.
In addition to the already stressful situation made worse by the lack of the new naira notes, Ganduje added that some self-centered people’s refusal to accept the notes is making it much worse.
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The statement said, “Business and economic activities are severely impacted by the naira redesign and regrettably some self-centered individuals are capitalising on the circumstance to inflict extra misery on the populace by refusing to accept the old naira notes during transactions.
According to him, the populace has already gone through unfathomable hardship, so the state government won’t just give up and let a few self-centered individuals make things worse.
The state’s residents were urged by the governor to carry on with their legal responsibilities and report anyone who refused to accept the old naira notes to the relevant authorities.
