After the deadline, Nigerians will only be able to redeem Naira for face value at the CBN, provided they meet certain requirements, according to a spokesman for the apex bank.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified Godwin Emefiele’s position that the previous N200, N500, and N1,000 notes will continue to be accepted after the new deadline of February 10, 2023.
In an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Director of the Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, said that the old notes would cease to be legal tender after February 10, 2023, and can no longer be used for any type of transaction after that date.
When the deadline has passed, only CBN will accept old notes.
After the deadline, Nigerians would only be able to exchange their Naira for face value at the CBN and not at commercial banks, according to Nwanisobi. He further stated that certain requirements must be met in order for the acceptance to be granted.
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According to Section 20(3) of the CBN Act, the spokesman for the central bank emphasised that Nigerians would only be able to “redeem the face value of the naira at the Central Bank once the currency had lost its legal tender status, subject to meeting certain conditions.”
However, it was not specified for how long previous notes would be accepted after the deadline passed.
Nwanisobi cited examples from other regions to illustrate how banknotes that are no longer legal tender can only be redeemed on demand by the monetary authorities of that region, subject to any criteria and procedures that may be set forth by that central bank.
Emefiele appeared before the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on the naira swap earlier on Tuesday, months after the lower chamber extended the invitation and days after Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila threatened to issue an arrest warrant for the head of the top bank.
The CBN chief informed the committee that after the February 10 deadline, the old notes would be accepted.
The CBN had already stated its intention to redesign the three currencies on October 26, 2022. On November 23, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari revealed the revised N200, N500, and N1,000 notes; the apex bank set a January 31 deadline for the old notes’ validity.
Additionally, the CBN set weekly cash withdrawal caps of N500,000 for private individuals and N5,000,000 for corporate businesses.
As the January 31 deadline drew near, many Nigerians bemoaned the lack of new notes while the National Assembly asked for a six-month delay.
But during a meeting with the President on Sunday, the head of the top bank claimed that Buhari had approved the deadline’s extension to February 10.
