The Chief Executive Officers of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have been instructed by Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to begin accepting and disbursing the old Naira notes.
On Monday, March 13, 2023, Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo made this revelation. He claimed that Emefiele told him over the phone.
After the financial watchdog met with the Bankers’ Committee on Sunday, March 12, Soludo claimed Emefiele told him.
Remember that Prime Business Africa earlier revealed that despite the Supreme Court’s judgment that the old Naira banknotes are still legal tender, merchants and gas stations continued to refuse the N500 and N1,000 notes. A week ago, Supreme Court set aside the Naira redesign policy of the central bank, stating that the CBN’s policy breached the 1999 constitution.
The apex court rejected the central bank’s deadline of 10 February 2023 and stated that the previous Naira notes would stay legal until 31 December 2023.
The Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have not formally affirmed the legitimacy of the old Naira notes, thus traders and business owners are continuing to reject them despite the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The central bank has instructed commercial banks to dispense old currency notes and to also accept the same as customer deposits, according to a statement made by Soludo earlier today.
“Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.
“The governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023. The Governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night.
“Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.”
He added that the Anambra State government will shut down any bank that refuses to accept or disburse old Naira notes within the state.
“Anambra state government will not only report such a bank to the CBN but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch,” Soludo warned.
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