The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, has ruled out any possibility of extending or shifting the deadline on the deposit of old Naira notes, even though commercial banks across the country are still stuffing their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) with old currency notes.
The CBN’s Naira redesign roll-out has been shoddy, flawed and ineffectual, with deposit money banks and the apex bank trading blames on why redesigned N200, N500 and N1000 notes haven’t flooded the market, barely days before the old notes cease to be legal tender.
The CBN had announced that on January 31, 2023, the old notes will no longer be accepted as means of exchange. As of the time of filing this report however, banks are still saying the new notes haven’t been dispatched to them, as they stuff ATMs with old notes.
Speaking during a press briefing at the end of the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, CBN Governor Emefiele restated that the January 31 deadline is sacrosanct.
Emefiele apologised to Nigerians for not extending the deadline, but stated that 100 days from when the announcement was made to the expiration date, was enough time for Nigerians to deposit their old notes.
The CBN governor also noted that the Committee has decided to aggressively increase the interest rate to 17.5 percent.
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