The Central Bank of Nigeria has again said that the January
31 deadline for the validity of the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes remains
unchanged.
This is as calls from various quarters have poured in
pleading and demanding with the apex bank to shift grounds and extend the
deadline in order to allow Nigerians more time to return their old notes to
deposit money banks, better known as commercial banks.
But refusing to yield to pressure, the apex bank, via its
verified Twitter page, insisted on Saturday evening that the January 31, 2023
deadline remains.
Reposting a video of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, from the just concluded Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the apex bank said, “Deadline for the return of old series of 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes remains January 31 2023.”
While in the video posted Emefiele said, “Unfortunately, I
don’t have good news for those who feel we should shift the deadline, my
apologies.
“The reason is because, just like the president has said
more than two occasions and even to some people privately, 100 days is more
than enough for anybody who has the old currency to deposit it in the banks.
And we took every measure to ensure that all the banks were and are still open
to accept deposits.”
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,
Atiku Abubakar, was one of the latest persons who pleaded with the CBN for
extension of the deadline, saying as much as the policy was welcomed, a slight
extension would ease the discomfort of Nigerians
Many Nigerians have continued to lament the unavailability
and scarcity of the new notes, decrying that banks up till now still give out
the old naira notes to customers with Automated Teller Machines still
dispensing old notes with the deadline only three days away.
The House of Representatives as
well as the Senate had also pleaded with the apex bank to extend the deadline
by six months, till July 31, 2023.
Meanwhile the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.) on Saturday said the naira redesign is not meant to target innocent
citizens but corrupt persons and terror financiers hoarding illicit monies.
The CBN on October 26, 2022 had announced its plan to
redesign the three banknotes. The president subsequently unveiled the
redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex
bank fixed January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes.
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