Old Naira Notes: CBN Insist on 31st January Deadline

Despite calls from various quarters in the country Nigeria for the Central Bank of Nigeria, to extend its deadline for the collection of the old naira notes. Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor has maintained that there is no going back on the date adding that its deadline of 31st January is sacrosanct.

 

He declared that the date set by the apex bank for the return of old N200, N500 and N1,000 bank notes would not be extended.

 

Emefiele maintained that the three months period given to citizens to return their old naira notes was enough, adding that Banks were made to extend their workdays to weekends in order to accommodate their customers who may be busy and unable to meet up on work days but most Nigerians never took that seriously.

 

He urged those who might still be holding the old banknotes to return the notes immediately assuring that they would not be harassed by the anti-graft agencies.

 

However many citizens have continued to complain about the unavailability of the new notes. A large number of the citizen we interviewed maintained that they were still paid the old currencies even after depositing the old ones they had.

 

They however pleaded with the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to look into the difficulties citizens face in accessing the new notes and consider extending the deadline.