The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has stated that commercial banks will continue to accept old naira notes from customers after the February 10 deadline.
The CBN governor made this statement on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at an appearance before the House of Representatives committee regarding the CBN’s naira redesign policy.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has accused the CBN governor of violating Section 20 of the CBN Act
He claims that the provision requires commercial banks to accept outdated notes even after the deadline.
“After the expiration date, such naira notes changed will no longer be legal tender but it also says that even five months, three months, or two months after, even in June, all the old notes presented to the bank shall be redeemed by the bank,” Gbajabiamila had said.
He said, “Section 20 says even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status that we are mandated to collect that money. And I stand with the House of Reps on this”.
He added that after the deadline, Nigerians could still visit banks to exchange their old notes for new ones.
“If you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank. We will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do an exchange — we give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians,” he said.
Emefiele also expressed regret to the Lawmakers for not responding to the earlier summons.
