By Kamsi Anayo
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has said that commercial banks will continue to accept old naira notes after the expiration of the February 10 deadline.
Emefiele made the disclosure on Tuesday when he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on the currency redesign and naira swap policy.
He said the decision is in line with the CBN Act, which mandates the apex bank to continue to accept old notes after their expiration.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, had accused the CBN governor of breaching Section 20 of the CBN Act stipulating that commercial banks should accept old notes even after the expiration of the deadline.
Section 20 [3] of the CBN act states: “Notwithstanding sub-sections [1] and [2] of this section, the bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the president and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this act, shall be redeemed by the bank upon demand”.
He said while the old notes cease to be legal tenders after the expiration of the deadline, Nigerians can still take them to the bank for exchange of new notes or deposit the old notes in their accounts.
Emefiele also said that the CBN stands with the position of the House of Representatives on the provisions of section 20(3) of the CBN Act, assuring Nigerians they will not lose their money.
According to him, “You will not lose your money even when it loses its legal tender. You can take it to the bank, pay it into your account. But we should please allow this policy to succeed.”
He however said that the apex bank was aware of the pains Nigerians were going through but assured that they were doing everything possible to address them.
