The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said the apex bank still stands on its February 10, 2023, deadline for the validity of the old naira notes.
The CBN boss made the disclosure during his visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the shifting of the deadline for the validity of old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes, is needless.
It would be recalled that the Supreme Court, delivering a ruling on the suit brought by the three governments of Kaduna, Kogi and , adjourned till Wednesday, February 15, 2023, for the hearing of the suit, which extended the deadline of the old denominations from February 10 to 15
But the CBN governor, on Tuesday, said, “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents.
“Therefore, there is no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
According to him, the apex bank is making frantic efforts in stabilising the situation adding that the arrest and prosecution of Point of Sale (POS) operators who charge above N200 for the cash swap is ongoing.
He assured the POS operators to go to the CBN, for compensation of any extra cost incurred in getting the new notes rather than charging a higher fee on customers.
The currency redesign started on October 26, 2022 but the CBN set December 15, as the official commencement date for the circulation of the new naira notes, which President Buhari unveiled on November 23, 2022.
