JUST IN: CBN Breaks Silence, Gives New Directives to Commercial Banks Regarding Old Naira Notes
There are strong indications that the federal government has decided to obey the Supreme Court ruling on the continuous use of old naira notes till December 31, 2023.
Commercial Banks have been ordered to resume collecting old and new N200, N500 and N1000 notes in line with the judgement of the Supreme Court on the matter.
Emefiele reportedly gave the order at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday in Abuja.
This is according to Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state who issued a statement on the development on his Facebook page in the early hours of Monday.
Soludo who was himself a former CBN governor, said Emefiele informed him of this development in a phone conversation on Sunday night.
Soludo therefore ordered banks in the state to start collecting and receiving the old naira notes.
He also threatened to deal with anyone who disobey the law.
In a suit filed by Governors Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) abd Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), the apex court held that the CBN had no right to confiscate people’s monies.
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In an unanimous judgement read by Justice Emmanuel Agim last Friday, the Court ruled that the deadline given by the CBN for the currency swap was too short and therefore extended it to December 31.
While Nigerians have been apprehensive about whether President Muhammadu Buhari would obey the ruling or not, Governor Soludo has announced that the CBN is taking steps to obey the court.
“Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers.
“Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate The codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.
“The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023. The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night. Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.
“Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes. Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch,” the governor said in a statement he personally signed.
