By Godfrey AKON
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of old and re-designed Nigerian banknotes from deposit money banks, DMBs.
The apex bank, in a statement by its Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Sidi Hakama, said the directive followed the order of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, granting the prayer of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to extend the use of old Naira banknotes ad infinitum,
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Supreme Court ordered that the old versions of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes shall continue to be legal tender, alongside the re-designed versions. Accordingly, in line with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007, all banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), will continue to remain legal tender, indefinitely.
“Members of the public are enjoined to continue to accept all Naira banknotes (old or re- designed) for their day-to-day transactions and handle these banknotes with the utmost care, to safeguard and protect the lifecycle of the banknotes.
“Furthermore, the general public is encouraged to embrace alternative modes of payment, e- channels, in order to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash,” the statement said.
Recall that a 7-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro had ruled that both old and new notes should remain legal tender till the Federal Government puts a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Lateef Fagbemi, had approached the apex court to vacate its March 3 order which directed a phase out of the old currency before December 31, 2023.
The AGF, in the application noted that the extension of time is necessary as government has not been able to print the volume of new notes that would enable a phase out on the due date.
