The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed that the January 31 deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira banknotes has not changed.
This is due to calls coming in from various parties asking and asking that Apex Bank change its reasoning and extend the deadline to give Nigerians more time to store their old banknotes in custodians known as commercial banks.
But Apex Bank resisted the pressure, saying the January 31, 2023 deadline is in effect via a Twitter page, which was confirmed late Saturday night.
At a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of CBN Gov. Introducing Godwin Emefiele’s video, the head of the bank said:
“The deadline for the return of 200, 500 and 1000 naira banknotes of the previous series is January 31, 2023.”
In the video posted, Emefiele said:
“Unfortunately, I don’t have good news for those of you who think we should postpone the deadline. I’m really sorry”.
The reason is that the president has said this more than once, even to several people.
Personally, a person with an old currency needs 100 days to put it in the bank.
And we have done everything to ensure that all banks are registered and accept deposits.
People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was one of those who recently asked CBN to extend the deadline, saying the policy was welcome but a small extension would ease tensions among Nigerians.
Many Nigerians continue to complain about the lack and shortage of new banknotes, criticizing banks for still issuing old Naira banknotes to ATM customers who give only three days’ notice and continue to issue old banknotes.
The House and Senate also asked Apex Bank to extend the six-month deadline until July 31, 2023. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) said on Saturday that Naira’s redesign is not for innocent citizens, but for corrupt people.
Terrorist financiers collecting illegal money. CBN announced plans to redesign the three notes on October 26, 2022.
And on November 23, 2022, the President introduced the updated N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes, and Apex Bank set the maturity of the existing banknotes in January. 31.