The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked online reports making rounds, claiming the apex bank has approved the circulation of old naira notes till December 31, 2023.
Isa Abdulmumim, acting director corporate communications, who spoke with BusinessDay on Wednesday declared the report as ‘fake news’.
The report quoted him as saying he confirmed the development, saying both the old and new notes are legal tender and banks are currently issuing to customers.
He urged Nigerians to disregard it and avoid purveyors of ‘fake news’.
Some banks have continued to pay their customers with old high naira value despite the Supreme Court’s ruling.
BusinessDay gathered that the banks that were paying were the ones that still have the old naira in their vaults, as the CBN has not yet issued a directive on the matter.
We have close to a million naira of the old N500 and N1,000 notes we received from customers. If we get a directive to start recirculating the old notes we will commence immediately with the old notes we have,” a bank staff member who is not allowed to comment on the issue said.
“I think that is what other banks are also doing. They are circulating the old N500 and N1,000 notes. We are yet to receive any directive from the CBN, so the apex bank will not be supplying the old notes,” she said.
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Chinyere Almona, director-general/Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has urged all concerned to uphold the rule of law by ensuring only lawful options that respect and protect the rights of the populace are considered in pursuing varied objectives of payment policies in the future.
On Friday, March 3rd, 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the apex court, declared the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy as an affront to the 1999 Constitution that breached the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens. It, therefore, ordered that the old N200, N500 and N1,000-naira notes remain in circulation as legal tender until the end of the year, bringing much relief to millions affected by a chaotic redesign of the naira notes.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed in February by 16 state governors after President Buhari refused to heed their pleas to show more sensitivity to the plight of millions of ordinary Nigerians and allow the old notes to circulate for a more extended period.
The court held that the unlawful use of executive powers by the President inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens by denying them ownership of and access to their money, noting that some cash-strapped citizens had to engage in barter to survive. Many innocent people were harmed when protests, triggered by the cash scarcity, turned violent.
The CBN had said the redesign was to rein in excess cash, fight crime and kidnapping, prevent vote-buying, and address inflation and counterfeiting.
“The CBN was, however, insensitive to the associated disruptions to payments, banking, commercial, and economic activities, and the untold hardships the policy would visit on millions of ordinary Nigerians whose livelihoods depend on the use of cash, despite strident warnings from the LCCI about these foreseeable downsides to the policy,” she said.
The CBN announced the currency redesign policy in October, and the new notes were released in mid-December. People were initially given until January 31, 2023 to deposit the old notes, but this was extended to February 10, 2023 amid the chaotic scenes.
According to her, the Supreme Court ruled that not enough notice was given to the public before the old notes were withdrawn, and not enough of the new notes were released, leading to widespread anger and frustration. Many people could not get cash to pay for food and slept outside banks.
The court also said the correct process had not been followed.
