Banks must accept old naira notes after 10 February deadline — Emefiele

District Governor Central BankGodwin Emefiele, has said commercial banks should accept old Naira notes even after the expiry of the February 10 deadline.

Mr. Emefiele disclosed this on Tuesday when he appeared before the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives studying the implementation of the policy.

The CBN governor said he agreed with section 20 (3) of the CBN Act, which mandates commercial banks to accept old notes after the deadline.

Section 20 (3) of the Act says: “Notwithstanding Sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the Bank shall have the power, if directed by the President and after giving reasonable notice thereof, to call on any note or coins in payment of the nominal value thereof and notes or coins in respect of which notice has been given in this Sub-section, shall, at the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, according to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank if desired.

Mr Emefiele said commercial banks should receive the money despite the February 10 deadline.

Although Mr. Emefiele on Sunday announced February 17 as a “grace period” for Nigerians to deposit money, lawmakers insisted it should be months, not days.

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In his speech, Mr. Emefiele said “the law says even if the old currency has lost its legal tender status we are required to collect the money. And I stand with the House of Reps on this. What does that mean? It may lose its legal tender status , means we have moved.

“But if you have money that you have not been able to send to the bank, we will always give you the opportunity to bring it back to the CBN for redemption. Whether you pay into your bank account or you want to do an exchange-we will give it to you. You will not lose money. This is the assurance I am giving to Nigerians,” he said.

Details to follow……