Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the support of the federal government decided to scrap some currency notes and replace them with newly designed notes, in an effort to fix some of the monetary complications facing the country. with.
The denominations targeted for the redesign are the N100, N200, N500, and N1000 notes. In December, the bank has redesigned the notes and as a result started some new directives and policies.
One of the directives of the CBN, instructs Nigerians to replace all old notes in their possession with new ones on or before January 31, 2023.
However, with only a few days to go, and poor circulation of new redesigned notes, the Central Bank has decided to extend this deadline.
The new deadline is now set for February 10, giving Nigerians an extra week to replace their old Naira notes with the new ones.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in a statement, noted that the new deadline will allow people in rural communities more relief to exchange their old notes.
“Based on the above, we have requested and obtained the approval of Mr. President for the following: An extension of 10 days from January 31 to February 10 to allow the collection of old legal notes held by Nigerians,” statement read in part.
After the February 10 deadline, the statement said, Nigerians will have another seven days to deposit their old notes directly with the CBN.
“The 7-day grace period, from February 10 to February 17, is in line with Section 20 (3) and 22 of the CBN Act which allows Nigerians to deposit old notes with the CBN after the last date of February when the old currency will have lost its Legal Tender Status ,” according to the statement.
Since the redesign of the denomination, citizens across the country have complained about the availability of new legal tender, and even though the deadline is close, some ATMs are still dispensing old notes.