Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the support of the Federal Government, decided to phase out the appearance of some of its currency notes and replace them with newly designed notes, in an effort to fix some of the monetary problems facing the country.
Denominations targeted for redesign are N100, N200, N500 and N1000 notes. By December the bank had redesigned the notes and consequently launched several new directives and policies.
One of the CBN’s directives is that Nigerians should replace all old notes in their possession with new notes on or before January 31, 2023.
However, with only a few days left and due to poor circulation of the new redesigned notes, the central bank has decided to extend the deadline.
The new deadline is now set for February 10, giving Nigerians an extra week to replace old naira notes with new ones.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in a statement, noted that the new deadline will allow more opportunity to replace old notes in rural communities.
“Based on the above, we sought and obtained the approval of Mr. President for the following: 10 days extension of the deadline from January 31 to February 10 to allow Nigerians to collect more old notes legally held” The statement read in part.
After the February 10 deadline, Nigerians will have seven more days to deposit old notes directly with the CBN, the statement said.
A grace period of 7 days from February 10 to February 17 in accordance with Sections 20(3) and 22 of the CBN Act will allow Nigerians to deposit their old notes with the CBN after the February deadline. has lost its legal tender status” According to the statement.
Since the face value redesign, citizens across the country have complained about the availability of the new legal tender and even as it nears its deadline, some ATMs are still dispensing old notes.