The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has confirmed that the apex bank will continue to accept old naira notes after the February 10 deadline.
Emefiele made this announcement during an interactive session with the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy.
The CBN Governor referenced Section 20 (3) of the CBN Act, which mandates the central bank to continue to accept old notes even after their expiration and to call in any of its notes or coins if directed to do so by the President. The notes shall be redeemed by the bank upon demand.
Emefiele explained that even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status “we (CBN) are mandated to collect these money (old notes) and I stand with the house of representatives on this.”
“What does that mean? It could (old notes) have lost its legal tender status which means we have moved on. But if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank, we will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do exchange, we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians,” the CBN governor said.
