We won't extend January 31 deadline on old naira notes

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, says the January 31 deadline to stop the circulation of old Naira notes remains.

Mr Emefiele gave the clarification on Tuesday in Abuja, after the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting of the apex bank.

According to him, the 90 days window given by the CBN for Nigerians to deposit their old currencies was enough.

“We called on the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to extend their working hours, and to work on weekends.

“There is no reason to talk about a shift. The new currencies are available,” he said.

Mr Emefiele said that the apex bank had mandated the DMBs to feed the new notes into their Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, for Nigerians to have equal access.

“We have increased disbursement of the new notes to them. There is adequate quantity of new notes available.

“Our mint is producing and we are supplying the banks. We have super agents in underserved areas like riverine communities, and CBN staff members have been out on mobilisation.

“We believe that by Jan. 31, the new naira notes would have permeated the nooks and crannies of the country,” he said.

He said that the CBN had so far received about N1.5 trillion of the old Naira notes.

He urged Nigerians to accelerate the process of taking their old notes to the banks before the deadline, adding that they should not fear harassment for security agents.

“We have begged the EFCC and the ICPC to allow Nigerians to deposit their old Naira notes,” he said.