The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has once again assured Nigerians of an adequate supply of naira notes in the country and cautioned against panic withdrawals.
In a statement on Wednesday, the apex bank reaffirmed that both old and new naira notes are still considered legal tender.
“For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007,” said CBN spokesman, Isa AbdulMumin.
“Accordingly, branches of the CBN across the country have been directed to continue to issue different denominations of old and redesigned banknotes in adequate quantities to Deposit Money Banks for onward circulation to bank customers.
“We wish to restate that all denominations of banknotes issued by the CBN remain legal tender. In line with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007, no one should refuse to accept the Naira as a means of payment.”
The CBN also underlined that there is an ample stock of currency notes available to support normal economic activities.
It’s worth noting that the CBN had previously announced plans to redesign the three highest denomination naira bills, with a deadline for Nigerians to deposit their old notes.
However, this move led to economic difficulties and public unrest, resulting in an extension of the deadline by then President Muhammadu Buhari, and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes would remain legal tender until December 31, 2023.
