The Central Bank of Nigeria has cleared the air on directing commercial banks to dispense and accept the deposit of old Naira notes amid the raging currency crisis.
Dr Isa Abdulmumin, Acting Director of Corporate Communication CBN, in an exclusive chat with DAILY POST on Monday, clarified that there is no statement from the apex bank telling commercial banks to dispense and accept the old N500 and N1000 notes from Nigerians.
Abdulmumin was reacting to a statement by the Governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, claiming the apex bank had directed commercial banks to dispense and accept the old notes.
He said, “Governor Charles Soludo’s statement emanates from him, not the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Central Bank has not issued any statement directing banks on a collection of old naira notes. I am sure sometime in the future; the bank will issue a statement”.
CBN’s silence 10 days after the Supreme Court ruling validating the old naira notes has continued to unsettle economic stakeholders amid Nigerians’ hardship over the naira crisis.
SPECIAL PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers.
Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.
The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023.
The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night.
Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.
Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes.
Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch.
Signed
C. C. Soludo CFR.
Governor
Source: NairaLand Forum
