The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed its branches nationwide to continue issuing and accepting all denominations of the old and new naira notes to and from Deposit Money Banks, DMBs.
This directive follows the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the prayer of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, to extend the use of old Naira banknotes till infinity.
You will recall that in March the Supreme Court ordered that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 remain legal tender till December 31st, 2023 following the redesign of these denominations.
At the backdrop of the approach of this deadline, many commercial and individual transactions began to witness cash scarcity despite assurances from the CBN that it would continue to accept all denominations of the notes both old and redesigned beyond the deadline.
Subsequently, the AGF approached the Supreme Court to obtain a legal backing for this position of the CBN.
In a statement signed by its Acting Director Corporate Communications, Mrs. Sidi Ali Akama, CBN directed all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of Nigerian banknotes, old and re-designed, to and from deposit money banks (DMBS).
Furthermore, the apex bank advised the general public to embrace alternative modes of payment, like e-channels, in order to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash.