…Jan. 31 deadline remains sacrosanct

It is barely 11 days to the January 31, 2023 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the phase-out of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes, but there are still complaints that the new notes that should replace the old ones are not fully in circulation yet.

Now the CBN has said that’s not its fault as it has enough of the redesigned banknotes in its vaults across its branches nationwide but the commercial banks were not forthcoming in picking them up.

The apex bank has, therefore, urged commercial banks to go to its branches across the country to pick up the new notes or face sanctions.

The CBN also reiterated that the old notes would no longer be legal tender after January 31 and there was no going back on the deadline, urging people to deposit their old notes so as not to be caught unawares.

All of these came up on Wednesday when the CBN visited Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos in continuation of its sensitisation tour on the adoption of the new naira notes.

“We have been calling upon the banks to approach the Central Bank of Nigeria across the country to come and pick up the new notes; we have even waived some of the conditionality for accessing currency notes in order to accommodate the banks,” Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor, said.

“The banks were being given slots before, but now the Central Bank of Nigeria is bending over backward to accommodate the demands of the banks in order to service them, so that they can service you and so that everybody will have access to the new naira notes,’’ he said.

Emefiele, who was represented by Kofo Salam-Alada, CBN’s Director of Legal Services Department, said the apex bank was doing everything possible to ensure that the new notes penetrated everywhere, including going round to monitor commercial banks and their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to ensure that they paid customers the new naira notes via the ATMs instead of over the counter.

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“Part of what we are doing is that we have monitors going around the banks now. I have been to some ATMs this morning and I’ve lodged a report and I’ve spoken to the management of the various banks,” he said.

The CBN governor said banks that failed to pick up or lodge the new notes into their ATMs would face penalties.

He assured the traders that their experiences with the introduction of the new notes would be sorted out soon, urging them to call 08176657641, 08176657642, 08176656721, 07080650791, or send messages to [email protected], in case of any challenge with accessing the new notes.

Emefiele also restated the need for the adoption of the e-Naira and other electronic channels for transacting banking business, saying the CBN was already taking steps to increase the number of merchants to good positions where e-Naira would become acceptable.

Responding, Timmy David, president, Coalition of Associations in Computer Village, urged the CBN to ensure that the new notes were accessible before the deadline.

“There should be no banks that should not be given the new naira notes from the ATMs, all ATMs should load the new naira notes,” David said.

“As we are giving the old notes, we should be able to take back the new notes; this will enable people to transact their day-to-day business. If the machines are not dispensing the new notes, then it will not circulate,’’ he said.
The CBN had earlier mandated commercial banks to load only the new notes in their ATMs with a view to making the notes available to Nigerians. It had also threatened that it would penalise banks that failed to comply with its directive to stop paying over-the-counter customers with the new notes but to dispense them only through their ATMs.

However, despite reports from across the country that banks’ ATMs are still dispensing the old notes, it are no clear signs that the CBN has lived up to its threats of sanctioning erring banks.