Traders at the popular Wuse Modern Market in Abuja trooped out on Thursday, January 12, to learn new things about the redesigned higher-denomination naira notes, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) embarked on a sensitisation campaign.
Scores of traders used the opportunity to ask salient questions about the new notes.
The CBN had stipulated that the old notes in the denominations of N200, N500 and N1,000 would expire on January 31, this year, to be replaced by the new notes that began circulation since December 15, 2022.
Some of the traders who were at the sensitisation programme in Wuse market asked if it was possible for them to deposit their old currencies without having a bank account. In response, Mrs. Awa Ndayako, a manager in the currency operations department of the bank, said the best way was for those in that category to simply open accounts with any commercial bank.
Some other people from the audience also asked questions around the colour and security of the currency notes, which Ndayako answered by saying that the colour of the banknotes should not cause concern. “Just know that even if the colour stains at first handling of the notes, it doesn’t affect the quality and security.”
She told the market population that the new currency notes have better features, including enhanced security, greater durability and attractiveness than the old ones.
For his part, Mr. Michael Ogbu, a CBN Abuja Branch Controller, said the redesigning of higher denominations of banknotes came with many benefits for the Nigerian economy.
He urged a nationwide acceptance of the new notes for effective formulation and implementation of monetary policy.
He said the launching of the new notes would also avail the CBN of more accurate data on money supply and monetary aggregates, besides helping to control inflation and making monetary policy more effective.
The CBN had lamented that the hoarding currency notes outside of the banking sector was a major contributor to Nigeria’s surging inflation rate.
“The currency redesign would assist in the fight against corruption, as the exercise would rein in the higher denominations used for corruption and the movement of such funds from the banking system could be tracked easily,” he stated.
“Accept it, use and respect it as our national symbol,” Mr. Ogbu said, adding that “there is no limit to how much a customer can deposit between now and January 31, 2023, as the CBN has suspended bank charges.”
The branch comptroller who was represented by Kareem Williams, encouraged the public to explore other payment channels, such as eNaira, POS, electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking, and mobile money operators and agents, for their economic activities.
The CBN advised members of the public to ensure that they deposit cash holdings in the old denominations at their commercial banks before January 31, 2023 when the old banknotes would no longer be acceptable as legal tender.,
CBN told the audience to quickly take their old currency notes to the nearest commercial banks and agent banks nearest to them.
Ndayako explained some of the features of the new notes, telling them to ignore the unfounded stories being peddled about the new banknotes. She urged them to explore other electronic transfer channels to conduct financial transactions.
CBN encouraged Nigerians to be at liberty to approach their banks at any time with their complaints for resolution and/or clarification. In the instance that their banks are not able or willing to address the issues, the bank customers were asked to contact the consumer protection department of the CBN through a designated mail address for solution.
