BREAKING: AFTER THE DEADLINE OF FEBRUARY 10TH, BANKS MUST ACCEPT OLD NAIRA NOTES SAYS EMEFIELE

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank, has stated that commercial banks must continue to accept old Naira notes even after the deadline of 10 February has passed.

When testifying before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee looking into the execution of the policy on Tuesday, Mr. Emefiele made the announcement.

The CBN governor declared that he supports CBN Act section 20(3), which mandates that commercial banks must accept outdated currencies after a certain period of time.

In spite of Subsections (1) and (2) of this Section, the Bank shall have the authority to call in any of its notes or coins upon the President’s direction and upon the giving of reasonable notice in that regard. Any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this Subsection shall cease to be legal tender upon the expiration of the notice, subject to Section 22 of this Act.

Commercial banks must accept the funds even after the deadline of February 10th, according to Mr. Emefiele.

The lawmakers stress that it must be months, not days, despite Mr. Emefiele’s announcement on Sunday that 17 February will serve as the “grace period” for Nigerians to deposit the money.

Mr. Emefiele stated in his statement that we are required by law to collect the old currency even after it has lost its legal tender status. I concur with the House of Representatives on this. Why does that matter? We may have advanced if it had lost its legal tender status.

But if you have money that you haven’t been able to transmit to the bank, we’ll give you the chance to redeem it by bringing it back into the CBN. We will give it to you regardless of whether you wish to swap it or pay it to your bank account. Your money won’t be lost. I give Nigerians this confidence, the man stated.

Details to come.