The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday said the old series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes will remain legal tender even after December 31, 2024.
A statement by Mrs. Sidi Ali, Hakama, acting Director, Corporate Communications at the apex bank described speculations that the old Naira banknote would cease to be legal tender as “false and calculated to disrupt the country’s payment system.”
The CBN assurance was an apparent reaction to a call by the Nigerian House of Representatives earlier on Thursday that the apex bank should print and intensify the circulation of newly printed banknotes and gradually withdraw the older currency from circulation
This call aimed at avoiding potential disruptions in the economy followed a motion by Adam Victor Ogene (LP, Anambra), ahead of the December 31, 2024 deadline for the old notes to cease being legal tender, a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court.
Ogene lamented that unless there is an immediate intervention from the CBN, Nigeria would face significant economic challenges ahead of the deadline.
Ogene told his colleagues, ”going by the Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling and order, the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes shall cease to be legal tender, medium of exchange for goods and services in Nigeria, and shall also cease to be in circulation as from January 1, 2025.”
Based his submission, the House noted that the CBN ought to have launched a nationwide sensitization effort months in advance, which would ensure that Nigerians are well-informed about the impending phase-out of the old currency notes and the introduction of the new ones.
Contrary to such fears, the CBN in his statement urged Nigerians to disregard such suggestions, assuring that “all banknotes issued by it shall “remain legal tender indefinitely.”
Accordingly, it said “the order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, granting the prayer of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to extend the use of old Naira banknotes ad infinitum, subsists.”
The CBN added that its “directive to 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) remains in force.”
The statement therefore enjoined “Nigerians to continue to accept all Naira banknotes (old or redesigned) for their day-to-day transactions and handle them with the utmost care to safeguard and protect their lifecycle.”
It however, encouraged the general public “to embrace alternative modes of payment, echannels, in order to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash.”
