Central Bank Governor (CBN), Governor Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday, said that Banks in Nigeria will continue to accept the old naira notes, (N1,000, N500, and N200) after the February 10th, 2023 deadline for the swapping with the newly-designed currency.
Emefiele while addressing the ad hoc committee at the Green Chamber on the redesigned naira notes and swap policy chaired by Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, said he agreed with the lawmakers on Section 20 of the CBN Act.
“Section 20 says even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status, that we are mandated to collect that money. And I stand with the House of Reps on this,” he stated, “if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank. We will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do an exchange — we give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I gave to Nigerians.”
The CBN chief who had earlier failed to honour the House’s invitations explained to the lawmakers that he was out of the country.
It would be recalled that CBN in a letter transmitted to the House of reps while the plenary was in progress, on Thursday, said Emefiele was in Dakar, Senegal, and would be able to appear before the green chamber.
The speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who read the letter to the House, immediately expressed the displeasure over the manner in which the CBN handled the matter, which he described as total disregard for the House.
He warned that if by the end of Thursday, no official of the bank had appeared before the committee, he would be forced to issue a warrant for the arrest of Emefiele.
His words, “I give them the benefit of the doubt. Go to the committee room, the venue of the meeting, and wait. If they don’t come, then we will know the next thing to do.
Emefiele who explained that the apex bank has sought approval from President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the deadline for the use of the old notes by 10 days.
