Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said commercial banks across the country will still accept old naira notes from customers after the February 10 deadline.
Emefiele stated this while appearing before the ad hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives on the CBN naira redesign policy, on Tuesday.
He, however, did not state the duration the expired notes would be admitted by the banks.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, had accused the CBN governor of breaching Section 20 of the CBN Act, which, according to him, mandates commercial banks to accept old notes even after the deadline.
“After the expiration date, such naira notes changed will no longer be legal tender but it also says that even five months, three months, or two months after, even in June, all the old notes presented to the bank shall be redeemed by the bank,” Gbajabiamila had stated while summoning the CBN Governor last Thursday.
While addressing the ad hoc committee, Emefiele 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. 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 give to Nigerians,” he said.
Emefiele apologised to the lawmakers for failing to answer the previous summons, which the chairman said was accepted.
He stated that the policy should have been introduced several years ago and that the CBN had only used the opportunity to make the economy more cashless.
According to him, Nigerians would soon realise the benefits of the policy.
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