At last the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made a U-turn, directing that commercial banks in Nigeria should stop rejecting N200, N500, and 1,000 old naira notes.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, stated this via a post on his Facebook page on Monday, saying that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, confirmed to him that commercial banks could dispense and accept old notes from customers.
“Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive the same as deposits from customers.
“Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.
“The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023.
“The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night.
“Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.
“Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes.
“The Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch,” he said.