By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday threatened to sanction commercial banks dispensing the old naira notes to customers.
The CBN announced on October 26, 2022, its decision to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and set January 31, 2023, as the deadline for the old notes to serve as legal tender.
With less than two weeks to the deadline and several Nigerians complaining about the unavailability of the new notes, the Abeokuta branch controller of the apex bank, Mr Lanre Wahab, said the CBN will not hesitate to sanction banks still dispensing the old notes to customers.
He made the remark at an engagement – about the redesigned notes – with market men and women and members of the informal sector at the Lafenwa Market.
“They are going to be penalised wherever we still find old notes that have been redesigned – N200, N500, and N1,000. Any bank that is found still issuing/dispensing them will get sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” he said,
At the event in the Ogun State capital, he said the central bank would soon commence spot checks on Automate Teller Machines (ATMs) to ensure compliance by banks.
According to him, the CBN has since January 13 directed commercial and deposit banks to stop issuing the old notes to customers.
“So, any bank that is sanctioned merits such because they have been warned since 13 to stop doing that,” he maintained.
While assuring that the redesigned notes remain legal tender, he appealed to residents to seize the window of opportunity provided by the CBN to exchange the old notes for new ones before the expiration of the deadline.
Recall that the central bank had announced limits on cash withdrawals via over-the-counter (OTC), ATMs, and others after it called on customers to deposit their current N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. This move was part of initiatives to increase the use of electronic transfers.
