By Adedapo Adesanya
Anambra State Governor, Mr Charles Soludo, has asked residents of the state to report any bank that rejects the old Naira notes after he said he engaged the central bank governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who confirmed the validity of the notes.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court extended the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, 2023, and invalidated the Naira redesign policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), citing defective timing and implementation.
However, many Nigerian banks, traders, and retailers have refused to accept the notes since no official announcement has been made by President Muhammadu Buhari or Mr Emefiele.
In a statement on Monday seen by Business Post, Mr Soludo, himself a former CBN Governor from 2004 to 2009, said the national lender has directed commercial banks to dispense and accept the old Naira notes from the public.
He stated that the Mr Emefiele confirmed the directive personally to him in a phone conversation after a meeting with the Bankers’ Committee over the weekend.
“Anambra state government will not only report such a bank to the CBN but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch,” Mr Soludo stated.
“Commercial banks have been directed by the central bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers,” the governor said.
“Tellers at 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,” he added.
