By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerians have been informed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reject any dirty Naira notes given to them by commercial banks operating in the country.
Spokesman of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, accused these banks of being behind the mutilated notes in circulation.
Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos, Mr Okorafor advised customers to start rejecting the dirty notes from banks, saying they have the right to demand for new Naira notes from banks.
However, he appealed to customers to handle the local currency with care because it remains Nigeria’s symbol of identity and value.
Mr Okorafor said the central bank has taken several steps to mop up the dirty Naira notes from circulation but that the banks were just frustrating the efforts.
“The [central] bank has already taken the new measure to Kano, Kaduna and Abuja and also intends to bring it to the south,” he said.
Highlighting part of the measures taken so far to address the issue, the CBN’s image maker said one was the reduction in the amount CBN charges banks for sorting the dirty notes for clean ones from N12,000 to N1,000 per box.
Another measure, he said, was the reduction in charges for the commercial banks which lasted for three months from January 2 to March 28 was to encourage them to bring back more dirty notes.
According to him, the charges were raised to N2,000 per box after the March 28 deadline.
He explained that the opportunity was limited to lower denomination naira notes comprising N50, N20 N10 notes.
Mr Okorafor noted that the CBN also adopted the option of withdrawing the unfit notes from circulations rather than depending on the commercial banks, adding that the bank is now engaging various market associations to encourage traders change genuine dirty notes for new ones at no cost to the trader.
He said the issue was giving leadership of the apex bank serious concerns, but assured that it would soon become a thing of the past.
