By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has insisted that the February 10, 2023, deadline for the swapping of old naira notes for new ones remains sacrosanct.
Mr Emefiele reaffirmed this decision on Tuesday when he had a meeting with members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja.
The CBN chief informed the envoys that though the policy was causing hardship to Nigerians at the moment, the benefits outweighed the current challenges.
The central bank changed the N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations last year and gave Nigerians till January 31, 2023, to deposit the old notes. However, after calls from various quarters, this deadline was pushed forward to February 10.
But on February 8, the Supreme Court granted an interim injunction sought by the Governors of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara States to suspend the deadline.
The apex court urged the parties to maintain the status quo pending when the matter would be argued on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
There have been reports of banks and Nigerians, including high courts in Lagos, rejecting the old notes despite the Supreme Court order last Wednesday.
At the meeting today, Mr Emefiele said the apex bank would not rescind its decision to remove the legal tender status of the old notes not returned to the bank within the stipulated time.
He maintained that the policy was designed to reduce corruption and kidnapping in Nigeria and also to tame the rising inflation.
