Lawmakers Lament Hardship in Changing Old Naira Notes to New, Seek Deadline

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Lawmakers at the National Assembly have lamented the hardship some Nigerians go through in exchanging their old Naira notes for new ones, asking the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to consider extending the deadline by six months.

Last October, the apex bank said it would redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes and introduce them into circulation by December 15, 2022.

This was done, and Nigerians were given till January 31, 2023, to exchange their old banknotes for the newly redesigned denominations.

However, up till on Monday, January 23, 2023, Business Post confirmed that banks were still giving customers the old notes, leaving many confused.

With just a week to the deadline, the lawmakers are of the view that Nigerians need more time to change their old notes and not lose out.

At the Senate today, the central bank was asked to extend the deadline because the policy was making citizens go through undue hardship.

At the House of Representatives, this view was echoed by the majority, who pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and prevail on the CBN to shift its ground.

At the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, maintained that the deadline would not be extended, urging Nigerians to make use of all the available channels to get the new Naira notes.