The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said that the January 31st deadline for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remains, and will not be shifted for anything.

Emefiele announced this after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, January 24.

Speaking at the meeting, Emefiele said kidnapping and ransom-taking have reduced since the three banknotes were redesigned.

He said that the time given for the swap of the old naira notes with new ones should be enough for Nigerians to go to commercial banks and get new notes.

”I must say that unfortunately, I don’t have good news for those who feel we should shift the deadline, my apologies.The reason is because 90 days (we feel it’s 100 days) should be enough for those who have the old currency to deposit it to the banks” he said.

Recall that on October 26, 2022, the apex bank announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes.

President Buhari subsequently unveiled the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes.

There have been concerns from many Nigerians over the slow spread of the three new naira notes as the January 31 2023 deadline approaches but the apex bank has insisted that the date stands.

THE Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN yesterday said that it has been begging banks to come and collect the new N200, N500 and N1,000 naira notes.

The apex bank also disclosed it stopped withdrawal to curb abuse and adding that disbursement of the new naira notes has been restricted to ATMs in order to ensure access to all bank customers.

Director of Legal Services Department, CBN, Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada, disclosed this at a sensitisation programme at Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos.

Speaking against the backdrop of scarcity of the new naira notes and continued disbursement of old notes by ATMs of banks, Salam-Alada said that the apex bank will penalize banks for failure to collect the new notes and also for failure to disburse them via their ATMs.

While appealing to the public to go and deposit their old notes, he averred that there is no plan to extend the deadline for the public to deposit the old notes beyond January 31st.

He said: “I can tell you today the CBN on a daily basis gives out the new notes. As we speak now banks are with the CBN taking money.

“I am reliably told that we are actually begging commercial banks to come and take money (the new notes) from the CBN. We have these new naira notes in our vaults and we are waiting for banks to come and collect them.

“To also let you know the seriousness of CBN for these new naira notes to permeate everywhere, we have found out that a lot of things are happening, and we stopped the across-the-counter withdrawal of new naira notes to ensure that you, you, you can have access to it.

“Not a situation where, one chief, who is known to the Manager or everyone will cart away all the new naira notes from a particular branch.

“And that is why we said if you want the new naira notes walk to the ATM where there is no distinction between myself and the hawker over there.

“Part of what we are doing is that we have monitors going around banks. I have been to some ATMs this morning and I have logged reports, I have spoken to management of various banks. When I am in any bank, I speak with the Head Office, I ask them, where are the new naira notes we gave you, and you will start hearing an explanation.

“What you have been experiencing will actually ease off very soon because the banks now know there will be a penalty for failure to come and pick the new naira notes from the CBN and for failure to load the notes into their branches.”

The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria, Aisha Ahmad, has said the amount spent on maintaining the naira has increased by N10bn annually.

Ahmad, who revealed this on Friday during her appearance before the House of Representatives to defend CBN’s new cash withdrawal limits policy, attributed over 90 per cent of currency management costs to banknote production.

Findings indicate that the apex bank spends about N150bn on the management of the naira annually, which has now increased by N10bn, as declared by Ahmad in her presentation, obtained by one of our correspondents on Friday.

A former CBN deputy governor, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, had earlier disclosed that the apex bank spends about N150bn annually to maintain the naira.

He stated that the amount was used to produce, store, transport, protect and destroy the naira notes every year.

Going by Ahmad’s diclosure of N10bn increase, the apex bank has spent N800bn between 2017 and 2021 on the production, storage, transportation and destruction of the currency.

In her presentation, Ahmad said currency management was a key function of the apex bank as enshrined in Section 2(b) of the CBN Act, 2007, noting that the integrity of the currency and efficient supply of banknotes were indicators of a performing central bank, especially in predominantly cash-based economies such as Nigeria.

The deputy governor highlighted the various challenges facing currency management, which had affected the ability of the CBN to efficiently carry out its mandate of issuing legal tenders.

She stated,

“The challenges have continued to grow in scale, with the attendant consequences on the bank’s policy effectiveness, if left unaddressed. These challenges include wholesale hoarding of naira banknotes by members of the public.

“An observation supported by statistics shows that cash outside banks consists of over 80 per cent of the currency in circulation; worsening shortage of fit banknotes in circulation. This portends negative public perception of the bank and increasing threat to financial system stability.

“High and increasing cost borne by the bank: A review of the cost of currency management from 2017 to 2021 indicated an average increase of over N10bn per annum and over 90 per cent of currency management costs are attributed to banknote production.

This affects the CBN and other participants in Nigeria’s currency management sector (banknote production, storage processing, distribution activities and banknote destruction).”

Ahmad also noted that the high risk of counterfeiting evidenced by reports from security agencies on the rise of counterfeit-related incidents in some states, including the Federal Capital Territory, was another challenge.

This, she added, had adverse implications for businesses and the economy at large.

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in charge of Financial Stability, Aisha Ahmad, has said she does not know the quantity of the new Naira notes the CBN printed and released for circulation on December 15.

Recall that last Thursday, the apex bank released the redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 notes.

Nigerians have been complaining about the scarcity of the redesigned notes. Some people claim bank officials only give them N2000 worth of the redesigned notes whenever they visit the bank.

Also, ATMs are still dispensing the old notes. The lawmakers had on Wednesday resolved that a deputy governor of the CBN should appear to brief the House today in the absence of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is outside the country to attend to health issues.

While appearing before the House of Representatives to brief the House on the apex bank’s cashless policy and cash withdrawal limits, Ahmad said she is not aware of the quantities of the printed redesigned notes.

A lawmaker, Sada Soli, in the course of the grilling of the CBN deputy governor, raised concerns over the non-availability of the new notes, days after it was were released to the public and asked her to disclose the quantities of new notes printed.

Responding, the CBN deputy governor said she does not know the quantities of notes printed by the apex bank.

Her response caused a stir in the chamber as the lawmakers wondered why she would not be aware of the figure.

The CBN deputy governor however said she was being careful so as not to give a wrong figure.