Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has stated that commercial banks must continue to accept old Naira notes even after the deadline of February 10 has passed.
When testifying before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee looking into the execution of the policy on Tuesday, Mr. Emefiele made the announcement.
The CBN Governor declared that he supports CBN Act section 20(3), which mandates that commercial banks must accept outdated currencies after a certain period of time.
Despite subsections (1) and (2) of this provision, the Act’s section 20 (3) states that the Bank has the authority to call in any of its notes or coins upon the President’s direction and after giving reasonable notice in that regard.
According to Section 20 (3), “Notwithstanding Sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section, the Bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the President and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this Sub-section, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank upon demand.”
Commercial banks must accept the funds even after the deadline of February 10th, according to Mr. Emefiele.
The lawmakers stress that it must be months, not days, despite Mr. Emefiele’s announcement on Sunday that 17 February will serve as the “grace period” for Nigerians to deposit the money.