Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank, stated that commercial banks must still accept old Naira notes even past the February 10th deadline during his appearance before a House of Representatives ad hoc committee. He affirmed his agreement with section 20(3) of the CBN Act, which requires banks to accept outdated currency after a deadline has passed.
According to Section 20(3) of the CBN Act: “The Bank, if instructed by the President and with reasonable notice, may recall any of its notes or coins by paying the face value. Any notes or coins subject to recall will no longer be legal tender after the notice period but, as per Section 22 of the Act, can still be redeemed by the Bank upon request.”
Emefiele stated that banks must still accept the money even after the February 10th deadline. He previously designated February 17th as a “grace period” for depositing the funds, but lawmakers are advocating for a longer period of time in months, not days.
Emefiele stated in his speech that “the law requires us to collect money even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status, and I support the House of Representatives on this. This means, although it may have lost its legal tender status, we still accept it. If you have money that you haven’t been able to deposit, we will give you the opportunity to bring it to the CBN and redeem it. You can either deposit it into your bank account or exchange it, but you won’t lose your money. This is my assurance to the people of Nigeria.”
Source: Premium Times