Nigeria’s Apex Bank and regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked news making the rounds that it is considering the withdrawal of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes from circulation.
A statement signed by the CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbduMumimas on Sunday, noted that the report is an “unfounded speculation”, emphasizing that there is no plan to phase out the three newly redesigned bank notes.
According to the CBN, the redesigned and old naira notes will continue to be accepted as legal tender.
In the statement, the Apex bank noted: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a fake news item circulating in the media, particularly in the social media space, suggesting that the Bank is contemplating the withdrawal of the recently redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 currency banknotes from circulation”.
The statement continued: “We wish to state emphatically that such speculation is unfounded and a ploy by some interests to cause panic among members of the public.
“We wish to reiterate that the new and old currency notes have been circulating side by side just as the Bank has been taking delivery of a good quantity of the redesigned bank notes from the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) Limited.”
The CBN further emphasized that the redesigned and old notes will continue to be accepted as legal tender, which will circulate side-by-side for transactions ahead of the December 31, 2023 deadline, when the old N1000, N500 and N200 banknotes will eventually be phased out.
The CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 following complaints by many Nigerians but the Supreme Court, after a suit filed by some states, held that the Federal Government, the CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the February 10 deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue.
The apex court however on March 3 ordered that old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes remain valid till December 31, 2023. This was after 16 states of the Federation instituted a suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
