Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has maintained that the February 10, 2023 deadline for the old naira notes to cease to exist stands despite the Supreme Court ruling, which suspended the currency swap deadline.
CBN had set February 10, 2023 deadline for the old N1000, N500, and N200 notes to stop being legal tender in Nigeria.
Emefiele who spoke during a visit on Tuesday to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy of the apex bank, said, “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10,”
The CBN governor insisted that there was no need to shift the deadline.
He also said that Point-of-Sale agents, who charge above N200 for cash swap will be arrested and jailed when caught.
The CBN governor further said that the PoS operators can come to the CBN to be compensated for any extra cost incurred in getting the new Naira notes rather than charging a higher fee on customers.
The Supreme Court had last week ordered the suspension of the February 10 deadline for the naira swap policy pending a final ruling on the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara State governments slated for Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
