As the December 31, 2023 deadline for phasing out from circulation as legal tender the old N1000, N500, and N200 banknotes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again reassured Nigerians that all denomination of banknotes it has issued remain legal tenders till further notice.
The reassurance by the apex bank was coming amid reports of a scarcity of cash across some major cities in the country.
The CBN said the reports were coming despite assurances of sufficient cash stocks in all its locations nationwide.
The CBN also expressed concern about reports of anxiety among some members of the public over the legality or otherwise of old Naira banknotes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007,” the Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Isa AbdulMumin, said in a statement.
AbdulMumin said all branches of the CBN across the country have been directed to continue to issue different denominations of old and redesigned banknotes in adequate quantities to deposit money banks (DMBs) for onward circulation to bank customers.
“We wish to restate that all denominations of banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remain legal tender. In line with Section 20(5) of the CBNAct, 2007, no one should refuse to accept the Naira as a means of payment.
“Consequently, members of the public are advised to accept all CBN-issued banknotes currently in circulation and guard against panic withdrawals.
“We reaffirm that there is sufficient stock of currency notes to facilitate normal economic activities.
To reduce the pressure on the use of physical cash, AbdulMumin said members of the public were again advised to continue to embrace alternative modes of
payment including automated transaction machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (PoS) systems.
Recently,the CBN expressed worry over alleged insufficient supply of Naira notes at various business places across the country, including ATMs, PoS, and Bureaux de Change (BDCs).
In allaying the fears of the Nigerians over the alleged insufficient supply of cash, the CBN said its findings revealed that the problem was more prevalent in some locations due largely to high volume withdrawals from the CBN branches by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and panic withdrawals by customers from the ATMs.
