The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has declared that there is no longer a timeframe for how long outdated notes would be valid. Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the director of corporate communications at the apex bank, made this announcement in Abuja on Tuesday night.
He said that the CBN had told it of its intention to extend the deadline for the legal tender status of the previous design of N200, N500, and N1,000 denominations indefinitely.
Remember that in October 2022, the CBN redesigned the N200, N500, and N1,000 currencies. Specific dates were then established for the discontinuation of the previous designs of the denominations as legal tender.
The CBN stated that this most recent action is to prevent a recurrence of previous events and is in accordance with worldwide best practices.
“As a result, in accordance with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007, all banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to be legal tender in perpetuity, even after the initial December 31, 2023, deadline. The Nigerian Central Bank is collaborating with the appropriate authorities to overturn the current court decision over the same matter.”
“As a result, all CBN branches nationwide will persist in issuing and receiving all Nigerian banknote denominations, both outdated and updated, from and to deposit money banks (DMBs),” the bank announced.
In order to preserve and protect the banknotes' lifespan, CBN asked the people to continue accepting all Naira banknotes—whether they are outdated or newly designed—for daily transactions and to treat them with the utmost care. It also cautioned the public to use e-channels and other alternative payment methods for regular transactions.
