You’re On Your Own… CBN Knocks Governor Soludo On Old Naira Notes Order

CBN has cleared the air on the purported order on acceptance of Old Naira Notes.

Newsone reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cleared the air on directing commercial banks to dispense and accept the deposit of old Naira notes amid the raging currency crisis.

This online news platform had reported earlier that the governor of Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, and former CBN Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, on Monday, March 13, 2023, said that the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked commercial banks to dispense and accept old naira notes as deposits.

Professor Soludo, a former CBN governor, made this known in a statement he posted on his social media handles on Monday, March 13, 2023. He explained that the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele gave the directive at a Banker’s Committee meeting on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Governor Soludo, who revealed that CBN Governor Emefiele personally confirmed the directive to him, called on Anambra residents to report Nigerian banks refusing to accept the old notes.

The former CBN Governor had tweeted that: “Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and also to receive the same deposits from customers. Tellers at commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits, and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.

Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.

The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023.

— Chukwuma Charles SOLUDO (@CCSoludo) March 13, 2023

“The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March 2023. The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night. Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200, N500; and N1,000) and the new notes”, the statement contained.

Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.

Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes.

— Chukwuma Charles SOLUDO (@CCSoludo) March 13, 2023

However, reacting to the purported order, Newsone Nigeria reports that the CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communication, Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, in an exclusive chat with DAILY POST on Monday, clarified that there is no statement from the apex bank telling commercial banks to dispense and accept the old N500 and N1000 notes from Nigerians.

Abdulmumin said, “Governor Charles Soludo’s statement emanates from him, not the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Central Bank has not issued any statement directing banks on a collection of old naira notes. I am sure sometime in the future; the bank will issue a statement”.

CBN’s silence 10 days after the Supreme Court ruling validating the old naira notes has continued to unsettle economic stakeholders amid Nigerians’ hardship over the naira crisis.

Meanwhile, Newsone reports that the CBN has kept mum since the Supreme Court of Nigeria, on Friday, 3 March 2023, ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023.