The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should reconsider the January 31, 2023, deadline it set for the rejection of the old N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) earlier announced its plan to redesign some naira notes.
The CBN had advised Nigerians to take old notes to banks for the new notes. The new notes included N200, N500 and N1000.
The upper chamber made this resolution after a heated debate on a motion moved by Senator Uba Sani on CBN’s policy to redesign the three naira notes.
The majority of Senators across party lines support the redesign of the naira but some of them are concerned about the deadline set by the apex bank for the old notes to be deposited in commercial banks.
Lawmakers also questioned the impact of the redesign of the naira note on the economy and if it would reduce the inflation rate and the dwindling value of the naira.
They asked the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele to provide further clarification on these issues.
They also worried about the effect of this policy on Nigerians in rural areas and the unbanked.
The Senate consequently mandated its Committee on banking to embark on aggressive oversight to ensure that Nigerians were protected during this exercise.
Emefiele on October 26, 2022, announced that the apex bank would issue redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, effective December 15, 2022, while the new and existing currencies would remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023
