The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should reconsider the January 31, 2023, deadline it set for rejecting the old N200, N500, and N1000 naira notes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced its plan to redesign some naira notes earlier.
The CBN advised Nigerians to take old notes to the banks for the new notes, which included N200, N500, and N1000.
The upper chamber made this resolution after a heated debate on a motion moved by Senator Uba Sani regarding CBN’s policy of redesigning the three-naira notes.
The majority of Senators across party lines support the redesign of the naira, but some are concerned about the deadline set by the apex bank for the old notes to be deposited in commercial banks.
Lawmakers also questioned the naira’s impact on the economy and whether redesigning it would reduce the inflation rate and its dwindling value.
They asked the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to further clarify 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 undertake 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
