With the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the deadline for swapping old naira notes with new ones till February 10, 2023.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in a statement signed on Sunday disclosed that the apex bank has sought approval from President Buhari to extend the deadline for using the old notes by 10 days.
“Based on the foregoing, we have sought and obtained Mr President’s approval for the following: A 10-day extension of the deadline from January 31 to February 10 to allow for collecting more old notes legitimately held by Nigerians.
“A 7-day grace period, beginning from February 10 to February 17, in compliance with Sections 20(3) and 22 of the CBN Act allowing Nigerians to deposit their old notes at the CBN after the February deadline when the old currency would have lost its Legal Tender Status,” the statement reads.
Emefiele also pleaded for the cooperation of all Nigerians in ensuring a hitch-free process for implementing the policy.
Many Nigerians experienced difficulty lodging their old Naira notes. They flood banking halls with huge cash in old notes to exchange them for new ones, scrambling to meet the initial January 31 deadline. Some churches, schools, and traders, among others, have stopped collecting the old Naira notes.
