On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it had not issued a fresh directive to commercial banks regarding last Friday’s Supreme Court judgment ordering the circulation of the old naira notes alongside the new ones until December 31.
A seven-member panel of justices, presided over by Justice Inyang Okoro, had described as unconstitutional President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the CBN to redesign and withdraw old notes of N200, N500, and N1,000 without consulting the states, Federal Executive Council, National Council of States, and other stakeholders.
Daily Trust reports that commercial banks and business operators were confused after the CBN did not issue a directive on receiving the old N500 and N1000 notes. The CBN spokesman, Isa Abdulmumin, who spoke to our reporter, said the CBN has not issued an official statement.
However, a senior management source who spoke to Daily Trust said, “Both the old and new notes are legal tender, and banks are currently issuing them to customers. Nigerians should not reject any note, whether old or new.”
More commercial banks nationwide have dispensed their customers the old N500 and N1000 notes.
This is coming 24 hours after REPORTERS AT LARGE reported that Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) began dispensing the old notes across its branches nationwide on Monday.
Our reporter’s checks in Lagos, Abuja, and Ibadan indicated that banks have started issuing the old naira notes to customers at their various Automated Teller Machine (ATM) terminals and over the counter.
Zenith Bank branch in Festac Town paid the old notes to customers over the counter. The ATMs at the branches of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) close to Agege-Pen Cinema Bridge, and GTB in the Ikeja area of Lagos were also dispensing the old notes.
Findings also revealed that WEMA Bank has instructed its branches to dispense the old N500 and N1000 notes nationwide.
Also, a Zenith Bank official who preferred anonymity said the branch had “received orders to begin dispensing old notes to our customers.”
A Zenith Bank customer, Barrister Dike Amadi said, “I was paid the old N500 notes this afternoon at a Zenith Bank branch in Port Harcourt.”
Another customer, Aina Dipo, said, “Old naira notes of N500 and N1000 are now being dispensed in Osogbo, Osun State.”
However, the crisis has taken a new twist: supermarkets, fuel stations, and commercial bus drivers in some parts of Lagos reject the old notes.
Olaiya Simileoluwa, a resident of Lagos said, “What is this confusion. Supreme Court says the old naira remains valid till December, banks start dispensing old notes but buses, supermarkets, fuel stations, and so on are not collecting the old notes. It’s like this country is on autopilot.”
