Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday disclosed that the redesigned naira notes hitherto slated for unveiling on December 15 has been brought forward to Wednesday and would be launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He also ruled out the chances of any extension in the timeframe given for the lodgment of old notes, insisting that by January 31, 2023, the old notes cease to be legal tender.
Emefiele, who made the disclosure at a media briefing to mark the end of the 288th Monetary Policy Committee meeting and the last in 2022, urged those in possession of the old notes to hurriedly offload them at the nearest bank branch to beat the deadline.
“If you’re a diasporan, we will not wait for you. You should not keep the naira. You don’t need it. You don’t spend naira.
“We thank Mr President for ever supporting us because when we were being harassed, he defended the actions of CBN. We also thank security agencies who worked with us to see a smooth transition especially the EFCC, to help monitor the flows. We thank the Senate for the support despite all odds.
“Having said all these, let me say that we won’t shift the deadline. Capital No. What we have done is not against the law. Upon release of new currency, it will run concurrently with the old notes till January 31, 2023. That’s 100 days to make the transition”, he said.
(Sun)