THE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said the newly redesigned naira notes are already in banks for issuance.
Emefiele, in multiple tweets in CBN’s official handle, gave the information on Friday, December 9 while on a visit to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the naira redesign and the recently reintroduced cashless policy.
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The apex bank governor clarified, in the face of criticisms, that the currency redesign and cashless policy were not targeted at anybody but were for the good and development of the Nigerian economy.
On poor performance of banking apps and about 40 per cent unbanked Nigerians, Emefiele urged Nigerians to embrace electronic channels available for banking and financial service transactions in Nigeria.
He also advised Nigerians to take their old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to the banks before the January 31, 2023 deadline.
It has been reported that Nigerians had already deposited about N2 trillion of the notes being rested in banks, with commencement of issuance of the newly redesigned currency a few days to take-off.
The apex bank had announced its plan to redesign certain denominations of the naira at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on October 26.
It had set December 15 as the official start date for the circulation of the new naira notes, which the President officially unveiled on November 23.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.