The CBN had earlier promised to ease the sufferings Nigerians are going through as a result of the cash crunch.
Nigerians can now take their old N500 and N1000 notes to commercial banks as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly asked all banks to start collecting the old notes from their customers.
Although the CBN insisted that the old notes are no longer legal tender, it ordered banks not to collect more than N500,000 from their customers.
A source who spoke to The Punch said the CBN directed the banks to collect the monies following the difficulties people went through to deposit their old notes at the CBN branches.
The source said, “Go to your bank but fill out the form before you go. Go with the reference code you generate. With your code, banks will collect it from you. But if it is more than 500,000, you will go to the CBN and deposit it.”
Recall that following President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide address on the naira crisis on Thursday, February 16, 2023, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele directed Bank Executives to make the old N200 banknotes available.
In his broadcast, Buhari extended the validity of the old N200 notes by 60 days, while affirming the February 10 deadline for the expiration of N500 and N1000 banknotes as legal tender.
Despite the Nigerians’ criticisms against the CBN’s controversial cashless policy, Emefiele urged them to allow the policy to work, saying he believes it would bring advancement to the nation’s economy.
He assured that the CBN would continue working to ease the sufferings Nigerians are going through as a result of the cash crunch.