Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says banks will continue to accept old naira notes after the stipulated deadline.
Emefiele spoke on Tuesday when he appeared at an interactive session with the house of representatives ad hoc committee on the currency redesign and naira swap policy.
He said the CBN will also accept the old naira from banks after the February 10 deadline.
Emefiele made reference to the CBN act mandates the apex bank to continue to accept old notes after it’s expiration.
“The law which says even after the old currency has lost its legal tender status that we are mandated to collect these money,” the apex bank official explained. “And I stand with the House of Reps on this. What does that mean? It could have lost its legal tender status which means we have moved on.
“But if you have your money that you have not been able to send to the bank we will certainly give you the opportunity to bring them back into the CBN to redeem it. Either you pay it to your bank account or you want to do an exchange—we will give you. You will not lose your money. This is the assurance I give to Nigerians.”
