As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prepares to redesign the 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes, the apex bank has asked Nigerians to return the old Naira notes to the bank’s vault.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele made this disclosure on Wednesday at a special press briefing in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).
Emefiele disclosed that Nigerians have until January 31st 2023 to return the old Naira notes to the CBN and get the redesigned notes in return.
“Timeline for mopping up, I will say, today is 26th. So, we have about 6 or 7 days to the end of October till January 31 2023. That is almost about 100 days.
“I think that is adequate to mop up the currency out of circulation back to the vault of the CBN,” Emefiele said.
For those who do not have an account, the CBN Governor advised that they should go to the nearest bank branch and that an account would be opened for them for the purpose of returning the old Naira notes.
“If you are carrying cash, you can go to the nearest bank branch near you, they will take your cash and open an account for you for the purpose of returning the old Naira into the bank’s vault and then collecting the new Naira [notes] when we begin to release them,” Emefiele said.
According to the CBN Governor, the redesign will take effect from Thursday, December 15, 2022.
CBN set to make Nigeria predominantly cashless economy
Earlier, Emefiele had on Tuesday in Lagos State revealed plans by the CBN to take decisive steps to ensure that Nigeria operated a 100 per cent cashless economy. The CBN Governor made the assertion at the first-year anniversary of the Central Bank Digital Currency, the eNaira.
“The destination as far as I am concerned is to achieve a 100 per cent cashless economy in Nigeria. I know that those who doubt us will say that 100 per cent cashless is unattainable. Yes, it is true! But, Nigeria must move from being a predominantly cash economy to a predominantly cashless economy.
“At this time, I can say from what I have read from online banking to introducing the POS to ATMs, to mobile banking, working and collaborating with the Ministry of Education, I want to say that we have provided all the necessary infrastructure that should enable us make cashless a nationwide journey.
“It is not something that some of us will like but, we would in the coming weeks and months make pronouncements that must make cashless go nationwide. I believe part of those pronouncements will begin from tomorrow and there will be some breaking news tomorrow about it.
“Even the bankers committee will hold a special bankers committee meeting tomorrow to deliberate further on this, so let’s expect the news,” Emefiele said.
He said that the eNaira, which was another product added for Nigerians to embrace a cashless economy, had in its first year of operation, recorded over eight billion transactions.
He said that the apex bank would continue to refine, fine-tune and upgrade the eNaira as it was a journey of possibilities and not a one-off event .
According to him, Nigerians should expect to see additional functionalities in the coming months.
Emefiele said, “The additional functionalities include onboarding of revenue collection agencies to increase and simplify collections.
“Collaborating with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs through the creation of sector-specific tokens to support the Federal Government’s social programmes and distribution of targeted welfare schemes in a bid to lift millions out of poverty by 2025.’’
He assured the apex bank would continue to act decisively to encourage innovation, while at the same time protecting the interests of consumers and other stakeholders.
TNG reports that the eNaira, designed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe and trusted means of payment within the domestic and global economy, was introduced October 25, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari, given the potential benefits it portends for a digital economy.
Its objective is to enhance financial inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens and support a resilient payments ecosystem.
It is also to improve availability and usability of central bank money, facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and reduce cost and improve efficiency of cross-border payment among others.