The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been urged by the Senate to further extend the deadline for the removal of old banknotes from January 31, 2023, to June 31, 2023.
The resolution passed by the upper chamber was a follow-up to a point of order brought by Senator Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) at Wednesday’s plenary.
Recall that on October 26, the CBN revealed its intentions to redesign the 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes.
Following the CBN’s announcement, President Muhammadu Buhari made the new naira notes widely known.
Shortly after the CBN announcement, the newly redesigned naira notes were made public by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ndume used Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rules to argue that the request for a date extension should be regarded as an issue of urgent national concern in order to prevent impending hardship for Nigerians.
“It’s expected that many Nigerian businesses will start to get rid of the old notes as soon as banks start paying redesigned notes to customers,” Ndume said.
He further added that “the withdrawal of old [naira] notes from circulation if not extended beyond January 31, many Nigerians will be thrown into hardship and to avoid the repeat of 1984 experience withdrawal of old [naira] notes.”
Supporting Ndume’s point was Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi), who asserted that it was accurate to say that people in rural regions were unaware of the impending currency shift.
“This motion is very apt and timely. If we insist on the date [January 31] given by CBN, it’ll cause a lot of hardship for our rural dwellers,” Aliero said.
