Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has said that one of the reasons behind its sensitisation activities on the redesigned currency notes was to ensure minimal collateral damage, as it concerns the lose of value of the old currency notes at the disposal of the citizens. The Deputy Director, CBN Abuja, Mr. Chika Nnwanja said that CBN was using both Radio and Television jingles, among other platforms to deliver its messages across to Nigerians. He expressed fear that some Nigerians might comply early while others may wait till the last minute before taking their old Naira notes to the Bank. Speaking during CBN’s sensitisation programme at the International Market, Abakaliki, Nnwanja emphasised that January 31st deadline for the receipt of old Naira notes by banks remained sacrosanct.
He said “what we are saying is go deposit your money with these financial outlets like the POS, and they will bring the money to the banks. The banks have been mandated to receive these monies even from the rural areas. The 31st January, 2023 deadline is sacrosanct. There’s no going back on it. We have a mandate to make that date completely feasible. There’s no how there will not be collateral damage and that’s why we are here to sensitise them through different channels. We have the jingles, radio and television channels to ensure we minimise the collateral damage on the people. Human beings being who they are, some people will comply and go there early, while some will wait till the last day and they will be caught up. Our intention is to make sure that there’s minimal losses. The banks are opened from Mondays to Saturdays to get in as much deposits as possible before the due date.”
In his remarks, the Ebonyi State Branch Controller of CBN, Mr Daniel Amaechi Ogbogu noted that Banks have been asked to come and pick up the new Naira notes from the apex bank. He explained that the redesign of the currency was not politically motivated, adding it was a coincidence that it was happening during election period. He said: “Since the beginning of this week, we have tried to ensure that the new Naira notes are in all the banks in Ebonyi state. We have been doing routine checks, checking all the ATMs to ensure that this new Naira notes are being dispensed by the various ATMs in the various banks. We have also sent a team to go round and ensure that all ATMs are dispensing the new notes. From the report, we got about 95 percent of ATMs are dispensing the new Naira notes and those ones that are not dispensing, we have given them mandate to ensure that we don’t want to come to the ATM and see that they are still dispensing old Naira notes. For us in Ebonyi state, I think is a successful one. We have asked banks to come and pick up the new Naira notes from the CBN. I also want the public to know that if you go to any ATM and they are dispensing old notes, report them to us because we have asked the banks to ensure that all their ATMs dispense new Naira notes and any banks that gives out old Naira notes will be penalised.”
