Old naira notes remain legal tender, says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned against the rejection of any bank notes it has issued in line with the provision of the CBN Act 2007.

This comes amidst fears that the old banknotes may cease to be legal tender by December 2023.

On March 3, the Supreme court had ordered that old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain valid till December 31, 2023.

This was after 16 states of the Federation instituted a suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.

In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Director, Corporate Communication, Isah Abdulmunin, the apex bank said it has not ordered the withdrawal of the old notes.

The bank said, “There have also been reports of anxiety among some members of the public over the legality or otherwise of old Naira banknotes.

“For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007.

“Accordingly, branches of the CBN across the country have been directed to continue to issue different denominations of old and redesigned banknotes in adequate quantities to Deposit Money Banks for onward circulation to bank customers.

“We wish to restate that all denominations of banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remain legal tender.

“In line with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007, no one should refuse to accept the Naira as a means of payment. Consequently, members of the public are advised to accept all CBN-issued banknotes currently in circulation and guard against panic withdrawals.”