The Senate has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to swiftly move the deadline for the withdrawal of obsolete banknotes from circulation from January 31, 2023, to June 31, 2023.
During Wednesday’s plenary, Senator Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) raised a point of order that was continued in the upper chamber’s resolution.
Recall that on October 26, CBN said that it would redesign the 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes.
The newly redesigned naira notes were made public by President Muhammadu Buhari following the CBN’s announcement.
Ndume insisted that the request for a date extension should be viewed as a matter of urgent national importance in an effort to prevent impending hardship for Nigerians. He did this by bringing up Senate Standing Rules 41 and 51.
According to Ndume: “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.”
He added, “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.”
Backing Ndume, Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi) said it was true that in rural areas, people weren’t even aware that there was going to be a currency change.
Aliero said, “So 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.”
