CBN pushes deadline, arrests peddlers

Nigeria’s central bank governor Godwin Emefiele has said law enforcement agencies have made arrests of new sellers of naira notes.

At a press conference in Lagos on Friday, he stood by the top bank’s decision on the deadline for phasing out the old naira notes.

Emefiele said: “As the new deadlines approach, allow me to express our sadness at the unscrupulous and unpatriotic behavior of some of our colleagues in the banking industry, whose greed and malice sabotage the CBN’s efforts. I assure you all that the law enforcement agencies are on the hunt for these unpatriotic colleagues and their associates.

“Some of those involved in selling the new currency have been arrested by EFCC, ICPC and even the DSS; and let me assure all Nigerians that these unscrupulous persons will suffer the full wrath of the law.

“For our part, let me assure everyone that the CBN has the capacity, manpower and equipment and perseverance to produce and distribute the new banknotes and is doing everything it can to alleviate the inconvenience to all Nigerians, especially the vulnerable Nigerians. light up.”

So far and since the start of this program, he said, the CBN had accumulated about N2.1tn, leaving about N900bn.

He recalled that on October 26, 2022, the CBN received approval from President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.) to redesign the N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes.

He added: “With the approval, the redesigned banknotes will circulate simultaneously with the old banknotes, until January 31, 2023, after which the old banknotes will lose their legal tender status. However, given the need to improve the circulation level of the new banknotes, the president magnanimously extended the deadline by another 10 days to February 10, 2023 for old banknotes to circulate as legal tender.

He assured that the CBN, in conjunction with the Deposit Money Banks and other key stakeholders such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, worked together to ensure that the ultimate goal of delivering to all Nigerians, a new currency that meets global standards was achieved.

Emefiele said the CBN was aware of the difficulty Nigerians face in accessing the new currency in this initial phase of issuance and circulation, but wanted to beg everyone to show some understanding as every effort was made to address some of correct the perceived errors in trading. the implementation of this ambitious programme.

“Please allow me also to say that this difficulty is transient given our strong belief that the ultimate gains from the policy for our country far outweigh the short-term pain of today,” he said.