‘Emefiele confirmed to me,’ Soludo says CBN has authorized use of old naira notes

Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, says the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed commercial banks to dispense and accept old naira notes as deposits.

The former CBN governor disclosed this in a statement he posted on his social media handles.

The Anambra governor noted that the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele gave the directive at a Banker’s Committee meeting on Sunday.

He added that Emefiele personally confirmed the directive to him.

According to him, residents should report banks refusing to accept the old notes.

“Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and also to receive the same deposits from customers. Tellers at commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits, and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits,” he said.

“The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March 2023. The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night. Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200, N500; and N1,000) and the new notes.”