Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has explained that there’s no need to extend the Friday, February 10, 2023, deadline given to phase out old naira notes, saying the situation is not as tense as it used to be.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that members of the public and economic stakeholders have urged the CBN leadership to extend the deadline, as they all cited the scarcity of the new naira notes.
The scarcity of the new naira notes had led to a naira crunch, leaving many people strapped.
Addressing the concerns, Emefiele, who earlier declared that the old naira notes were no longer legal tender in the country, stated: “No doubt there are pockets of pressure in some areas. The CBN is working hard to shift pressure, and resources to those areas in order to ease the tension. The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
Meanwhile, massive protests erupted in some parts of the country on Tuesday as commercial banks, filling stations and traders rejected the old notes from customers.
Hundreds of angry citizens who took part in the protests in Abeokuta, Sango-Ota, Ogun State and Akure in Ondo State kicked against the decision of the CBN to withdraw the old notes despite failing to provide the new notes in sufficient quantity.
However, a group in Abuja held a street demonstration in support of the CBN policy. The protesters, however, incurred the anger of street urchins, who attacked.
The protests occurred just as Emefiele announced during a meeting with the members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja on Tuesday that the extension of the February 10 deadline for the currency swap was no longer necessary.
He refused to extend the deadline less than 24 hours before the hearing of the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo and other states against the CBN demonetisation policy.
The Attorneys-General of the applicant states were expected to storm Abuja as the Supreme Court begins hearing the case on Wednesday (today).
