Currencies

Lagos, Feb.5, 2023 – Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, has advised the CBN and commercial banks to speed up efforts to make the new naira notes available to small depositors and unbanked Nigerians. Obi, who gave the advice on Sunday, said that the apex bank should expedite its efforts to make the new notes available to all Nigerians before the cash swap deadline on February 10.    “We implore the CBN and the banks to expedite efforts to make the new currency available to small depositors …

Abuja, Feb. 2, 2023 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to start paying the new naira notes across the counter. The apex bank said, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, that the directive was to reduce queues around ATMs across the country. The statement, signed by Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN Director Corporate Communication, directed that banks could only pay N20,000 notes over the counter to an individual in a day. “The Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to commence the payment …

 Abuja, Feb. 1, 2023 – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it will raid outlets of racketeers of new notes in commercial cities. The commission gave the indication while announcing the arrest of members of a syndicate trading the new notes in Zone 4, Wuse and Dei-Dei in Abuja. Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC Spokesperson, said this  in a statement on Tuesday. He said that its operatives had identified some towns and cities where currency hawkers were having a field day. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, …

Abuja, Feb. 1, 2023 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will penalise commercial banks for the scarcity of new naira notes. It said that many commercial banks had not been acting to its directive in disbursing the new notes through their ATMs Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of CBN, said this on Tuesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Sub-committee on Currency Reform Emefiele said instead, banks had been handing out bundles to individuals who sprayed them at parties. The Global Business News (GBN) reports that …

Abuja, Jan. 31, 2023 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday assured Nigerians that they would not lose their old notes after the Feb. 10 deadline of the currency swap. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the apex bank, said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee on phase-out of the old naira notes.  He said that while the old notes would cease to be legal tender after the deadline, Nigerians could still take them to the bank for exchange of new notes or …

Lagos, Jan. 29, 2023 – Dr. Muda Yusuf, the Chief Executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), says the 10-day extension of the deadline for currency swap is not adequate. Yusuf said this in a statement in Lagos on Sunday, a copy of which was made available to the Global Business News (GBN). He said that there was a huge stock of the old notes in the system and the glaring shortcomings of the CBN might make the new timeline difficult to meet. He, therefore, recommended …

By Tajudeen Atitebi Lagos, Jan. 23, 2023 – Nigerians have started expressing fears on the possibility of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pushing enough new notes into circulation to make the old notes illegal by the deadline. The apex bank has fixed Jan. 31, 2023 as the deadline by which it would have pushed enough new notes into circulation to stop the old notes as Nigerian legal tender. Many residents in Lagos said it was doubtful if the apex bank could achieve this feat given the current situation. The …