Anambra State governor and former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo yesterday March 12, 2023, confirmed the legality of old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
Gov Soludo said he spoke with CBN governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, and has confirmed that old notes can be used as legal tender in Nigeria and therefore asked Anambra residents to accept it freely.
This was contained in a public announcement post on his Facebook page yesterday. The posts reads:
“SPECIAL PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers. Tellers at the 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.
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) as well as the new notes.
Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes. Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch.”
Meanwhile, here are some reactions as seen in the comments section of the post on Facebook:
Chinedum SA wrote:
“So, to what end was the merciless hardship Nigerians were coerced to bear in all these?
Only a soulless regime gloats exultingly in subjecting her citizens to this inexplicable degree of dehumanization!😭”
Edwin Legacy Ogbaga wrote:
“You’re doing well Sir. This will help to cushion the effect of suffering and hunger in our land. Do extend same gestures in other parts of the economic sectors. God bless you sir.”
Ifeanyi Ugoebenaja Udeze wrote:
“Suddenly, Prof became a good Governor overnight. The fear of losing majority seat in the House of Assembly to the opposition party is the beginning of wisdom .”
Unique Chichi wrote:
“Thank you Sir, but I think the CBN governor should make a public announcement, if not, nobody will collect this money. Everyone is saying that CBN governor has not spoken.”
Going by this public announcement, we ca. say that Anambra residents have started accepting the old notes. However, in places like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, people are rejecting the old notes. Does this mean state governors must speak just like Soludo before they accept them freely even after the Supreme Court has passed judgments maintaining that the old notes remain legal tender until December 2023? Well, we will watch and see.
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