CBN makes important announcement on old N500 and N1000 notes

• The Central Bank of Nigeria has asked Nigerians to return old N500 and N1000 notes to their banks
• This comes as crowd, made up mainly of traders, came with forms and codes generated from the CBN website and bags filled with money
• They say that the money is not theirs but collected from friends and relatives

The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed exclusively to Legit.ng that Nigerians can return their old N500, N1000 notes to the commercial banks.

CBN’s spokesman, Osita Nwanisiobi told Legit.ng that Nigerians can return the old notes but stated that they can only return anything froom N500,000 and below to the commercial banks

Nwanisiobi said:

“Yes only N500,000 and below could be returned to commercial banks but anything above that should be sent to the CBN”

CBN says only N500,000 and below can be returned to banks

In a call, he said the banks should not accept anything above N500,000 but direct depositors to return them to the CBN directly.

This comes as residents and traders have besieged the Lagos branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria to return old naira notes still in their possessions after Buhari said they could replace the N500 and N100o notes to the apex bank.

The Tinubu Square branch of CBN is full of Nigerians milling around needing clarification about how to return their old naira notes.

Traders, transporters, and other besiege CBN in Lagos to return old naira notes

The crowd comprised most traders; some came with big bags, popularly called Ghana Must Go, filled with N500 and N1000 notes.

Findings reveal that some of those at the CBN office collected the monies from their relatives and family who could not come to the CBN office to swap their old naira notes.

BusinessDay reports that only people with codes generated from the CBN website are attended to at the bank.

Officials of CBN asked the crowd of depositors to return the monies to their banks, with many of them rejecting the directives and bursting into songs.

Banks reject old money deposit

The depositors said the banks rejected taking the old notes from them based on CBN and Buhari’s directives.

Checks reveal that some banks are rejecting the old N500 and N1000 notes based on directives from the apex bank.

Some of the traders interviewed at the CBN branch in Lagos say they could not generate the code because they could not read or write.

Others said they could not generate the code because CBN’s website could not respond to their requests.

Contrary to claims, the CBN website is working, but it takes a lot of time to validate accounts and BVNs, Legit.ng checks reveal.

Buhari says Old N500, N1000 notes no longer legal tender, gives CBN stern order on N200 Notes

Legit.ng reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has said that old N500 and N1,000 notes remain illegal in Nigeria.

The President stated this on Thursday, February 16, 2023, during his nationwide address to Nigeria over chaos caused by the scarcity of naira notes in the country.

Buhari, who apologised to Nigerians over the cash crisis, said that the old N200 note will remain legal tender until 60 days, citing April 10, 2023, as the new deadline.

Source: Legit.ng