By Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said old ₦500 and ₦1000 naira notes are no longer legal tenders in the country.
Buhari said this during his nationwide address to Nigeria over chaos caused by the scarcity of naira notes in the country.
“To further ease the supply pressures particularly to our citizens, I have given approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023, when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender,” Mr Buhari said.
Buhari said he sympathisers with Nigerians over the difficulties in accessing the new Naira notes.
“Let me assure Nigerians that our admin. will continue to assess the implementation with a view to ensuring that Nigerians are not unnecessarily burdened,” Buhari said. “In this regard, the CBN shall ensure that new notes become more available & accessible to our citizens through the banks.”
He insisted that the Naira redesign was aimed at curbing inflation, and corruption, and improving transparency in cash flow to all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
This announcement is however coming a week after the Supreme Court ordered the Nigerian government to allow the continued use of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
