By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Against widespread skepticism trailing the introduction of the redesigned Naira Notes into the economy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Apex Bank on Thursday stormed the popular Wuse market in Abuja pleading with traders to accept the new currency.
Addressing the traders, Abuja Branch Controller of the Bank, Mr. Michael Ogbu who was represented at the market by Mr Kareem Williams told the traders to “accept it, use and respect it as our National symbol”.
He specifically charged the traders to stop rejecting the new notes, stressing that “refusing to accept the Naira in a transaction is a crime”.
Speaking at the sensitisation of Wuse Market traders, Ogbu advised the market men and women, “to ensure that you deposit cash holdings in these denominations (N200, N500 and N1,000) at your commercial banks”.
He reminded the traders not to be afraid to take their money to the banks “there is no limit to how much a customer can deposit between now and January 31, 2023, as the CBN has suspended bank charges” he told the traders.
“Accept it, Use and Respect it as our National symbol. We encourage the public to explore other payment channels, such as eNaira, POS, electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking, and mobile money operators and agents, for their economic activities.”
The new Naira notes “change colours” and display their denominations when tilted towards the sunlight at an angle.
This is another new security feature of the redesigned Naira notes according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Hauwa Ndayabo of the currency operations department of the CBN demonstrated this security feature to Wuse Market traders in Abuja on Thursday.
The excited traders quickly dubbed the new notes “chameleon”. What actually happens is that the embedded N1,000, N500 and N200 signs appear in a different colour from the general colour of each note. The N1,000 sign in the note appears as red when tilted.
Before the display, the CBN had pleaded with Nigerians to respect and accept the redesigned Naira notes
President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned notes in November last year while they came into circulation on the 15th of December, 2022.
Since then the new notes have been battling with widespread acceptance with market women and traders refusing to accept the new notes.
The Bank has insisted that it will shift the withdrawal date for the old Notes to cease exist as a legal Tender.
