By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Two weeks after the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court validated the continued circulation of the N500 and N1000 old Naira notes alongside redesigned notes till December 31, 2023, some Nigerians have refused to use the two denominations as a legal tender.
This is even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through a terse press statement directed commercial banks to issue old N500 and N1000 notes to customers in compliance with the ruling of the apex court penultimate week, yet Nigerians are not still accepting the old Naira notes on the streets.
Prompt News investigations revealed that most commercial banks have a limited amount of the old Naira notes but customers are unwilling to collect them from the banks as they argued that they will not be able to spend them.
A Branch Manager of one of the new generation banks located at Area 3, Garki, Abuja who pleaded anonymity said they received a directive from the CBN last week to commence issuance of N500 and N1000 old notes to customers but about 95% of those who came to the bank to withdraw cash refused to be paid with the old notes.
Another Branch Manager of an old generation bank located at WAEC Office in Maitama, Abuja confirmed that the bank has the N1000 old notes to disburse to customers but nobody wants to accept them for fear of not able to spend the cash as not many people on the street want to collect the old Naira notes.
Our reporter who wanted to withdraw cash at the bank in Area 8, Garki branch last Friday was also offered the old N1000 notes with a caveat not to bring them back to the bank should he fail to spend them as he would have to generate the CBN deposit code and fill forms to be able to deposit the old Naira notes in the bank.
Perhaps, it is this fear of having to go through the rigour of filling forms and generating CBN code before depositing the old Naira notes in the bank that has made people not to accept the old Naira notes, although both the Supreme Court and CBN have cleared the N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender in Nigeria till the end of the year.
It was also discovered that old naira notes are not being accepted by ordinary people on the street as many of those interviewed argued that they are not accepting the N500 and N1000 old Naira notes because they have not heard from President Muhammadu Buhari and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
According to them both are yet to make official statements on the two denominations as was the case before the deadline for old Naira notes to seize to be a legal tender, arguing that until they hear from Buhari and Emefiele.
“As far as I am concerned until I hear a radio and television statements from President Buhari and CBN Governor, I will not collect the N500 and N1000 notes because they told us they are no longer legal tender and we are waiting for them to also tell Nigerians with their mouth that we should now use them”, one beverages store owner at Wuse Market Abuja said.
