CBN’s deadline: how visible & feasible?
The Central Bank of Nigeria has set a deadline for the validity of the “old” 200, 500 and 1000 notes. But how visible and feasible is the CBN’s deadline?
Towards the end of 2022, the apex bank under Mr. Godwin Emefiele said he had the consent of the president, Muhammadu Buhari to redesign the three naira notes. He gave reasons including that top and wealthy Nigerians were hoarding the money.
There were some other skirmishes that time as the finance minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed claimed to not be in the know. The hullabaloo ended and rather hastily, Mr. Emefiele presented the new notes to the president.
He thereafter set a deadline for 31 January when the old notes will no longer be valid in the country. The CBN governor also announced that by 31 December, the new notes would be issued in the banks across the country.
But few days to the CBN’s deadline, it’s not yet clear if the bank would maintain its stance. There are several reasons for this. And one can wonder how visible is the date and how feasible is the plan that the old notes would be invalid.
Most, if not all, of the banks are still paying in the old notes. A check at one branch of a top bank shows that Nigerians are still taking old notes. And certainly they spend the same notes in the markets, schools, shops, etc.
The Central Bank of Nigeria seems to have been disillusioned when setting the deadline. It’s funny that as at 12 January, several millions of Nigerians are yet to see the much taunted new notes let alone use them as legal tender.
The old notes, which are of course more preferable to the new ones, are still really in circulation. Whereas the CBN’s deadline is about three weeks away. How visible and feasible is then the arrangement? Would the CBN go on to execute its plans when it is clear it releases the old notes to the banks?
Nigerian citizens even have this very negative attitude to the newly designed notes. One particular video went viral some weeks ago in which an unnamed man was harassed and assaulted by some women on the ground that he spent the new notes.
One worrisome thing about the newly designed notes is that they look like counterfeits. And Nigerians are worried they might be scammed. Hence, they turn their backs to the notes and often reject it when given to them most especially in the markets.
If the Central Bank of Nigeria really wants to go on with its schedule, does it consider the visibility and feasibility? It’s unthinkable that less than a month to the deadline, the old notes still circulate far more than the new ones and the people show negative attitudes to the new ones.
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