The Central Bank of Nigeria has vowed to penalize any commercial bank discovered keeping extra new naira notes on hand, claiming that it has printed enough to supply all of the banks in the nation.
Alhaji Umar Biu, the CBN Kano Branch Controller, made the statement on Thursday at a sensitization workshop on the new naira notes held for traders at the Sabon Gari market in Kano.
The popular Kwari Market, Wapa Bureau De Change Market, Kofar Wambam Market, and the well-known Kurmi Market in the Kano metropolis were also included in the sensitization program.
The right to notify any bank discovered either holding fresh naira notes or charging clients before accepting their old naira notes was also stated.
“You have the right to report any bank found hoarding the new naira notes or refusing to collect your old naira notes before the 31st January 2023 deadline.
“No bank should refuse to collect the old naira notes until the deadline of 31st January 2023,” the branch controller said.
He claims that in an effort to prevent client favoritism, the central bank has instructed commercial banks to stop accepting payments in person.
He insisted that the deadline of January 31, 2023, was set in stone and said that all of the previous naira notes would stop being accepted as legal cash on that day.
The CBN branch controller additionally requested that market vendors notify any banks that were using obsolete naira notes to load their ATMs.
According to him, the goal of the sensitization was to inform them of the need of depositing their old notes before the deadline in order to prevent any loss.
Alhaji Sule Kura, the chairman of the Sabon Gari market traders, urged the apex bank to provide commercial banks access to the new naira notes in order to ease the hardship faced by customers.
He voiced grave concern over the lack of new naira notes in the majority of commercial banks, warning that many individuals might lose their money if immediate action was not done to remedy the issue.
The majority of business executives who spoke at the event demanded an extension of the deadline.
