The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted media reports that it directed banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 notes from members of the public.
There were reports earlier on Friday that the CBN had given the directive but pegged the maximum amount the banks could collect at N500,000 per customer.
There has been a surge of Nigerians at branches of the apex bank nationwide trying to pay in old currency notes after the CBN opened a window for those still in possession of them to pay through it, at the end of the February 10 deadline.
However, Osita Nwanisobi, director of the apex bank’s corporate communications, in a statement late on Friday, said there was no such directive from the bank.
“For the avoidance of doubt and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to ONLY reissue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023.
“Members of the public should therefore disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on this subject.
Meanwhile, the CBN portal designed for the collection of the old naira notes is experiencing a downtime.
Checks on the dedicated website on Friday, showed that it was out of service.
In a notice to customers, the CBN said service on the portal was temporarily interrupted for maintenance.
“Service interruption for maintenance. We will be back shortly. We regret any inconvenience caused by this,” the notice read.
