The Central Bank of Nigeria on Sunday announced the extension of the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes by 10 days.
The new deadline is now February 10, 2023.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the apex bank on Sunday.
The statement quoted CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, as saying that the new deadline was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The statement, however, indicated that those in possession of the phased out currency will still be able to deposit same directly with the CBN until February 17, which it said was the “grace period”.
According to Emefiele, the extension which was one of the measures out in place to ameliorate the challenges being faced by Nigerians in a bid to get the new notes said President Muhammadu Buhari had given approval for the extension of the deadline.
“Based on the foregoing, we have sought and obtained Mr President’s approval for the following: a 10-day extension of the deadline from January 31, 2023, to February 10, 2023; to allow for collection of more old notes legitimately held by Nigerians and achieve more success in cash swap in our rural communities after which all old notes outside the CBN loses their Legal Tender Status. Our CBN staff currently on mass mobilization and monitoring together with officials of the EFCC and ICPC will work together to achieve these objectives.
“A 7-day grace period, beginning on February 10 to February 17, 2023, in compliance with Sections 20(3) and 22 of the CBN Act, allowing Nigerians to deposit their old notes at the CBN after the February deadline when the old currency would have lost its Legal Tender status,” a part of the statement read.
