The Central Bank of Nigeria has denied rumors that the old ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 notes will expire on December 31, 2024. The apex bank gave the clarification in a statement by its acting Director of Corporate Communications, Sidi Hakamaon, who described such rumors as “calculated falsehoods” aimed at disrupting Nigeria’s payment ecosystem.
The CBN had said the old notes would continue to be a legal tender, as further reinforced by a ruling of the Supreme Court in November 2023 that allowed such use to run concurrently with the redesigned series. The CBN instructed all banks to ensure their respective branches continued to receive and disseminate both old and new naira notes in a bid to ensure hitch-free transactions across the nation.
Taking it a step further, the CBN also appealed for the people to be able to shift to other modes of digital payment in order to reduce dependency on hard cash. Also, recently, the House of Representatives had moved a motion for gradual withdrawal of old banknotes, but the CBN assured the citizens that no such immediate changes are being implemented yet, and all denominations would continue to be legal tender in daily life.
