Amid a deepening naira crisis, the total amount of currency in circulation in Nigeria has plummeted from N3.3 trillion to N1.54 trillion, according to a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) document obtained by The. The sharp decline—53.33 percent in just three months—reflects a severe shortage of new naira notes and an acute scarcity of old currency, which has caused widespread hardship for millions of Nigerians. The drop occurred between October 31, 2022, when the CBN recorded N3.3 trillion in circulation (just weeks before the implementation of the naira redesign policy), and January 31, 2023, when the figure fell to N1.54 trillion. The reduction followed massive deposits of old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes by bank customers ahead of the CBN’s controversial February 10, 2023 deadline.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele explained that one goal of the redesign policy was to retrieve currency held outside bank vaults—estimated at N2.7 trillion—because such a large amount outside the banking system undermines the effectiveness of monetary policy. The data were presented by CBN Deputy Governor Folashodun Shonubi at a forum in Abuja, where he noted that, prior to the redesign, currency in circulation had been growing at an average annualised rate of 18 percent since 2018. In October 2022, Emefiele announced that redesigned notes would be released by December 15, 2022, aiming to control circulation, curb counterfeiting, and reduce ransom payments to kidnappers and terrorists. He emphasized that the integrity, supply efficiency, and policy efficacy of a legal tender are hallmarks of a strong central bank, but recent currency‑management challenges have threatened both the CBN’s and the country’s credibility.
The CBN initially set January 31, 2023, as the deadline for old notes to cease being legal tender, later extending it to February 10 with a seven‑day grace period for deposits. On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court in Abuja adjourned a hearing on a suit seeking to suspend the redesign policy. Nine additional states—Katsina, Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Sokoto—joined the original plaintiffs (Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara), bringing the total to ten. Edo and Bayelsa filed to be respondents. A seven‑member panel led by Justice John Okoro ordered the parties to consolidate their processes for a single hearing. Pending the Supreme Court’s decision, the order suspending the February 10 deadline remains in effect, creating a conflict with a CBN directive to banks and the public.
President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) declared that the old N500 and N1,000 notes were no longer legal tender, while the N200 note would remain legal until April 10, 2023, and urged Nigerians to deposit the old high‑denomination notes with the CBN. Despite this, traders and transport operators in several states have insisted on accepting only new notes and the old N200, contrary to some state governors’ orders to continue using the old notes in line with the Supreme Court judgment. Lagos, Ogun and Kaduna, among others, have declared the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes legal tender within their jurisdictions and warned of prosecution for anyone refusing them.
Nevertheless, many traders and transporters have defied these state directives. In Lagos, bus drivers and conductors across Mile 2, Orile, Berger, Ojodu and Lagos Island have refused old N500 and N1,000 notes, telling passengers they will not accept them. “Agberos were the first to reject the old notes, then the filling stations,” one driver said. Passengers often carry only new notes or old N200 notes, complying with the president’s directive. Similar refusals have been reported in Ogun State, where commuters, confused by conflicting instructions, resort to bank transfers for fares as low as N200. Traders in Abeokuta’s major markets (Lafenwa, Kuto, Omida, Adatan, Ifo, Sapon) also refuse the old denominations, leaving residents like Fawaz Adebisi struggling to reach their destinations.
In Kaduna, the situation is mixed: some areas have ceased accepting old notes, while traders and point‑of‑sale operators in others continue to use them. In Kakuri (Kaduna South LGA), PoS operators were still trading in old notes, though many residents rejected them. Ibadan (Oyo State) and Osun State report similar hardships, with PoS operators unable to obtain new notes and businesses grinding to a halt. In Osogbo, operators could not even access the old N200 notes the federal government said should remain available.
Kwara State has also seen tension. On Saturday, a dispute erupted in Ilorin’s Challenge area over transport fares, and traders and transport operators have stopped accepting old notes, leaving streets empty as people stay indoors. Taxi driver Shuaib Olayemi lamented, “I have not been able to make enough money since morning because passengers are not coming. People don’t have the new naira notes, so they decided to stay at home.”
In Zamfara, despite Governor Bello Matawalle’s order to keep using old notes, the N500 and N1,000 denominations are no longer considered legal tender, adding to the nationwide confusion and hardship caused by the naira redesign.
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