The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, announced that he had met with commercial banks and issued directives on how to make the old N200 naira notes available to Nigerians. He made the statement in a video clip posted on the CBN’s official Twitter account while addressing journalists after his meeting with President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.) at the villa on Thursday morning.
When asked what Nigerians should expect from the CBN following the president’s directive, Emefiele noted that he had met with 15 banks after the broadcast and strategised on implementation. Earlier on Thursday, President Buhari had declared that the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes were no longer legal tender, but he said the old N200 note would remain legal tender for the next 60 days, until 10 April 2023, and urged Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and N1,000 notes with the CBN.
Emefiele reiterated the president’s instructions, saying, “The President has given his directives; I have met with about 15 banks this morning and given them directives on how they should make the old N200 notes available.” He also referenced the Supreme Court’s judgment that upheld the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes as legal tender, noting that he was following the directives of Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami and the president. Malami had asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a suit challenging the CBN’s naira redesign policy.
“The truth is this: we are all servants, we are serving the Nigerians. As far as I am concerned, the Attorney General of the Federation has spoken on this matter and the President has sealed up the whole issue in his broadcast this morning,” Emefiele told journalists.
The CBN governor appealed to Nigerians to allow the policy to work, emphasizing its long‑term benefits. “I can only appeal to Nigerians to allow this policy to work. This policy aims to solve the problem of corruption and illicit financial flows, resolve some of the problems in the economy, and help reduce insecurity in the country. These three issues, which are the tripod of this administration’s policy, are all embedded in this policy; we should allow it to work. There are some temporary pains, but I can assure Nigerians that the long‑run benefit to Nigerians is overwhelming and we should just let it work.”
Comments are closed for this story.