The Senate has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to immediately extend the withdrawal date of old currency notes from January 31, 2023, to June 31, 2023.
The upper chamber’s resolution was a continuation of a point of order raised by Senator Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) during Wednesday’s plenary.
Recall that CBN had, on October 26, announced plans to redesign 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes.
After the announcement by the CBN, President Muhammadu Buhari revealed the redesigned naira notes to the general public.
Raising Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rule, Ndume insisted that the call for an extension of the date should be considered a matter of urgent national importance in a bid to forestall imminent hardship on Nigerians.
According to Ndume: “It’s expected that many Nigerian businesses will start to get rid of the old notes as soon as banks start paying redesigned notes to customers.”
He added, “the withdrawal of old [naira] notes from circulation if not extended beyond January 31, many Nigerians will be thrown into hardship and to avoid the repeat of 1984 experience withdrawal of old [naira] notes.”
Backing Ndume, Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi) said it was true that in rural areas, people weren’t even aware that there was going to be a currency change.
Aliero said, “So this motion is very apt and timely. If we insist on the date [January 31] given by CBN, it’ll cause a lot of hardship for our rural dwellers.”