President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday morning, formally unveiled three redesigned bank notes – N200, N500 and N1,000 – at the State House in Abuja.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had announced on October 26, 2022 that the apex Bank will issue the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, effective December 15, 2022, while the new and existing currencies will remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023.
But, in a new twist on Tuesday, the CBN Governor told journalists that the new notes will now be unveiled for public usage this Wednesday.
He made the disclosure in Abuja on the sidelines of the CBN Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
Emefiele said the apex won’t shift its deadline for all old notes to be returned to commercial banks in exchange for the newly designed ones.
The unveiling of the three highest Nigerian currencies was performed by the President shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Present at the ceremony were Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan.
Others were Ministers and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.
In his brief remarks, the CBN Governor said the introduction of new notes was a deliberate step by government to check corruption and counterfeiting of the notes.
He reiterated that the old Naira notes currently in use will remain as legal tenders till January 31, 2023.
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