New Currency: CBN Instructs Banks To Open Till Saturdays

BY NAJIBULLAHI ADAMU

To enable people replace their old currencies within the stipulated time of January 31st this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed commercial banks in Gombe State to open from Mondays to Saturdays.

Gombe State CBN comptroller Shehu Alhaji Goringo announced this during a sensitization organized by the bank for traders in the state tagged ‘Market Storm’ at the Gombe Main Market.

He said the decision to allow banks to open till weekends is to enable the citizens to deposit their old currencies before the 31st January deadline when they will be no more valid.

“This policy is not a hearsay, it is real. In the next few days, the old notes will be invalid. So, we urge you to go to the banks to deposit them and collect new ones. That is why we gave commercial banks the go ahead to work till Saturday to ensure people deposit their old notes and get new notes within the stipulated time”. He told the traders.

The CBN comptroller noted that the present notes has been used for about 20 years explaining that the best practice is that redesigning of the notes should be undertaken every five to eight years.

According to him, the policy was meant to checkmate hoarding of the notes which causes shortage of clean notes and counterfeiting pointing out that the new money can not be faked ‘because of its protective attributes’.

He also said that there is no limit to how much money an individual or corporate organization can deposit during the transition period adding that depositors will not be interrogated.

Also speaking, the secretary of Gombe State Traders Association Adamu Manga advised his members to embrace the e-naira introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria opining that it will make transactions easy for them and prevent robbery by criminals in markets.