Senate urges CBN to extend withdrawal date to June 31 for new naira notes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been urged by the Senate to immediately change the deadline for the withdrawal of outdated currency notes from January 31, 2023, to June 31, 2023.

A point of order raised by Senator Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) at Wednesday’s plenary was continued in the upper chamber’s decision.

Remember that the CBN revealed plans to revamp the 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes on October 26.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the public aware of the redesigned naira notes following the CBN’s announcement.

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Ndume cited Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rules to argue that the request for a date extension should be regarded as an issue of urgent national concern in order to prevent impending hardship for Nigerians.
Ndume claims that as soon as banks begin paying clients with the new notes, many Nigerian firms will begin to discard the outdated ones.

In order to prevent a repeat of the 1984 experience, he continued, “the withdrawal of old [naira] notes from circulation must be extended until January 31. Otherwise, many Nigerians may face hardship.”

Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi), who supported Ndume, asserted that it was true that residents in rural regions were unaware of the impending currency shift.

So this motion is really appropriate and timely, Aliero remarked. Our rural residents will suffer greatly if we insist on the CBN-given deadline of January 31.