Emefiele Says February 10 Deadline On Old Naira Notes Won’t Be Extended

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said the February 10 deadline for the circulation of old naira notes is sacrosanct and there is no need for another extension.

He stated this while briefing members of the diplomatic community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents. There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 12.”

Emefiele said while the CBN was sympathetic to the suffering of Nigerians in their quest for cash, there was a silver lining behind the cloud as the effective implementation of the policy could scrap 4 per cent of the inflation numbers.

He further explained that the optimal volume of cash in circulation should be around N700 billion.

“Even if we say N1 tillion should be in circulation, we cannot refloat N3.7trillion into circulation.”

CBN Branch Controller, Bauchi State, Haladu Idris Andaza, had in a chat with journalists, also said the old notes were no longer legal tender.