From Thursday 15, 2022 (today), Nigeria’s newly redesigned naira notes will be will be in circulation with Deposit Money Banks releasing the bills to their customers via over-the-counter payments.
The release of the notes is in line with promise of Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who in October announced that apex bank would release re-designed naira notes by December 15, 2022.
Although, the announcement was also made three weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the new bills at a weekly Federal Executive Council meeting in Aso Rock Villa.
The redesigned notes were unveiled by the President across the N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations.
While the redesigned notes circulate, the President disclosed that the old notes would cease to be regarded as legal tender by January 31, 2023.
On the reasons for the redesigned notes, Emefiele stated that the naira notes would help to curb counterfeit notes, and reduce ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers, considering the fact that it was worrisome that 85 per cent of the total currency in circulation was being hoarded by Nigerians.
In such situation, the CBN has come up with such idea to help to mop up the currency outside the banking sector, since it has also been discovered that about N3.3tn in circulation, close to N2.75tn were outside the banking sector.
