Banks are once again giving Nigerians their old N500 and N1000 notes
Following the Supreme Court decision that prolonged the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) currency redesign policy’s legality through December, some deposit money banks have begun paying out the old notes.
According to recent investigations conducted by Daily Trust, some commercial banks in Kano City and Abuja have started issuing the previous N500 and N1000 notes.
While certain Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) offices still distributed outdated notes as of the time this story was submitted, others, like Polaris Bank in Abuja, had not yet started.
Only the old N200 notes were still being issued, a staff member whispered to our reporter, “as we do not have any fresh directive on what to do yet.”
According to sources at GTB, their management gave them the go-ahead to start paying off old notes that were kept in their vault.
“The problem is that taking the old notes from customers will require the CBN form as we don’t have any directive in that regard,” the source said.
As of the time of this report, Daily Trust was unable to confirm if the CBN had officially issued a bank-wide circular instructing the Deposit money bank to comply.
Economic experts have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, to obey the judgment on the validity of the old naira notes.
An economist, Paul Alake, had said there needs to be more clarity on how the old N500 and N1000 notes return into circulation.
He said the judgment would not be impactful if the old Notes were not released by the CBN back into the banking system.
“If the money is not released in the financial sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the judgment may not have any effect.”
In a unanimous judgement, a seven-member panel of justices presided by Justice Inyang Okoro, on Friday, held that the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the redesigning and withdrawal of old notes of N200, N500 and N1,000, without consultation with the states, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Council of State and other stakeholders, was unconstitutional.
The apex court observed that no reasonable notice was given before the implementation of the policy as provided under the CBN Act.
