President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a 10-day extension of the expiry date of the old Naira notes from January 31, 2023, to February 10, 2023.
Announcing this in a statement on Sunday after a meeting with the President in Daura, Katsina State, Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, added that the President approved the 10-day extension of the deadline from January 31, 2023, to February 10, 2023, to allow for the collection of more old notes legitimately held by Nigerians and achieve more success in cash swap in our rural communities after which all old notes outside the CBN losses their Legal tender Status
Emefiele said there would be an additional 7-day grace period beginning from February 10 to February 17, 2023, in compliance with Section 20(3) and 22 of the CBN Act allowing Nigerians to deposit their old naira notes at the CBN after the February 10 deadline when the old notes would have lost its legal status.
“He said: “So far and since the commencement of this program, we have collected about N1.9 trillion; leaving us with about N900 billion.
Also briefing journalists after the meeting, the CBN governor said: “We are happy that so far, the exercise has achieved a success rate of over 75 per cent of the N2.7 trillion held outside the banking system. Nigerians in the rural areas, villages, the aged and the vulnerable have had the opportunity to swap their old notes; leveraging the Agent Naira Swap initiative as well as the CBN Senior staff nationwide sensitization team exercise.
