ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Some hours after a Nigerian bank issued old naira notes to its customers following the directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the bank has rejected the same old naira notes from customers.
Voiceofnaija.ng had reported that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, directed commercial banks to dispense and accept old notes from customers.
Confirming the order, the Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo said: “Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive the same as deposits from customers.
“The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023. The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night.
“Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.
“Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes. The Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch.”
However, a Twitter user and Rights Activist, @SavvyRinu on her wall, said that Guaranty Trust Banks, one of the commercial banks, refused to accept the same old naira which they gave to her friend hours later.
She wrote: “So, a friend went to GTBank to withdraw money. They gave him 10k old notes, which he proceeded to a restaurant with.
“The restaurant rejected the old notes.
“He went back to the bank to deposit the notes. The bank refused to collect the same notes they gave him hours ago 😂”