The Nigeria Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Old Naira notes will remain legal tender of the country till further notice.
Recall that in March 2023, the apex court had extended the deadline to phase out old Naira notes to December 31, 2023.
In addition, the federal government also filed for an extension for the old naira note on November 21, 2023.
Meanwhile, the federal government explained that if the Supreme Court rejects its plea to extend the circulation duration of old notes, the nation could face a renewed threat of a national, economic, and financial crisis.
This scenario parallels the challenges witnessed in the initial quarter of the year during the implementation of the naira redesign policy under the former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
It therefore asked the court to allow the old notes to be in use with the new notes until after it consults with stakeholders, pointing out that the economy may be in jeopardy once again because some Nigerians have started hoarding the old and new naira notes ahead of the December 31st timeline.
In its ruling today, the highest court ruled in Abuja that the notes will remain legal tender and be accepted for transaction until further notice.
More Insights
Earlier this month, the Central Bank issued a circular noting that the Old naira notes remain legal tender indefinitely.
The CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Dr Isa AbdulMumin, shared this information, effectively removing the deadline for the legal tender status of old N200, N500, and N1000 notes from the initial December 31, 2023.
The statement read:
- “Please recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced the redesign of N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations in October 2022 and certain deadlines were set for the old design of these denominations to cease as legal tenders.
- “Without prejudice, the Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to inform the general public of its desire to extend the legal tender status deadline of the old design of N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations, ad infinitum. This is in line with international best practices and to forestall a repeat of earlier experiences.
- “Thus, all banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), by Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007, will continue to remain legal tender, ad infinitum, even beyond the initial December 31, 2023, deadline.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria is working with the relevant authorities to vacate the subsisting court ruling on the same subject.”
The CBN added that all its branches across the country will continue to issue and accept all denominations of Nigerian banknotes, old and redesigned, to and from banks.
