The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed that the old naira notes will remain legal tender indefinitely.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Ag. Director of Corporate Communication, Hakama Sidi on Thursday, October 24.

According to the media reports that it has fixed the deadline for the withdrawal of the old notes was false.

The House of Representatives called on the CBN to issue more new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes and begin the gradual withdrawal of the old notes from circulation before the deadline of December 31, 2024.

However, the CBN stressed that there is no plan to stop the circulation of old naira notes.

CBN statement reads: “We wish to state categorically that such claims are false and calculated to disrupt the country’s payment system. For the avoidance of doubt, the order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, granting the prayer of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to extend the use of old Naira banknotes ad infinitum, subsists.

“Similarly, the CBN’s directive to all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of Nigerian banknotes, old and re-designed, to and from deposit money banks (DMBs) remains in force. It will be recalled that the Supreme Court ordered that the old series of N200, N500, and 1,000 banknotes shall continue to be legal tender alongside the redesigned versions.

“Accordingly, all banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to remain legal tender indefinitely. We, therefore, advise members of the public to disregard suggestions that the said series of banknotes will cease to be legal tender on December 31, 2024.

“We urge Nigerians to continue to accept all Naira banknotes (old or redesigned) for their day-to-day transactions and handle them with the utmost care to safeguard and protect their lifecycle."

New exchange rates as naira crashes again

Earlier Legit.ng reported that naira continued its poor performance against the US dollar in the official and unofficial forex markets.

The latest exchange rate marks the second straight day of heavy depreciation for the naira in both official and parallel markets.

The forex market has remained volatile as the CBN struggles to tackle high seasonal forex demand.