The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has asked Nigerians to take the current naira notes to the banks as quickly as possible.
He said this while fielding questions from State House reporters after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on happenings in the CBN and the Nigerian economy in Daura, Katsina State.
On November 23, President Buhari unveiled the redesigned naira notes.
The redesigned notes presented to the public are the N1000, N500 and N200 — the country’s highest currency denominations.
The decision has continued to generate public outburst, as experts insist it would negatively affect the economy.
Briefing reporters on Thursday, the CBN governor said banks had started dispensing the new cash which reached their various offices on Wednesday to their customers.
“I can only just assure you that it will go round, let us just be calm, luckily the old currency continued to be legal tender till January 31, 2023. So, I want to crack a joke, both the painted (new notes) and unpainted (old notes) will operate concurrently as a legal tender. But by January 31, the unpainted one will not be useful to you again, so please take it to your bank as quickly as possible,” he said.