BY TIMOTHY AGBOR
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks to start collecting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from the public with immediate effect.
The order came as Nigerians seeking to deposit the old currency beseiged branches of the apex banks.
It, however, pegged the maximum amount the banks can collect at N500,000.
The CBN maintained that the old currencies were no more legal tender.
A CBN official had given the directive to some of the depositors that the apex bank couldn’t attend to on Friday.
Recall that the CBN had opened a portal on its website and made it mandatory for those willing to return old notes to fill and generate a code.
On Thursday, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, ordered the banks to make the old N200 notes available to Nigerians.
This was after President Muhammadu Buhari said the old N200 note would be legal tender till April 10, 2023, while urging Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the CBN.
However, protests which had been rocking different states over the scarcity of the new naira notes made the CBN order banks to collect higher denominations after meeting with banks’ leaders.
