President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days. The President, who made this known in a nationwide broadcast today, also directed the CBN to allow the new notes available to all citizens. While apologizing to Nigerians over the difficulty experienced in the implementation of the naira redesign policy. he however, said old N500 and N1,000 banknotes are no longer legal tender in Nigeria.
The President lamented that the currency in circulation grew from 1.4 trillion naira in 2015 when he assumed office to 3.23 trillion naira at the end of 2022. Meanwhile, President Buhari said 2.1 trillion naira of the cash in circulation have been retrieved since the launch of the naira redesign policy of the Federal Government on October 26, 2022. Recall that, the President had on February 3 appealed to Nigerians to give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch after the Nigeria Governors’ Forum urged him to allow all old notes to circulate in the system to ease the hardship on ordinary Nigerians.
