Relief As Banks Resume Payment of Old N500, N1000 Notes
Nigerians can now have a sigh of relief as some deposit money banks have started paying out the old N1,000 and N500 notes, following the Supreme Court judgment, which extended the validity of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) currency redesign policy to December, 2023.
According to DAILY TRUSTchecks, some commercial banks in the City of Kano and Abuja have commenced paying out the old N500 and N1000 notes.
While some branches of Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) issued out old notes, some others like Polaris bank in Abuja had not commenced as of the time this report was filed.
A member of staff confided in our reporter that only the old N200 notes were still being issued, “as we do not have any new directive on what to do yet.”
Sources at GTB said they received a directive from their management to begin paying old notes in their vault.
“The problem is that taking the old notes from customers will require the CBN form as we don’t have any directive in that regard,” the source said.
As of the time of this report, Daily Trust was unable to confirm if the CBN had officially issued a bank-wide circular instructing the Deposit money bank to comply.
Prompt News Online reports that some branches of Access Bank also paid customers old N500 notes today.
Recall that in a unanimous judgement, a seven-member panel of justices presided by Justice Inyang Okoro, on Friday, held that the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the redesigning and withdrawal of old notes of N200, N500 and N1,000, without consultation with the states, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Council of State and other stakeholders, was unconstitutional.
The apex court observed that no reasonable notice was given before the implementation of the policy as provided under the CBN Act.
