Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has insisted that its February 10 deadline for the validity of old naira notes still stands.
Gatekeepers News reports that Emefiele disclosed this while briefing the diplomatic community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja on Tuesday.
This is despite the ex parte order of the supreme court which restrained the federal government from implementing the February 10 deadline, pending the hearing of the matter on February 15.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the federation, Abubakar Malami had said the federal government would obey the supreme court order.
However, while speaking at the event, Emefiele said he does not believe there was a need for further extension of the deadline.
The CBN Governor, “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents.
“There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
According to him, the effective implementation of the naira redesign policy could cut off 4 percent from the current inflation level of 21.34 percent.
Emefiele also accused some politicians of “buying” the new notes and hoarding them.
He said, “Some of our leaders are buying the new notes and storing them for whatever purposes. I will not be direct here.”
The CBN boss further warned that the apex bank, in collaboration with security agencies, would arrest and prosecute point of sale (PoS) operators who collect exorbitant charges for transactions.
