The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the indefinite extension of the legal tender status for the old denominations of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes. Initially, the CBN had introduced redesigned versions of these notes in October 2022, setting deadlines for the phasing out of the old notes.
In a statement signed by Isa AbdulMumin, the Director of Corporate Communications, the CBN stated that the decision to extend the deadline indefinitely is in line with international best practices and aims to prevent a recurrence of past challenges. According to the statement, all banknotes issued by the CBN, as outlined in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007, will continue to be legal tender beyond the initial December 31, 2023, deadline.
The CBN is actively collaborating with relevant authorities to address a current court ruling on the same matter. Consequently, all CBN branches nationwide will continue to issue and accept both old and redesigned denominations of Nigerian banknotes from deposit money banks (DMBs).
The public is urged to accept all Naira banknotes, whether old or redesigned, for everyday transactions and handle them with care to preserve their lifespan. Additionally, the public is encouraged to adopt alternative payment methods such as electronic channels for their day-to-day transactions.
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