The previous N200, N500, and N1000 notes, as well as the newly designed notes, are still valid until December 31, 2023, according to a CBN announcement on Monday.
The decision was made at a Bankers Committee meeting, according to a statement made by its Acting Head of Corporate Communications, Alhaji lsa AbdulMumin.
“In compliance with established tradition of obedience to court orders the CBN as a regulator and Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3.
“Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till Dec. 31, 2023.
“Consequently, all concerned are directed to conform accordingly,’’ the CBN stated.
Before now, the banks together with the apex bank had yet to obey the order of the Supreme Court declaring the old notes as legal tender until December 31, 2023.
On Monday, the Presidency denied suggestions that President Muhammadu Buhari had anything to do with the disregard of the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the legal standing of the N500 and N1,000 old currency notes.
Malam Garba Shehu, the president’s media adviser, claimed in Abuja that the president had never given a directive to any government official to disobey a court ruling involving the government and other parties.
He frowned at the way the Supreme Court’s March 3 ruling on the issue of the N500 and N1,000 old currency notes was interpreted in light of the president’s silence throughout the period.
