Consumer Awareness and Financial Enlightenment Initiative (CAFEi) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend deadline for the exchange of mutilated naira notes by another four months.
Otunba ‘Debola Osibogun, CAFEi President, said in Lagos on Sunday that extension of the deadline would give room for more people to key into the intiative.
“It is imperative for the CBN to extend the deadline to give room for more people to key into the opportunity to exchange their mutilated notes, especially during the yuletide period,” Osibogun said.
She explained that it would enable Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to deploy more human resources into notes sorting which they claimed was quite labourious.
The former CIBN boss noted that the exchange policy started on a slow note because of inadequate publicity.
According to her the policy was gradually gaining traction as “we are seeing more and more people going to the banks to exchange their old mutilated notes.”
She however urged the CBN to give more time for the policy to be impactful and achieve the purpose for which itb was introduced. The apex bank on August 31 informed that the general public could continue to return mutilated bank notes to their banks after the September 2 deadline.
The Director, CBN Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okoroafor, disclosed that this is contrary to the news making the round that mutilated notes collection would stop after the deadline.
Okoroafor noted that many people have been misinterpreting the story to say that the banks would stop collection of mutilated notes after September 2.
“It is not true, the banks will continue to accept those notes from people.
“The general public should continue to return mutilated bank notes to their banks after the deadline.
“The September 2, 2019, deadline does not apply to bank customers or the general public who will continue to return mutilated notes to the banks.
“It only applies to the banks because free sorting of Naira notes for them will cease at the expiration of that deadline,” Okoroafor said.
He noted that September 2 was only the deadline after which CBN would begin to charge banks.
Okoroafor said that “we opened a window from June to September, so that when they bring the notes without sorting, we can sort it for them free.
“But as from Sept. 2 , if they get those notes, they need to sort it before they bring it to us…”