From Laide Raheem (Abeokuta) and Femi Folaranmi (Yenagoa)
In its continued efforts to ensure that the redesigned naira notes are available to Nigerians, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has intensified its sensitization campaigns to educate Nigerians, especially on the January 31 deadline, when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.
The apex bank which took its campaigns to some communities in Ogun Central and West senatorial districts of Ogun State, informed the people on the need to return the old N200, N500 and N1000 before the deadline, disclosing that banks had been directed to supply the POS operators with the redesigned notes, in order to make it easier for the people to exchange the old notes at no cost.
Leading the sensitization campaigns, Kayode Makinde, Deputy Director, Supervision Department, at the CBN headquarters in head office, Abuja, explained that the team, apart from enlightening the people, especially traders, would also ascertain the level of compliance by the POS operators and commercial bank agents with the directive given to them by the apex bank.
Speaking further, the CBN deputy director, hinted that customers were free to exchange their old naira notes with the new notes up to N10,000 cash, noting that deposit of any amount above the stipulated N10,000 would attract charges to be paid to the agents.
He added that such charges would be paid into the customers’ accounts because the CBN wanted to ensure Nigerians imbibe the culture of e-transaction and cashless policy.
Similarly, officials of the CBN stormed rural communities in Bayelsa to supervise the swapping of the old N1000,N500 and N200 notes with the new notes.
At former President Goodluck Jonathan’s community, Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, Director, Governor’s Department, Central Bank, Joseph Omayuku, who supervised the exercise at a POS stand at the gate of Federal University, Otuoke, said the purpose of the exercise was to sensitize Bayelsans about the deadline for the deposit of old notes and to let them know that they could swap their old notes with the new notes at the various POS locations in the community.
According to him, the CBN wanted to ensure that no Nigerian loses any portion of his hard earned money because it was not swapped.
While acknowledging that residents of Otuoke were depositing their old notes for new ones, he noted: “We wish to reiterate that we are not doing a one-for-one currency exchange. A significant objective of this is to that the ensure currency in circulation is within the banking system so that monetary policy management of the CBN would be more effective,
“Before the introduction of this policy, the CBN shared information with the whole country that 84 per cent of the currency in circulation was outside the banking system. CBN officials are everywhere to ensure the new currency is available to Nigerians,” he said.