By Olugbenga Ige

The Spokesman of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Isa Abdulmumin, has said both the old and new naira notes are now legal tender following the new directive of the Supreme Court.

According to Abdulmumin, banks have begun to issue both old and new notes to customers at their various Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) terminals and over the counter.

Speaking with The Cable on Tuesday, Abdulmumin said even though the CBN is yet to issue an official statement on the matter, Nigerians can now spend and collect both the old and new notes.

He added that the apex bank just wants to make life easy for Nigerians and has directed commercial banks to obey the supreme court ruling which extended the validity period of the old notes to the end of the year.

The CBN spokesman said: “Banks are paying old notes as well as new notes. They are all legal tender.

“Yes, the CBN has not issued an official statement on the issue. Anyone banks give to you, you can collect. We just want to make life easy for Nigerians.”

Abdulmumin expressed concern about the continued rejection of the old notes by some traders and transporters.

The CBN spokesman said the old notes should not be rejected as they are still a valid means of exchange.

He added: “No. They can’t reject it. It’s all legal tender.”

Recall that some states had dragged the Federal Government before the apex court over the controversy trailing the naira redesign policy of the CBN.

In a suit filed in February, Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara state governments had sought the intervention of the apex court in extending the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.

On February 8, the court restrained the CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline following an ex parte application brought by the states.

It later insisted that the old notes remained legal tender while adjourning the hearing of the case brought against the CBN on the policy on February 15.

However, in its final judgement on the matter last week Friday, the apex court ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remain as legal tender until December 31, 2023.

NAIJANEWS