Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have started receiving old N500 and N1, 000 notes.
A Vanguard correspondent went round banks in Abuja on Thursday and confirmed that the banks had indeed been accepting the old notes provided the amount was less than N500,000.
Recall that media outlets widely carried the reports some two weeks ago that the Central Bank of Nigeria had issued the banks a directive to collect the old notes from their customers provided the amount was N500,000 and below.
The then spokesperson of the apex bank however issued a rebuttal, denying that any such directive emanated from the apex bank.
Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, who retired as Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN last week described the widely circulated reports as fake news.
He clarified that only old N200 notes had been directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be re-issued and that the CBN would stick to that directive.
Part of the statement read: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake and unauthorised messages quoting the CBN as having authorised the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
“For the avoidance of doubt and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to only re-issue and recirculate the old N200 and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10,2023.
“Members of the public should therefore disregard any message and/or information not formally released by the CBN on this subject.”
However, a video of a senior CBN official telling a mammoth crowd of bank customers besieging the premises of the apex bank to take their money to their local banks later surfaced online.
The confusion surrounding the directive persisted until the commencement and conclusion of the presidential and national assembly elections.
Investigations by Vanguard have now indicated that the DMBs have been receiving the old N500 and N1,000 notes since the beginning of this week.
A DMB official told the paper in Abuja that customers could deposit any amount below N500,000.
She said that customers could make a deposit once, after downloading the appropriate form from the CBN portal from where a code would be allocated for the deposit.
It was learnt that holders of the affected old notes could deposit them in their bank account until April 10.
A top CBN official confirmed the new development and explained that it was informed by the fact that the apex bank did not want holders of old N500 and N1,000 notes to lose their money.
