One of the commercial banks in the country, First Bank Nigeria Plc, on Friday has said its branches are open to receive old naira notes from customers.
The bank, in a public notice, obtained by DAILY GIST however, said customers must first register with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) portal before the old notes would be accepted as deposit.
The public notice shared on its Facebook and Twitter pages (now deleted) read : “Dear Valued Customer, this is to inform you that our branches shall receive old notes up to a maximum of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) after registration on the CBN portal.
” Please note that deposits of more than N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) should be taken to the nearest CBN location.
”In addition, our branches will be open tomorrow, Saturday 18 February 2023 to recieve old notes.”
DAILY GIST reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had directed the commercial banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 notes from members of the public.
This was contrary to the earlier announcement that customers can only deposit old notes at the apex bank.
It, however, pegged the maximum amount the banks can collect at N500,000.
Osita Nwanisobi, director of the apex bank’s corporate communications, confirmed the development on Friday.
The is coming amid the nationwide outrage over the rejection of the notes which President Muhammadu Buhari declared were no longer legal tender.
In his national broadcast on Wednesday, Buhari declared that old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased being legal tender, directing Nigerians to take the notes to the CBN and designated places.
He also ordered the CBN to recirculate old N200 notes until April 10.
But Nigerians have continued to criticise the president for disobeying the supreme court order, especially some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state among others had said old N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender in his state until Supreme Court rules otherwise.
