The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a countdown clock showing when the old naira will cease to be legal tender.
The countdown clock is visible on the home page of the CBN website and shows January 31, 2023 as the deadline for N200, N500 and N1,000 notes to “remain legal tender”.
The CBN has ordered commercial banks in the country to remain open on Saturdays until January 31, 2023, to allow bank customers to exchange old naira notes for new ones.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had claimed that people were hoarding naira notes. Statistics showed that more than 80% of the currency in circulation was not kept in the vaults of commercial banks.