EXPOSED: How CBN Reversed Itself On Old Notes But Accused Media Of Fake News
Following the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians should take old N500 and N1000 notes to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), many thronged offices of the apex bank across the nation on Friday.
As early as 1am, people had lined up in front of the CBN office in Marina, Lagos, where there was an uncontrollable crowd.
Someone who got there at 6am said he was given tag number 406, meaning over 400 persons were in the queue earlier.
A Kaduna resident, Badamasi Aliyu, told Daily Trust that he was forced to relocate to a hotel close to the CBN office the night before so he could get there early enough.
However, Aliyu, who got to the CBN office at 3am, said he was given number 134 tag.
When the exercise got seemingly out of hand and the bank officials found it difficult to control the crowd that kept increasing with time, people were asked to return to their respective Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to store old notes.
The CBN subsequently issued a directive to commercial banks to start collecting old N500 and N1000 notes.
In a memo sighted by Daily Trust, the apex bank directed Branch/Operational Managers of banks to commence collection of old naira notes.
“I am directed to convey Management of Central Bank of Nigeria directive that, all Deposit Money Banks to commence collection of old naira notes of N1000 and N500 from their customers with immediate effect.
“Please note that customers with amount of up to N500,000.00 and below can deposit into their bank account with their commercial bank. Any customer with amount more than N500,000.00 should be directed to CBN for deposit.
“Kindly comply accordingly. Thank you.”
To verify the authenticity of the memo, journalists had reached out to Osita Nwasinobi, Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, who confirmed that the directive was clear
Moments after Nwasinobi confirmed the development, the report went viral on social media. Some Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief, saying they would move to their banks the next day.
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