The National Assembly has called for the deadline extension for old naira notes withdrawal from 31st January to 30th June 2023.

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The Senate on Wednesday during plenary in a motion raised by Senator Ali Ndume, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline on old naira notes withdrawal to 30th June 2023.

Ndume cited Orders 41 and 51 to seek the leave of the Senate to move a motion on the urgent need to extend the withdrawal of old currency from circulation. The motion was seconded by Senator Adamu Aliero.

According to him, “the timing needs to be extended to allow every Nigerian to play his/her own role. I support the motion that this withdrawal date is extended to June 30th, 2023.” – Senator Aliyu Wammako added.

Recall that the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 naira notes were launched on November 23rd, 2022, about one month after the CBN first announced the impending redesign.

The redesigned banknotes will, among other things, curtail excess cash outside of the banking system while combating inflation.

The deadline for phasing out the old N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes is January 31, 2023.

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The CBN later reviewed its policy on cash withdrawal limits, increasing weekly withdrawals for individuals and corporate organisations to N500, 000 and N5 million, respectively.

The apex bank explained that the review became necessary following the feedback it received from stakeholders.

The CBN also noted that it is aware of the critical role that cash plays in the Nigerian economy, particularly in rural Nigeria where virtually all transactions are cash-based. The approval also raised the N20.51 trillion presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to N21.82 trillion.