Stories: Ganiyu Obaaro, Lagos
The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has explained why it has set September the deadline for the sorting of all mutilated notes across the country.
It would be recalled that the existence of the notes in the nation’s economy has been giving Nigerians concerns, which they describe as constituting potential health hazards and image problem for them and the nation at large.
The apex bank, headed by Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor, has said banks now have between June 3 and September 2, to collect and sort all mutilated notes in their possession for reissuing.
The central bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, made the disclosure while engaging with leaders of organised labour in Lagos at the weekend.
“The CBN has given banks between the 3rd of June and September 2, to bring back all the mutilated notes for us to reissue them,” he said.
“And we are telling customers, including labour, that they should return all the notes to their bank. And that the banks will bring those notes to us for reissue.
“If any bank is refusing to take back the notes, they should call us and we will take action.”
In April, the bank had introduced a ‘Clean Note Policy’ to put an end to the circulation of mutilated naira notes.
Meanwhile, at the engagement activity, which was part of CBN’s communication efforts to dialogue with key stakeholders in the economy, an Executive Member of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Issa Aremu, described CBN’s “creative intervention” in the Nigerian economy as “highly commendable.”
Aremu noted that for the Nigerian economy to improve on its current growth levels, all hands must be on the deck.
“CBN is doing its own side of the bargain, but the other fiscal authorities must also complement the effort of the CBN,” he said.
He added that “organised labour is committed to partnering with CBN to make sure that all these creative initiatives, in terms of development financing, are sustainable.”
The CBN Governor recently said the policies of the apex bank in the past five years had been focused on protecting the purchasing power of the poor and vulnerable persons in the country.
According to Emefiele, the apex bank is very comfortable staying on the side of the weak, vulnerable, and poor masses and protecting their purchasing power.
