CBN To Introduce New Naira Notes By September, To Reprint N5, N10, N20 And N50 On Paper

Deputy Director, Operations of The Central Bank
of Nigeria, Dr Tunde Lemo, has said the bank will
take delivery of new Naira notes before the end
of September for circulation.
The News Agency Of Nigeria reports that The
apex bank had earlier said that new Naira notes
would be in circulation by June, and that the
smaller denomination notes (N5, N10, N20, and
N50) would be reprinted on paper.
"We are going to take delivery of the new notes
from this month of August. We will take delivery
of the new notes before the end of September.
"The public will get a large quantity of the new
notes to replace the old and mutilated notes,
particularly the higher denomination notes in the
first instance, then later the lower
denominations,'' he said.
On the scarcity of the lower denomination notes,
Lemo blamed commercial banks for what he
called "poor circulation''.
"For the lower denomination; well, I think the
banks are really the ones that are really not
allowing the lower denomination in circulation,
largely, because of the carrying value.
"Most people don't require small denomination.
But for buying things in the market, if you look at
the veracity, you find out that the N50 circulate
more than the smaller ones,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Lemo has urged law enforcement
agencies to arrest all illegal hawkers of new
Naira notes.
He also called on commercial banks to keep
watchful eyes on their staff to avoid being used
as conduit for illegal transfer of new notes to
unauthorised hands. Lemo said this should be
done to ensure effective protection of the
currency from abuse.
"We have done all we can do in the sense that
we have criminalised this in the 2007 Act. It is
clear that if you hawk notes, if you abuse the
currency, it is a criminal offence and it is
punishable.
"We expect law enforcement agencies to do the
arrest. We don't have power to arrest. We know
it is going on,'' he said. Lemo said commercial
banks should "dispense and pay their customers
with new notes''.
He said the apex bank had carried out
sensitisation campaigns to inform the public and
warn them about the dangers of patronising
hawkers. "I think that is the limit the central
bank can go,'' the deputy governor said.
Naira notes are sold at Dei Dei along Kubwa
Express Road, Abuja, as well as other locations
across the country.