Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra state, today issued a statement from his official twitter handle, that the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks to start issuing the old N500 and N1000 notes.

This was based on a conversation he had with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Mr. Godwin Emefiele, CON.

According to his twitter handle “The CBN Governor gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee held on Sunday, 12^th March, 2023. According to the directive, tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.”

Governor Soludo directed the citizens of Anambra state to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200, N500; and N1000) as well as the new notes.

Various news media platforms have picked this statement to report that the CBN has given the directive to Deposit Money Banks, DMBs to start issuing the old N500 and N1000 notes across the country.

As at the time of filing this story, the Central Bank of Nigeria is yet to issue a statement via its official website and various social media platforms.

Sources at the CBN said no official statement has been issued to DMBs,  while financial correspondents also claimed not to have received any formal briefing from the bankers committee on the development.

Since the Supreme Court ruling of March 3rd, 2023, which ordered the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure the recirculation of the old N200, N500, and N1000 naira notes till December 31st, 2023, there has been no official reaction from the CBN. 

Proshare in its Analyst note of March 6th, 2023  stated that the CBN’s Naira Redesign and Currency Mop-up policies have seen N1.77trn of old currency withdrawn. 

It also stated that the impact of the demonetization policy has been severe, with many MSMEs recording low turnover due to the lack of cash. 

The analyst note further highlighted the fact that While the drive for a cashless economy is a good initiative, contracting currency in circulation could be economically harmful. 

Proshare analysts argued that the CBN must address the uncertainty associated with the Supreme court judgment, if the economy is to avoid spiralling into a near recession.