The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, seems to have defied the Supreme Court over its order that the deadline on the status of the old naira be extended to February 15.
Emefiele on Tuesday said there was no need to shift the February 10, 2023 deadline.
Amid the continued agonising experience many Nigerians are having trying to deposit and withdraw money, he said this during a visit on Tuesday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the monetary and currency redesign policy of the bank.
He said, “The situation is substantially calming down since the commencement of over-the-counter payments to complement ATM disbursements and the use of super-agents.
“There is, therefore, no need to consider any shift from the deadline of February 10.”
This comes as the Supreme Court earlier restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 deadline for the currency swap.
A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks from implementing the Friday terminal date for the old naira notes.
However, the CBN governor insisted that there was no need to shift the deadline.
He also said that Point of Sale agents who charge above N200 for the CBN cash swap programme will be arrested and jailed when caught.
The CBN governor further said that the PoS operators can come to the CBN to be compensated for any extra cost incurred in getting the new notes rather than charging a higher fee on customers.
