The Senate in an unanimous resolution has told the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to urgently extend the withdrawal date of old currency notes from Jan. 31, 2023, to June 31.
The resolution of the Senate is coming after a motion titled, “Urgent need to extend the withdrawal of old currency from circulation,” sponsored by former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South.
Raising Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Rule, Ndume said that the call for an extension of the date should be considered a matter of urgent national importance in order to forestall imminent hardship for Nigerians.
The lawmaker said that access to the new notes would be compounded by a recent circular by the CBN which limited the amount of cash withdrawal by corporate entities to withdraw within a certain period of time.
“The timing of the policy was wrong, since the beginning of the implementation of the cash withdrawal limits, the new notes are not in circulation even in cities not to talk of the rural communities.
“If we insist on the date given by CBN, it will cause a lot of hardship for Nigerians especially our rural dwellers. He stated.
