The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed commercial banks to start accepting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from customers following fresh protests by youths in the country.
The apex bank benchmarked the maximum amount that can be deposited at N500,000, insisting that the old can no longer be used as a means of value exchange.
An official of the highest bank of the land confirmed the order, noting that the directive was necessitated by difficulties encountered in getting access to the bank.
The CBN source said: “Go to your bank but fill the form before you go. Go with your reference code you generate. With your code, banks will collect it from you. But if it is more than 500,000, you will go to the CBN and deposit it.”
The CBN has launched a portal on its website making it seamless for bank users to return old notes to fill and generate a code.
After President Muhammadu Buhari said only the old N200 note remains legal tender till April 10, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday ordered the banks to make the old N200 notes available to Nigerians.
