The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, urged Nigerians, especially those in the rural communities to deposit their old bank notes in banks ahead of the January 31 deadline.
CBN’s Director of Security Services, Atiku Mohammed-Nasir, said this during a sensitisation visit to the Doma Market, Nasarawa State, adding that the January deadline is sacrosanct.
Mr Mohammed-Nasir encouraged the people of the area to deposit their old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes in the banks before the deadline to avoid losing their money.
He said that in efforts to ease the stress of changing cash for those without bank accounts, CBN engaged the services of super agents mostly in rural communities to change a maximum of N10,000 per individual.
The director said the e-banking team were also on hand to open bank accounts and e-Naira wallets for the people.
“The CBN is making all efforts to make sure that the people are comfortable and that no one loses money on account of the new policy.
“The essence of the policy is to ensure that the unbanked population are brought into the banking system in line with global economic order.
“The currency exchange is just a temporary measure but the permanent solution is to get the populace to embrace e-banking,” he said.
The essence of the policy is to ensure that the unbanked population are brought into the banking system in line with global economic order.
Mr Mohammed-Nasir urged the people, especially traders and farmers to open accounts, as commercial banks have simplified the process to accommodate more customers.
He said the sensitisation exercise would be sustained till January 31.
The CBN team has so far visited communities in Doma, Obi, Akwanga and Wamba Local Government Area of the state.
Some of the traders and rural dwellers expressed delight with the new Naira policy and promised to embrace it.
They, however, said that the timing was too short for the currency exchange and appealed for extension.
Rabiu Abogye, a trader in Doma, said the policy had encouraged him to open a bank account and that he was already enjoying the ease of transaction.
Fatima Sule, a farmer in Obi, and Esther Kyuni, a trader in Akwanga, both lauded CBN for the policy, but called for more time for adequate enlightenment in the rural communities. (NAN)
