Less than 24 hours after Zainab Ahmad, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning disowned the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele’s announcement of new naira banknotes, Fidelity Bank has asked its customers to deposit old banknotes at any of its branches before January 31, 2023.

Announcing this on its Instagram page on Saturday, the bank said it would extend its working hours to 6 pm in all branches to allow cash deposits.

“The new banknotes can be accessed in any Fidelity Bank branch nationwide,” said the bank. “The new banknotes will remain legal tender and circulate together with the old banknotes until January 31, 2023, when the latter shall cease to be legal tender.”

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Emefiele had announced on Wednesday that the CBN would redesign 200-1000 naira notes, and the new notes would be in circulation from December 15, 2022.

He also said that the current naira notes would cease to be legal tender on January 31, 2022, and that this was a measure to arrest the bulk circulation of naira notes outside bank vaults.

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When asked about the currency redesign at the 2023 budget defense session with the Senate Committee on Finance, the finance minister said “we were not consulted; it was an announcement that we heard.” She warned that the redesign of the naira notes portended dire consequences.

However, the CBN insists it followed due process and obtained the president’s approval to redesign the naira.