Following interruptions caused by the February 10 deadline for old ₦500 and ₦1,000 notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered money deposit banks to resume collection, according to a CBN insider quoted by The PUNCH.

The PUNCH quoted the unnamed CBN official to have said that the commercial banks wouldn’t collect more than ₦500,000 in the old naira notes from an individual.

“Go to your bank but fill out the form before you go. Go with the 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 unnamed official was quoted to have said.

However, the CBN debunked the claim in a statement tweeted on its official Twitter handle on Friday evening.

“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake and unauthorised messages quoting the CBN as having authorised the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1000 bank notes,” the statement read in part.

“For the avoidance of doubt, and in line with Mr President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to only reissue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes, and this is expected to circulate as legal tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023.”

In an early morning national broadcast on Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari extended the tenure of ₦200 notes to April 10, directing the CBN to purge them back into the economy.

Since the tenure of old naira notes lapsed, there have been widespread violent and non-violent protests in different parts of the federation over cash scarcity.