For the second time since the Supreme Court ruled that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes will remain legal tender until December 31, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refused to speak on the judgement.
According to The Nation, an official of the CBN told the newspaper that the communications department has not been informed of any new developments on the Supreme Court judgement.
Asked when the CBN will start releasing cash to banks, the official replied they “don’t have that information”.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the old bank notes will remain as legal tenders while also declaring that the N20,000 withdrawal limit set by the apex bank was illegal.
Without any official pronouncement from the CBN, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) cannot act outside the last instruction by the apex bank that N20,000 will be the withdrawal limit for individual account holders.
The latest withdrawal threshold, The Nation learnt, has put doubts in the minds of many Nigerians who prefer to save their money outside the banking system.
Asked if the Supreme Court judgement describing the N20,000 withdrawal limit as illegal will negatively impact the CBN’s cashless policy, another official of the CBN said: “The cashless policy has been in operation since 2012 and many Nigerians are already keying into the idea”.