On Wednesday, the Senate requested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) extend the date for the removal of old naira notes from circulation from January 31, 2023, to June 30, 2023.

This appeal followed the plenary session acceptance of a proposal presented by Ali Ndume, a senator for Borno-south.

Ndume requested the senate’s permission to introduce a resolution on the urgent necessity to extend the circulation of old naira notes, referring to orders 41 and 51 of the senate’s standing rule.

The lawmaker said that the CBN’s notice period was too short, especially given the scarcity of banks in Borno and Yobe, making it impossible for residents of those states to deposit their old currency in time.

According to him, Nigerians would suffer greatly once the old naira notes are no longer legal tender at the end of January.

“This senate notes that many Nigerian banks on Thursday, December 15, opened their vaults to customers and depositors to exchange their old currency for the newly redesigned currency which has a stipulated deadline of January 31,” Ndume said.

“Some Nigerians are already envisaging long queues in the banking halls across the country as a result of people trying to get access to the new naira note.

“The old notes are expected to be in circulation along the new ones until January 31 when the old ones are expected to be phased out.

“It is expected that many Nigerian businesses will start rejecting the old notes as soon as banks start paying redesigned notes to customers.”

Adamu Aliero, senator for Kebbi central, echoed this sentiment, saying, “The timing has to be extended to allow every Nigerian to play his/her role.” I agree with the proposal to push back the deadline for withdrawal until June 30, 2023.”

The World Bank expressed concern last week about the potential negative effects of the naira redesign strategy due to its timing and short transition time.

“At present, households and firms already face elevated financial pressures from prolonged, high inflation, recently compounded by external food and fuel price shocks, and the severe floods, and phasing out existing naira notes over a short time period may add to their challenges,” the bank said.