By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Barely a week after the House of Representatives threatened to issue an arrest warrant on him, Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has appeared before the House ad-hoc committee on cashless policy.
During his appearance on Tuesday, the central bank chief assured that the value of old Naira notes of 200, 500 and 1,000 will still be redeemed even after they have ceased to be legal tender by February 10 deadline.
The apex bank following an outcry had shifted its cash swap policy from Jan. 31 to Feb. 10 to enable Nigerians to change their old Naira bills with the new ones after a major redesign targeted among other things to check inflation.
According to Emefiele, the redemption was in tandem with the law, precisely Section 20 (3) of CBN act, noting the essence was to mop up the old notes in circulation.
The assurance by the central bank is expected to douse tension among Nigerians as they have opportunity to deposit their old Naira notes even when they have lost their status of legal tender.
In his swift reaction, Chairman of the Committee, Ado Doguwa who was elated by the remarks, thanked Emefiele, saying that had he given the assurance earlier, there wouldn’t have been any need for the meeting.
