By Monday Ajogun
Some residents of Onitsha in Anambra, on Sunday lauded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for extending the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes by 10 days.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CBN announced the extension of the deadline for the deposit of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes in banks from January 31 to February 10 in a statement signed by its governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
A Point of Sales (POS) operator, Miss Sarah Obialor, said the news of the extension of the deposit and use of the old currencies would increases her business.
“For the past few days now, my patronage has dropped, many people don’t come for transactions anymore.
“Nobody wants the old note anymore, and the new notes are not in circulation yet, am happy that the central bank and the federal government listened to the call for an extension,” she said.
A resident, Mr Samuel Emeka, described the news of the extension for the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes by the apex bank as a move in the right direction.
“As you can see, many people have started to reject the old Naira notes and this has a negative impact on our economy.
“Mind you, not everybody is educated to use cashless transactions, some won’t even accept it because of the fear of receiving fake credit alert too,” he said.
Another resident, Mr Okoye Ngini, who commended the CBN for extending the deadline, however, appealed that the apex bank should ensure it provides the new Naira notes to all commercial banks for easy circulation. (NAN)
