The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), has addressed reports claiming that it planned to phase out the redesigned N1,000, N500 and N200 notes amid scarcity.
Over the past few weeks Nigerians have been lamenting the scarcity of the newly introduced notes across the country.
This came amid the cash shortage experienced in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2023 owing to the implementation of a cashless policy by the CBN.
But a statement by Acting Director of Corporate Communications of CBN, Dr Isa Abdulmumim, said the report of the plan to withdraw the redesigned naira notes introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 23, 2022, was fake and untrue.
The apex bank urged the public to ignore the claims in its entirety as it was a ploy to cause panic among members of the public.
The statement read in part; “We, therefore, urge members of the public to disregard any report suggesting a phase-out of the redesigned currency. For the avoidance of doubt, the redesigned and old notes will continue to be accepted as legal tender.
“They will circulate side-by-side for transactions ahead of the December 31, 2023 deadline, when the old N1000, N500 and N200 banknotes will eventually be phased out”.
CorrectNG reported earlier that a Kaduna man, James Auta cried out after losing his wife and baby due to the country’s frustrating monetary and health policies.
His pregnant wife died after visiting a hospital in Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru Local government area of Kaduna state where he was unable to pay due to unavailability of the newly released naira notes.
Mr Auta disclosed that his wife was due for delivery but the hospital management insisted on advance payment before she will get attention.
Unfortunately she died because her husband, despite his efforts to withdraw money from the bank and other terminals, was unable unsuccessful.
The grieving man said he went with his wife to the hospital on Monday where the doctor asked him to deposit money before he could examine her.
He narrated; “I ran to my bank to withdraw money, but was told no money. I went back looking for POS operators, but I could not find any because, since the issue of new currency began, most POS operator locked up their business centre.”
Auta said that since he could not have access to his money, they decided to go back home, trusting God for safe delivery.
But his wife went into a labour at home late at night and he called a nurse in the neighbourhood but with the absence of medical facilities, the situation took a turn for the worse.
”My wife began labour around 11 pm. Since I could not withdraw any money, I called the attention of a nurse within our locality. But as my wife delivered, blood was coming out non-stop. All efforts by the nurse to stop the bleeding failed,” he said.
