El-Rufai Dares Buhari, Directs MDAs To Accept Old Naira Notes

Barely three days after President Muhammadu Buhari insisted that the old N1,000 and N500 notes have ceased to be useful for transactions in Nigeria, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has ordered Ministries, Departments and Agencies in his state to accept the outlawed notes.

The governor gave the directive on Sunday through a statement signed by Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication).

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The statement titled ‘KDSG asks agencies to accept payments in old and new notes’, said the old N1,000 and N500 notes are not outlawed until the Supreme Court decides.

El- Rufai said, “In line with the subsisting order of the Supreme Court, the Kaduna State Government has directed its ministries, departments and agencies to ensure that their collection agents continue to accept payments made in all denominations of the naira, old and new.

“The laws of Kaduna State do not allow personnel of government agencies to be involved in cash collection of revenues. The collection agents authorised by state government agencies do offer citizens a route for cash payment, and are expected to comply with the subsisting court order.”

Officially, the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes stopped being legal tender on February 10, 2023 and it is still redeemable at the Central Bank of Nigeria branches nationwide.

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But Buhari during a national broadcast on Thursday, February 16, 2023 said N200 notes can circulate with the new notes for 60 days ending April 10, 2023.

The naira redesign policy of the apex bank has degenerated into a crisis as the president took the position despite an interim injunction of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government, the CBN and money deposit banks to allow the old notes to remain legal tenders and circulate until a final judgment is passed.

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