ACF Reacts As CBN Directs Usage Of Old N500, N1000 Naira Notes

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed happiness with the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the usage of old N500 and N1000 Naira Notes.

Naija News reported that the CBN had on Monday directed all financial institutions to continue to accept and dispense the old notes and that the old notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.

This statement comes hours after President Muhammadu Buhari said he did not order the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, or the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to disobey the apex court’s ruling.

Speaking with Leadership on Tuesday, the Secretary General of the Forum, Aliyu Murtala, commended Buhari for adhering to the Supreme Court ruling on the old Naira notes.

The ACF scribe asked the President to ensure that the court ruling is fully carried out by the apex bank and old and new notes are made available in banks to ease the suffering of the masses.

Murtala said even though the President has spoken, the effect of his statement was yet to be felt as the Naira notes were yet to be available in banks as expected.

He said, “We are truly happy that the government has responded immediately to the call of the people which is triggered by the ACF and that is how to govern people.

“Government needs to be sensitive and we hope that it’s not just mentioning with their mouth, they should also follow up and ensure action, so that at the end of the day, at least people will be benefited from it.

“Government must take some steps because the small and medium scale sector of the economy has surely gone down, we don’t want the effect of that to lower our regional standard of living with people and lower our GDP.

“We want to call on the government to further ensure that there is the implementation of the use of the old notes or production of adequate new notes to cover the cash transactions as part of the economy, so we are glad that the government has taken steps.”

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