The new N1,000, N500, and N200 bills finally became legal tender on December 15, 2022, more than three weeks after President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) showed them off at the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.

Godwin Emefiele, who is in charge of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said on October 26 that the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes would be redesigned. He also said that the old denominations would no longer be accepted as money after January 31, 2022.

Emefiele said that redesigning the local currency was necessary to deal with inflation, fake money, insecurity, and other problems that have been plaguing Nigeria.

He also said that the goal of the new currency was to control the amount of money in circulation and to stop kidnappers and terrorists from getting money as ransom.

On Thursday, our reporters went to banks in several cities across the country, especially in Lagos and Abuja, where they found that some branches had already run out of the small amounts of new bills sent to them by their headquarters as early as noon.

Further research showed that some bank branches still didn't have their new notes, and many bank employees told our reporters that the new notes were still coming.

When our reporters went to banks in Lagos, they found that some of them had run out of new notes.

But officials at some of the centers that still had the new bills told The Punch that they only had a small number of them.

An Access Bank Plc employee at the Ojodu branch in Lagos, who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn't allowed to talk about the situation, said, "Each cashier got 100,000 of the new N1,000 bills to give out to customers who wanted to pay over the counter. We don't have any of the other N500 and N200 bills yet." There aren't enough of the new bills right now."

Also, our reporter saw that the bank branch's ATMs were only giving out old naira notes.

Customers were also seen putting old bills on the counter, and cashiers at the center were giving out more old naira bills.

But in a few cases, cashiers were seen putting a few new naira bills in with the old ones when they paid people OTC.

At the same time, when some of our reporters went to banks, some customers turned down the new bills because they had heard that some local merchants wouldn't accept them as legal money.

Because of this, some bank customers wouldn't take the new bills to pay for things over the counter.

A bank teller in Ogba, Lagos, told one of our reporters, "Some customers have been rejecting the new naira notes whenever we give them. They said the new notes would not be collected from them in the market, and they prefer the old notes."

A cashier at a bank told a customer who asked for new bills that she was out of them.

But when the customer insisted on getting his money in the new bills, the cashier went to his coworker to ask for some.

"You want the new bills, but many of the people I helped today wouldn't take them from me," the cashier said.

Abuja banks

Only one of the 10 bank branches we went to in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, used the new notes to pay their customers. Also, out of all the ATMs that one of our reporters went to in the FCT, only one of them gave out the new naira notes.

The PUNCH went to the Jabi Garage and the Central Business District to see the Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Taj Bank, and Access Bank Plc.

No bank teller was seen using the counters to pay customers with the new bills.

But the only ATM in the area that was seen giving out new N1,000 and N500 bills was from Access Bank.

Our reporter saw that the ATM gave out N1,000 for every N10,000 that was taken out.

At the GTBank branch in Jabi, our reporter saw that the ATM gave customers old N1,000 notes.

At the same bank's counter, a worker who didn't want to give her name told The PUNCH that the new bills were not available.

She told him, "No, you can't get cash out of the new bills." The best we can do is mix the money you want to take out with some old bills."

When our reporter talked to another bank employee, she said that OTC withdrawals were still being paid out in the old bills.

At the Jabi branch of Zenith Bank, a worker told our reporter to come back on Friday or Monday to get the new bills.

He said that the new bills have not yet been sent to the branch, but they are hopeful that they will soon.

Our reporter heard a customer complain that he couldn't get the new bills even though he had taken out a lot of money at the branch.

At Taj Bank, a worker who wouldn't say his name said that the bank was giving out the new bills to customers over the counter, but not at its ATM stand.

But when our reporter went to the branch at 3:45 p.m., only old notes were being given to customers.

Lagos banking halls

Also, when people went to some banks in Lagos's Ikotun-Egbe and Isolo neighborhoods, they saw that the ATMs were giving out old bills.

At a First Bank ATM in Ikotun-Egbe, a customer said, "The ATMs still aren't giving out the new currency here; we're still getting the old ones."

A Point of Sale terminal operator in the Igando area named Chibuike said that when he went to his bank earlier in the day, he was not able to get the new notes.

Also, the ATMs at the First Bank branch in Yaba, Lagos, were still giving out the old notes when The Punch went there.

It was also noticed that the old notes were being used to pay for things over-the-counter.

Mr. James Oni, a bank customer, told our reporter that he was looking forward to seeing the new bills and that he couldn't get them in the banking hall.

Also, when our reporter went to the FCMB branch on Matthew Street in Yaba, the ATMs only gave out the old bills, and over-the-counter payments were also made with the old money.

Also, our reporter saw that as of Thursday, some bank customers in Lagos and Ogun states couldn't get their hands on the new bills at their banks. On the other hand, some people were lucky enough to get the new bills. Some customers said they were hoping to see the new money in the next few days.

Emefiele for Reps

Also, CBN Governor Emefiele will now go to the House of Representatives on Tuesday to talk about the new rules for cash withdrawals at the top bank.

Thursday, the House was supposed to question Emefiele about the policy, but he didn't show up.

In a letter to the House, Edward Adamu, who is the Deputy Governor for Corporate Services at the CBN, said that Emefiele was with Buhari on an official trip to the United States.

On Thursday, the letter was read to the members of the House by Ahmed Wase, who is the Deputy Speaker.

The letter was sent to Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila on December 13, 2022, and had the reference number GVD/DGC/CON/NAS/002/055. It was called "Re-Invitation for a Briefing."

Wase said after reading the letter, "Colleagues, the Speaker has already moved the CBN governor's appearance to Tuesday, December 20."

Last Thursday, the House called Emefiele and asked him to come explain the policy to the parliament.

Aliyu Magaji, a member of the House, made a motion of urgent public importance, which led to the resolutions. Another member, Ibrahim Olanrewaju, raised a point of order, asking the chamber to ask that the policy be put on hold until the lawmakers finish their investigation, which was granted unanimously.

Other members of the House also said that the CBN broke the law that set up the central bank, especially Sections 5 and 8(4), by not telling the National Assembly about new policies before they were put in place.

They also asked how the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) paid for changing the naira notes. They said this was a violation of Sections 80 and 83 of the 1999 Constitution, which say that all government bodies can only spend money that the National Assembly has approved.

The court does not give consent.

Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja has turned down a motion to stop the CBN's new policy on cash withdrawals.

The request was made to the court by 10 people who gave their names. They did this for themselves and on behalf of 20 million Nigerians who do not use banks.

Even though the court made its decision on Tuesday, journalists in Abuja didn't find out about it until Thursday.

On the list of respondents were Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and Emefiele.

The applicants asked the court to stop the respondents from going through with the January 31, 2023 deadline for using the current N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. This is because it affects the citizens without any realistic plans or workable guidelines to cover the over 20 million unbanked Nigerians who are vulnerable to information and the use of technology-driven platforms without the possibility of financial inclusion.

They also asked for a court order to stop the CBN from putting the new limits on cash withdrawals into effect.

Also, they asked the court to speed up the suit's hearing and to allow substituted service on the parties. They also asked the court to order the CBN to make a detailed plan and set of rules for the over 20 million unbanked citizens who are vulnerable to the use of telecommunications and technology-based money platforms.

After listening to the lawyers for the applicants, Justice Oriji turned down their requests for an injunction. Instead, he ordered that all the respondents be told to come and explain why the injunction should not be given against them.

After giving orders for an accelerated hearing and substituted service, the judge put the case off until January 10, 2023.