The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it would monitor commercial banks to ensure they comply with the directive of loading the redesigned Naira notes in their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

The CBN Director, Currency Operations, Ahmed Umar, made this known at the training session for State Directors of National Orientation Agency (NOA) on redesign of currency notes policy in Abuja on Monday.

Umar said the CBN’s directive was to implement the January 31 deadline withdrawal of old naira notes in circulation.

“We want to use this training session to pass message that CBN has enough currency notes to go round the general public.

“We, CBN management, have mandated banks to stop putting old notes in their ATM machines. They should only put the new notes.

“And there is serialisation of the policy that they can put either N500, N1000 or N200 note which ever the denomination they have or combination of any of those notes, they should just put a new note in their machines.

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“We are going to monitor to ensure that the banks comply and if they don’t, we have penalty for non-compliance,” the apex bank director said.

He stated that it takes a few years to redesign a currency note in many countries, adding: “In our own case what we had was basically over 20 years of having the same design of note.

“Over that period, what it did to us was to create avenue for some people to master the act of counterfeiting the note.

“In our own case, what we have is a minimum of 17 years or more for us to redesign our currency.

“If you notice N1000 note that was introduced in 2005, it took 17 years for us to redesign it. N500 and N200 notes were also redesigned after 21 years and 22 years respectively.

“So, if currency notes stay too long in the system, there is tendency that people who counterfeit make a lot of efforts to produce the same notes.

“So, that is why there is need to change our notes regularly.

“Another reason is that N500 and N1000 constitute 99 per cent of the currency notes that are being targeted for counterfeiting.

“It is simple logic, the effort you put to counterfeit N1000 is the same effort you put to counterfeit N5.

“So, why will they waste their energy doing small note; they always target the higher note particularly N1000 because of values attach to it,” Umar stated.

Also speaking at the event, the NOA Director-General, Dr Garba Abari, said the agency partnered with the CBN to educate NOA members of staff at 774 local government areas to assist in enlightening Nigerians on the redesign of new banknotes policy.

Abari expressed hope that the training session would go a long way in addressing misconceptions and misunderstanding around the new currency notes policy.

He, therefore, called on all participants to pay serious attention to the training in order to represent CBN well while embarking on enlightenment programmes at the grassroots.

The Star