CBN Sensitises Phone Dealers On Naira Notes Redesign, Withdrawal Limits

The members of the Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN) and other trade unions were educated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday about the redesign of Naira notes and withdrawal restrictions at the Computer Village in Ikeja.

The goal is to appropriately inform the traders about the developments, according to Kofo Salam-Alade, director of CBN's legal department.

He said that many of the Naira notes in use were not held by the CBN or by commercial banks, necessitating the redesign.

Such behaviour, according to him, was detrimental to the economy of Nigeria.

In order to avoid a last-minute rush, Salam-Alade urged Nigerians to return their old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes as soon as possible.

Regarding withdrawal restrictions, he noted that every withdrawal was monitored.

"All accounts are BVN-linked; if you withdraw from Account A and Bank B, your data is feeding into a particular database.

"When CBN needs to ask questions, it will ask.

"Remember that CBN is not saying you cannot withdraw any amount of money but there will be charges for a withdrawal above limits, and the person will fill certain forms,’’ he said.

One would be called, he said, to provide information on withdrawals that exceeded the allowed amount.

Ifeanyi Akubue, the president of PAPDAN, said that the organisation understood the rationale behind the redesign of the Naira notes.

However, according to Akubue, the newly designed Naira notes had been hard to come by.

He urged the CBN to penalise commercial banks that were not dispensing the new notes without delay.