German Embassy to reject the use of old naira notes for payment for visa by Jan 9th

The German Embassy has disclosed that it will stop accepting old naira notes before the deadline set by the Godwin Emefiele-led Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to the information posted on its website, Nigerians doing business with the embassy starting from 9th January 2023, the Embassy in Abuja and the Consulate General in Lagos will only be accepting new Naira Bank Notes. 

The date from the German embassy is 22 days earlier that the 31st January deadline announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria that the old notes will continue to be legal tender.

Gbajabiamila, during a probe of the cash withdrawal policy and naira redesign last week, had stated that the United Kingdom’s central bank gave the country two years notice after changing the country’s currency to King Charles notes, but the CBN gave only two months to do same in Nigeria. 

“I want to address the issue of – although you may say the horse has left the stable – the redesigning of the naira. All your policies may be of good intentions, but they say the road to hell is sometimes paved with good intentions. 

We are aware of the Bank of England, we are aware of the US. Just recently, the Bank of England changed their notes to the King Charles notes, and the bank made a publication that it would not come into effect until 2024. In other words, they gave a year’s notice in a cashless society. 

“How then can we rationalise two, three months’ notice in a ‘cashfull’ society? And not only do they give that kind of notice, in the United States, and in other places, even when the law or the policy takes effect, you are allowed to continue to use the old notes at the same time until it is completely phased out. So, these are questions that are begging for answers,” Gbajabiamila said.