Ondo State Governor Akeredolu Issues a New Order Regarding Old Naira Notes

Residents and business owners in Ondo State have been instructed by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to accept and transact in the old N500 and N1,000 notes in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directive.
In a broadcast to the entire state on Thursday, the governor stated that rejecting the old notes amounted to disobeying a direct court order.

If Ondo State citizens continue to reject the money, Akeredolu continued, it will only cause them needless suffering.
According to him, the old naira notes are still valid as legal tender through December 31, 2023, per a Supreme Court ruling. He therefore appealed to the state’s citizens to embrace, use, and accept both the old and new notes in accordance with the law.

Governor Akeredolu urged all media outlets in the state, as well as all traditional leaders, community leaders, and opinion shapers, to support the government in educating the populace, especially at the grassroots, on the need to embrace and accept the old naira notes while also urging the banks to increase the circulation of the naira notes in order to lessen the suffering of the people.

“It is therefore of great concern to me today that a significant portion of our people in the state, especially traders in our markets, taxi and bus drivers, barbers, auto mechanics and artisans are rejecting the old naira notes inflicting and sustaining needless suffering on their fellow citizens and customers,” he said.

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This is regrettable and unanticipated. It is a flagrant violation of the law and instructions from the Central Bank.

Therefore, I want to let you know that it won’t help us to reject the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes. It will hinder local trade and business operations, destabilize our economy, and bring about serious harm and avoidable problems for us.

“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the good people of Ondo State to embrace and accept both the old and new notes in accordance with the law. Let’s avoid escalating the conflict unnecessarily. Please gather, use, and exchange old notes freely and without restriction.

Further, Akeredolu reminded the populace that his administration had never concealed its support for the federal government’s new naira policy, and that now that the Supreme Court had upheld it, there was no reason for the populace to continue to put themselves through unnecessary suffering by refusing the old notes.

The governor declared: “It is essential that I speak to you today because we must put an end to the suffering that we are all currently experiencing in the state. This is a result of the old naira notes still being used and circulated in our economy.

According to reliable information that has reached me, quite a few state residents are forbidden from using the old currency notes produced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This manifests itself in Ondo State’s traders, artisans, transporters, farmers, and a sizable portion of the operators of the informal sector of our economy rejecting the old notes as legal tender and means of exchange for goods and services.

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This development is regrettable, unwelcome, and unjustified. This is due to the fact that the Supreme Court of Nigeria permanently resolved the issue of the legitimacy and reinstatement of all old naira notes in the country’s economy, and that decision was supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria with the necessary implementative tools.

“Our people will remember that the Apex Court recently ruled that the old currency notes must continue to be accepted as legal tender in domestic transactions for goods and services, among other things.

In order to avoid any confusion, the judgment mandated that both the new and old currency notes be accepted and used side by side by all Nigerians up until the end of this year, when the proper replacement and abolition of the old currency notes would have been completed.

“The Supreme Court’s decision implies that it ends the daily suffering, discomfort, and trauma that this country’s citizens have been experiencing as a result of the dearth of new notes.

“It is also designed to ensure the stability, strength, and vitality of our economy, particularly the informal economy, which employs the majority of our citizens at the base on a daily basis.

If we may recall, our position as a state was crystal clear and unmistakable from the outset of the Federal Government’s Naira swap policy. Not only did we criticize the policy’s concept and method of implementation, but we also called for its complete repeal in light of its timing and methodology.

“We insisted that the Federal Government address the introduction of the cashless policy in a way that benefits the average person. We took this action because we think that the welfare and security of the populace must always be the primary concern of the government.