CBN : Use of Nigeria's new 5,000 naira note not mandatory

5,000 naira note Nigeria - The apex Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said banks in the country cannot compel their customers to accept the 5,000 naira note when it is introduced, as it sought to play down the controversy generated by the planned introduction of the new currency note. The 5,000 naira note is expected to be introduced in the first quarter of 2013 as the country's highest currency denomination, despite widespread objection by a cross section of Nigerians, including experts who said it will fuel inflation.
On Monday, the private Punch newspaper quoted CBN's Deputy Governor Tunde Lemo as saying customers can reject the new note from banks if they don’t want it.
“I say this with all sense of responsibility as the deputy governor of the central bank that we shall ensure that no bank imposes N5000 on anybody who does not want it. You can go to your bank and say you don’t need N5000 note,” Mr. Lemo said.
“Every Nigerian has the prerogative of the currency he or she wants to have. You can go to your bank and say, you don’t need N5000 note. You can say ‘give me N500, N200 and N100.’ It will be illegal for that bank to say you must have N5000. We did not say take or leave it,' he said.
Among those opposed to the new note is the umbrella Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), which has threatened to go to court to stop its issuance.
PANA reports that last week, Nigeria's federal government gave the CBN the green light to introduce the note.
Minister of Planning Shamsudeen Usman told journalists in the capital city of Abuja that President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the proposal to print the 5000 naira note.
The planned introduction of the new note is part of a review of the nation’s currency, which will also see the conversion to coins of the 5, 10 and 20 naira notes.
Hitherto, the 1,000 naira note is the country's highest denomination.
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