On December 15, 2022, more than three weeks after being unveiled at the biweekly Federal Executive Council meeting by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), the newly redesigned N1,000, N500, and N200 notes finally became a legal money.
But occasionally, it was observed that the cashiers mixed some fresh naira bills along with some older ones when processing OTC payments.
A bank representative at the GT Bank’s counter in Jabi, Abuja, who would not disclose her name, informed the reporters that the new notes were not yet in circulation.
“No, you can’t make cash withdrawals of the new notes. The best we can do for you is to mix the amount you are withdrawing with old notes,” she said.
An official at the Zenith Bank branch in Jabi told the reporters that the new notes have not yet been handed to the branch but that they are hoping they would do so soon.
Similar events were seen in the First Bank and Taj Bank locations, where bank officials claimed that the new notes weren’t available.
An employee at Taj Bank who wished to remain anonymous stated the institution was giving out the new notes to clients face-to-face but not at its ATM terminal.
However, only old notes were being given to their customers as of 3:45 p.m. when our some media personnel visited the branch.
