The Senate has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline for the deposit of old notes from January 31 to July 31.

The upper chamber also urged the CBN to open an exchange window where people who do not have bank accounts deposit their old notes.

The Senate’s resolutions were sequel to a motion by Sadiq Suleiman (APC-Kwara) during Tuesday’s plenary.

Moving the motion, Mr Suleiman recalled that the Senate, in its resolution on December 28, 2022, urged the CBN to extend the use of the old notes from January 31 to June 30.

He said the bank had insisted on terminating the old naira notes by the end of January despite not having enough new naira notes in circulation.

“Experiences around the world have shown that such abrupt decisions, if not controlled, usually created chaos,” he said. “The Senate should extend the use of the old notes to July 31.”

Supporting the motion, Ibrahim Hadejia (APC-Jigawa) said the call for extension was for their constituents and not their (lawmakers’) personal benefits.

“In my constituency, no Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is dispensing the new notes.”.

Similarly, Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi) said the policy would inflict untold hardship on people living in rural areas.

“The CBN governor should be invited,” he said.

Adamu Bulkachuwa (PDP-Bauchi) said the extension was necessary otherwise, there would be chaos.

Biodun Olujimi (PDP-Ekiti), who decried that in her local government area, about 90 per cent of the people have not seen a glimpse of the new naira notes, called on the apex bank to “look away from the elections”.

She said that if the date was not extended, it would lead to collateral damage which would not augur well for the economy.

Mohammed Ndume (APC-Borno) called on the Senate to use its oversight responsibility on the CBN to “order the CBN governor to extend the date”.

He said that the power of the Senate should not be played down, calling on the senators to stand firm on the call for an extension.

For Sam Egwu (PDP-Ebonyi), who was the only senator who opposed the motion, “Nigerians do not have the culture of keeping their money in the bank.

“It is in Nigeria where cash is used arbitrarily; other countries use electronic means. Nigerians are just averse to change,” Egwu said.

In his remarks, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said most of the senatorial districts did not have banks.

“There is no doubt that we must have a window for exchange. We must have policies by the CBN to have bank branches established in rural areas.

“We need this extension for the most ordinary Nigerians,” Mr Lawan said.

CBN had, on October 26, announced plans to redesign the 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes.

(NAN)