Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano has threatened to sanction banks in the state that refuse to accept the old naira notes.

The old notes became illegal tender after the February 10 deadline imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) elapsed last week Friday.

There was confusion leading to the deadline after the Supreme Court barred the CBN and the federal government from invalidating the notes until further notice.

But commercial banks proceeded with the CBN directive, stating that they were not joined in the suit.

Some of the banks took that decision based on the fact that there was no further directives from the CBN. 

However, in a statement on Tuesday, Mr Ganduje said the old notes are still legal tender in the state, citing the Supreme Court ruling on the matter.

In the statement by the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Muhammad Garba, the governor threatened to sanction businesses refusing to accept the old notes.

The Kano governor threatened to revoke the licenses of businesses operating in the state that refuse to accept and transact business with the old notes. 

Governor Ganduje also threatened to sanction commercial banks in the state that refuse to accept the old notes; this is despite the governor lacking the legal power to issue such directives.

Meanwhile, the CBN governor today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, insisted that the old notes are no longer legal tender and as such, transacting any business with them is illegal.