Nigerian churches have told members to offer only new N1,000, N500 and N200 notes. Their instruction comes a few days ahead of the Central Bank of  Nigeria, CBN January 31 deadline for phasing out the old notes. Reports say schools and retailers have also established time limits for the collection of the old currencies.

This instruction comes in response to one of the Central Bank’s urgent directives to completely phase out the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by the end of January. Recall that the CBN recently redesigned Nigeria’s currency. The Naira’s redesign was accompanied by several monetary policies and instructions that will help accomplish the desire of the apex bank for the redesign. 

The church and CBN’s policy

According to a report, a leading church, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, released a memo asking church leaders to stop the collection of the old naira notes before the end of the month. The memo was signed by the Secretary of the ministry, Pastor S.M. Afuwape.

A copy of the statement sighted by newsmen charged leaders “to sensitize your members and the brethren to lodge all Tithes and Offerings collected in the Group on or before 29th January 2023.” The church also noted that “any old notes (in the prescribed denominations) brought to the headquarters which were not lodged in the bank will be paid for by the Group.” Other churches have also given similar directives to their members.

While this action reflects the church’s role in ensuring citizens comply with the CBN’s policies, most Nigerians still don’t know how to get the new currencies. 

Tangent

CBN launches Nigerian Domestic Card, AfriGo

As the country continues to battle to get the new naira notes, CBN keeps on releasing more directives that will make the financial system convenient. One such is the recently launched Nigerian National Domestic Card Scheme, AfriGo. AfriGo seeks to create a robust payment system capable of driving financial inclusion in the country.

The CBN’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele who launched the platform virtually noted that AfriGo would be cheaper. He added that transaction charges on all cards would henceforth be paid in Naira, except for international transactions. Emefiele said “domestic card transactions that will be conducted in Nigeria will have to be through the Nigerian Domestic Cards. Your existing cards are fine. You can continue using them but given that charges by foreign cards are in dollars, we will no longer pay dollars for the charges on those cards.”

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