An Islamic group has asked Nigeria’s government to extend the deadline for exchanging outdated currencies until February

Muslim Rights Concern, or MURIC, has petitioned the Federal Government to extend the deadline by at least two weeks.

Barrister Muhammad Mansur Aliyu, Chairman of the MURIC Sokoto State Chapter, made the appeal in a statement issued on Friday.

“However, businesses in Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara States were almost grounded this week as a result of the 31st January, 2023 deadline for expiration of old naira notes as a result of refusal to accept the old naira notes in commercial transactions out of fear of possible inability to deposit the old naira notes in commercial banks,” the statement said.

“This is because every bank a consumer goes to would find an extremely big wait of depositors, seeking to deposit their old naira notes in their quest to beat the deadline. Businessmen must be at commercial banks as early as 6:00 a.m.

to join the queue to have their old naira notes exchanged. Furthermore, due to a scarcity of new naira notes in circulation, the fear of receiving old naira notes, and the uncertainty of being able to deposit the money obtained from customers at banks before the deadline due to extremely long waits, many businessmen ceased collecting old notes.

“Many fueling stations and other vital services providers also closed, because most of their clients come with old naira notes and they are not sure whether they would be able to deposit the same to the bank. Ordinary folks’ lives are currently being made more difficult as a result of this. Many Nigerians have criticized the nonavailability and scarcity of the new notes, owing to the fact that banks continue to issue old naira notes to consumers despite the fact that the deadline is only a few days away.

“Sequel to the foregoing, we request to the Federal Government to rethink its decision by extending the 31st January, 2023 deadline for expiration of old naira notes by at least two weeks to enable Nigerians to switch their old naira with the new naira notes. We also urge security agencies, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, to closely monitor how commercial bank managers handle new naira notes received from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex bank of which has consistently insisted that the new notes are readily available at vaults across the country and ready for collection. We urge Nigerians to remain calm and avoid hysteria about the currency swap.”

Remember that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, revealed its proposal to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes on October 26, 2022.

President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently introduced the redesigned notes on November 23, 2022, and the apex bank set the January 31 deadline for the expiration of the previous notes.