Residents of the Bauchi metropolis have lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the use of the old N200 note as legal tender up until April 10 to cushion the effects of the currency swap in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari, in an early morning broadcast on Thursday, gave approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the old N200 into circulation.
The president said, “the N200 note should be allowed to circulate as a legal tender with the
new N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023, to April 10, 2023.”
In their reactions to the approval, some Bauchi residents thanked the president for taking the decision.
Mrs Mercy Emmanuel, a food vendor at Gidan Mai Motor Park, described the measure as a welcome
development that would help citizens, especially the vulnerable ones.
She said “the 60 days of grace given to us to continue to spend the N200 old note would cushion
the hardship in the land because most of us use the N200 notes.
“So, I believe the extension would relieve people from the hardship.”
Mr Japhet Audu, a teacher in a public school, said that the old N200 note would assist the masses to attend
to their basic needs.
He, however, said “but my worry is the availability of the notes. From what we have seen so far, it is only the N1000 notes that are in circulation.
“We are calling on the authorities to make the old and new N200 notes available.”
Malam Sani Saminu, who has a provision shop at Wuntin Dada in Bauchi, also called on the CBN to make the new notes available.
He said “people waste much time in long queues at the counter or the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) trying to access cash.
“I was at UBA Wunti Market Branch for over five hours waiting to collect N20,000. It wasn’t easy at all.”
