The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday directed commercial banks to start paying the redesigned naira notes to customers over the counter.
CBN governor Godwin Emefiele announced the directive in a statement.
Emefiele said the new directive was to alleviate the challenges that Nigerians are experiencing with getting access to the new notes, as well as reduce queues at the automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide.
The CBN in a tweet assured Nigerians of the availability of the newly-designed naira notes.
While there has been an outcry over the shortage of the new notes, the apex bank says it is working with stakeholders to address the challenge.
“CBN is committed to ensuring that the new Naira notes reach the hands of Nigerians as soon as possible,” CBN tweeted.
“In collaboration with EFCC and ICPC, CBN has been carrying out Banks’ Branch Spot-Checks on ATMs.”